Due by February 11th at 9:00 a.m.

If you had 100 dollars what would you spend it on?  Break it down and be very specific.

If you had 100 minutes of free time what would you spend it on?

Make sure you write in complete sentences.

Due by December 10th at 9:oo a.m.

The Case of the Missing What’s-It-Called, Part 2

After lunch, you head outside for a breath of fresh air.  Your mind is filled with thoughts of what is missing from your desk.  You are in detective mode now, and thoughts and questions bump around in your head, making it hard to think about school.

You need some time to think, to figure things out if you can.  Most of the mysteries you’ve worked on have turned out okay.  You’ve solved enough of them to know that there is often a simple explanation.  But for some reason, this one seems a bit more challenging, maybe not as easy to solve as the others.

You walk around the playground, your mind so full you don’t even notice the sounds of the other kids playing.  Not today.  You’ve got a case to solve.

You wander to your usual place on the playground where you like to go think.  Things always make better sense when you’re sitting here working out a case.

As you get closer, you notice something on the ground-something white, placed in the exact spot where you usually sit.  Your heart beats a little faster.  Could it be?

You get to the spot and reach down and pick it up.  There is the missing item from your desk, wrapped in a piece of notebook paper with a rubber band around it.  On the paper are these words, “Dear Detective, I have heard you are good with mysteries.  I need your help with mine.  I am sorry I took this from your desk but I didn’t know how else to get your attention.  I am very shy.  Please meet me after school in the park across the street.”

The mystery deepens.  Continue to use your imagination and create the story by answering the following questions in your post.  Remember, you are the main character!

1.  What is your favorite place to go to think when working on a case?  Describe it in detail, explaining why it is special to you and why it helps you think?

2.  Is there more to the note?  Are there any clues as to who wrote it (smudges of ink, fingerprints, etc)?  Describe who may have written the note.  Do you think it is another student?  A teacher?  A friend?

Due November 12th at 9:00 a.m.

The Case of the Missing What’s-It-Called, Part 1

You have always been good at solving mysteries and everyone knows it.  When something is lost you always manage to find it, and because of this, people come to you when things are missing or there is a mystery to solve.  this special talent has earned you the nickname “Detective”, a nickname you’re proud of.

So when you woke up this morning and had a feeling it was going to be a mystery-solving kind of day, you knew that’s exactly what it was going to be.  Experience has told you that feeling is usually right.

After eating breakfast and saying good-bye to your folks, you pack your lunch in your backpack and head off to school, just as you would on any ordinary day.

You get to school and everything seems pretty normal.  You say hello to your friends, turn in your homework, unpack your backpack.  the teacher sits at her desk as usual and you start to relax a little.  Perhaps no major crime has been committed.  Maybe your services as a detective won’t be needed after all.  Everything is as it always is; normal-and that’s just fine with you.  You sit down at your seat, rummage through your desk…and that’s when you notice.  Once again, that “mystery” kind of feeling you woke up with this morning was right.  It is going to be that kind of day, only this time the mystery that needs solving seems to be your own.  Because you can see that something is missing from your desk.

You look through your things carefully, checking under folders and under the picture you started drawing last week but didn’t finish.  But you can’t find it.  It’s gone, vanished, disappeared.

In your reply, this is your chance to use your imagination as a word detective! Step in to the story and be part of the action.  In your post, please answer the following:

1.  Describe what is missing from your desk with enough detail so that someone else can picture it.

2.  Tell why this item is valuable to you.  Is it valuable only to you, or does it hold value for someone else?

3.  Do you hve an idea of where the item might be?  Who do you think might have it?  Is there someone else who knows about the item and who might have taken it?

This begins a new year of learning and sharing through our writing. We will have regular assignments right here on this writing blog. You and your parents may visit these posts to see what is going on in our classroom.