Unit 3 Week 6: Whodunit?

Hint: Notice the bones in the trash. Can You Solve It? Mystery: An inconsiderate slob dumped trash on Rachel Rabbit's lawn. One of these two suspects is guilty. Slylock Fox found evidence that may identify the loathsome litterbug. Answer: What did Slylock observe to help him identify the trash tosser? Explain your answer. Source: Monday Warm-Up :

Slylock found bones in the trash. The bull is an herbivore and only eats plants. The raccoon is an omnivore and eats both plants and animals. The raccoon is the trash tosser.

Monday O Discuss Elements of Reporting and Writing Summaries. O Summarize the following scenario: O INFORMATION: The principal of Davis School is going to press charges. Over the weekend someone sprayed graffiti on the side of the school building. This is the third time this year graffiti has been found. The school building is beige with brown trim. The graffiti is hot pink and orange. The school is in a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes and apartments. The custodian reported the graffiti. He was really mad. He doesn’t like to clean it off. No one saw who did it, but the teachers of two eighth-grade boys have seen them writing “graffiti-type drawings” in their school binders. The boys’ names are Jimmy Worth and Buddy Boice.

Summary Scenario #2 O INFORMATION: The girls are ages 13 and 14. They both have blond hair and blue eyes. A saleslady saw the two girls slip earrings into their coat pockets in the JCPenney store. The girls have never been in trouble before. They both were crying. The earrings were costume jewelry— imitation gold with blue stones in one set and red stones in the other. The girls’ names are Janey Jones and Carol Crumb. The saleslady reported the incident to the security patrol. The security guard arrested the girls and detained them until their parents came to pick them up. The parents were very unhappy about it.

Monday

Tuesday Warm-up: Solve the Mystery David was sitting in his hotel room reading a book, when he heard a knock at the door, and the sound of someone trying the door handle. He opened the door, where he saw a man whom he had never seen before. The man said, "I'm terribly sorry... I thought this was my room. Wrong floor, I guess." He then walked off down the hall toward the elevator. David went back into his room, thought about what had just happened, and then phoned the front desk, suggesting they call the police, since the man at the door had obviously been a thief. Why was David so sure the man had been a thief?

The man had knocked first. He wouldn't have done that if he'd thought it was his room.

Tuesday O Slip or Trip Mystery. O Investigate the picture as I read the scenario. O Look for clues that are inconsistent with the story. O Answer the questions about the mystery. O Let’s fill out an Evidence/Rule Chart for this mystery. O We’ll do a couple together and you will work with your investigative team to fill in the rest.

Tuesday

Wednesday O Warm-up: Get a police report form off the podium and fill it in for the slip or trip mystery. Be sure to fill in all spaces. You are the investigator.

Wednesday O Let’s turn your Evidence/Rule chart into an argumentative writing piece. O If we were really an investigative team and if this were a real crime, we would have to write a report for the police chief. We would need to include: O when we arrived O what we found O what Queenie said O what the autopsy found O whether the evidence supports what Queenie said O our conclusion and/or recommendation O explanation of evidence supporting our conclusion and recommendation

Exemplar Writing Piece: O We arrived at the home of Arthur and Queenie Volupides at about 2:15 A.M. on February 6, We found Arthur Volupides lying at the bottom of the main stairs on his back, faceup, his feet on the third step. He was still holding a glass in the fingertips of his left hand. His clothes were neat. Nothing on the wall beside the stairs was disturbed. The carpet where he lay was undisturbed. Queenie said that Arthur slipped and fell on the stairs. He was coming down for another drink. He still had the glass in his hand.

Exemplar Continued. O We believe Queenie is not telling the truth. The evidence does not support what she says happened. First, the cup is in his hand. When people fall down the stairs, they let go of what they are holding to try and get a grip of something to stop. Second, the way Arthur is facing is weird. When someone falls down the stairs, their body would be facedown. Arthur, though, is faced upwards. Third, she waited to long to call the police or ambulance. She waited for her friends to do anything. When someone sees another person hurt they automatically call the police for help.

A painting by a world-renowned artist was stolen from the Forest Museum. The missing masterpiece is now in Kopy Kat's studio. The feline forger has already painted a copy of the artwork. Which one does Slylock Fox suspect is the original painting? Hint: What is different about the owls? Source: Thursday Warm-up :

An owl cannot move its eyes from side to side, but must turn its head to see in other directions. The painting with the eyes pointed straight ahead is the original.

Thursday O Using the iPads go to my online classroom and click the link for the Interactive Investigator Mystery. O Work with a partner. O Fill out a police report for the crime.

Friday O Warm-up: write a crime summary for the following crime. O INFORMATION: Someone has been riding a bicycle onto the front lawn of the school. There has been a lot of rain the past several weeks, so the lawn is very wet and very soft. The bicycle tires make big gouges in the lawn and will cost 300 dollars to repair. A neighbor across the street saw two boys doing wheelies on the lawn with their bikes. The principal got to school early this morning and saw Chunky Cheddar riding his bike away from the school. The tires of the bike were covered with mud. He detained Chunky and called the police. Chunky’s mother says she knows Chunky couldn’t do something as bad as ruin the lawn because he’s always good, and everybody knows he’s always good. The neighbor says Chunky isn’t always good and that he was one of the boys doing wheelies.

Friday O Analyze the “Lunchroom Murder” crime scene. O Answer the questions about the crime scene. O Fill out an evidence/rule chart for the scene. O Write an argumentative writing piece about the crime.