826michigan

October 10^th was awesome.  From beginning to end, it was a spectacular day.  We walked to the bus stop (on Maple) at around 9:30 and caught the 12B bus downtown.  The kids LOVE this part.  Everyone is so friendly, despite the fact that we are hogging all of the seats J , and the kids are buzzing with excitement.  We land at Blake Transit Center and make our way to Liberty Street, where we enter the Robot Repair Shop (always fun to pass through this fun shop!) and head back to the lab.  Kids gathered on the floor to meet Tom and find out what they will be working on in our two-hour time slot.  They were asked to write a story and began to talk about plot, characters, problems within the story, etc..   Suddenly, they are  interrupted by the evil Dr. Blotch.  She is communicating via speakers from Transylvania (she’s on holiday).  She immediately starts yelling at Tom (she’s not a fan of coffee drinkers, and he’s enjoying a cup of Joe while working with the kids) and she begins to accuse him of stealing her diary.  After a lot of haggling (she hates kids, so when she finds out there is a room full of kids with Tom, she isn’t pleased) she agrees to let Tom and the kids solve the mystery of the missing diary. 

Three suspects are paraded through and kids get a chance to interview and question each suspect.  While they are interviewing, there is an 826 staff member taking notes on the computer and what she is typing is being projected behind Tom where kids can read what she has written.  Tom has prepared them to interview the suspects and discussed key words (alibi, suspect, evidence, motive, scene of the crime, etc.) and guides them while they ask questions, learning about each suspect and why they might be the guilty one.  They were AMAZING.  They asked thoughtful and relevant questions, noting how each suspect evaded questions and how their body language made them think they were lying.  After interviewing the three suspects, they were sent to write a letter to Dr. Blotch telling her who they think took her diary and WHY.  They needed to give EVIDENCE as to why they chose this suspect, trying to convince her of their guilt.  They were also given a chance to create an ID badge and personnel file.  They also created a detailed drawing of the scene of the crime.  Brilliant work was being done at every table, from every pencil.  Every single kid was on task for the entire 2 hours.  Two hours.  To wrap up our day, we had to share our letters with Dr. Blotch so she was able to determine who she thought stole her diary.  Was it: Edna Speilberg?  Her fancy and rich next door neighbor?  Dr. Gold, her disgruntled lab partner who had motive and opportunity?  Or Randy Blotch, a 2^nd cousin who was living in the trees with squirrels because his entire family (led by Dr. Blotch) had disowned him?  Tom had kids explain to Dr. Blotch who they suspected and why they had been the diary thief.  Finally, Tom asked JaVonte to share HIS theory.  JaVonte explained to Dr. Blotch that he thought no one had taken her diary, but in fact, she had made the entire story up so she could get Tom in trouble and fire him.  Dr. Blotch confessed that she HAD made up the story and she was now going to sell their stories in order to make thousands of dollars (mysteries are hot sellers!).  Meanwhile, Cat had managed to steal their letters from Dr. Blotch (in Transylvania)  and returned back to the lab triumphantly  - with yellow folders in hand.  YAYYYYYYY!

Our bus home was late, but we managed to occupy our time and were grateful for the sunshine.  We got back to Haisley at a little after 12:30 and ate lunch in our classroom.  It was a SPECTACULAR day.  Make sure you read their writing!