
Okay, who did it? How was the thief able to grab the ruby ring? Why was it stolen? And how was the thief discovered?
Your students will have to try to solve this mystery, written collaboratively over a distance learning platform to a point at which a motive has been assigned to each character, with the possible exception of the Detective.
With Steve Krasner’s direction, ideas for characters, settings and the creation of the mystery will come from all “boxes” in the Google Classroom, or on Zoom, or on any other remote learning platform. Steve will record the characters and a setting on a whiteboard, which he shares with the students as the story-writing process commences.
Who has a first name for a character? Who has a last name? What can we do to make the character’s name stand out? Oh, right, give him a title, a middle initial and make him the latest in a long line of family members. And where will the mystery take place?
Steve will call on students whose hands he sees are raised for these suggestions, ultimately typing the mystery story on his laptop.
In the mystery about the missing ruby ring, the students’ choices for characters were Soozan Trash-Canne, Col. George R. Iforgot VIII, M.D., Mark. Z. Spotte, Rachel Sillyhead and Det. Patricia. The setting was a museum in a mansion.
And how much was the ring worth? Well, this is an opportunity for Steve to encourage many students to contribute to the story creation. He’ll point to one student on the screen and say, “Give me a number less than 10.” The reponse might be “1.” Then he points to another student and asks the same question. The answer might be “3.” Ultimately, involving nine students, the ruby was worth $1,387,258.86.
Who committed the crime? Well, that’s up to each individual student. The mystery is written collaboratively in a virtual way to a point at which each character has a motive. The teacher will receive an e-mailed copy of the mystery, which then can be made available to the students for them to solve the mysteries for themselves, writing their own individual endings, following parameters Steve sets up.