Alexis: The International Detective Agency's New Recruits!

On Tuesday, April 13th, I started the InFlight residency with Alexis' class! Alexis, myself, and the students will be blogging about our adventures over the course of the next two months. Our social studies topic is World Communities. Here is what happened on the first day.

The students received a TOP SECRET manilla envelope addressed to 3rd and 4th grade students of the five boroughs (and their teachers). They were concerned that the envelope might have aroused curiosity from non-3rd and 4th graders and that it may have been tampered with. So I asked them to help with the story-telling and figure out a way that this could have been prevented. They came up with the idea that it was actually sealed with a finger-print scanner that would open only for the students of Alexis' class. Excellent thinking and problem-solving! Also, a great way to give them an early chance to co-create the drama, setting the stage for what is to come!

The envelope contained a DVD from Sally Slueth (myself) from the International Detective Agency explaining how 10 years ago the criminal mastermind, Carmen San Diego and her crew (you may have heard of her) went on a stealing spree around the globe, stealing such treasures as the Pyramids of Egypt, the Milky Way, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, the Hip Hop music from NYC, the penguins from Antarctica and the Brooklyn Bridge. Fortunately detectives returned the stolen goods, but recent intercepted communications indicate that she is back and greedier and smarter than ever. A new generation of agents are needed to find out what she is up to, before it's too late! The students followed Sally Slueth's instructions to text message a code if they were interested in being interviewed. Luckily, they were all interested--whew!

Myself and Alexis were in role as Sally Slueth and Ingrid Investigator, the recruitment agents. We administered a series of tests to find out if the students were up to job including world geography questions and mapping skills. They also completed a language proficiency test, making a list of the word "hello" in as many languages as they could. We counted at least 25

different languages! In small groups, they were asked to create statues of world treasures with their bodies which included the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Pyramids, a space hotel, and the house of the Dalai Lama! They also had to answer why they, as a class would make great agents.

"We're very sneaky."

"We play alot of video games and some games are detective games so we are good mystery solvers."

"We did a mystery unit and solved mini mysteries."

"Because we listen."

"Because we have mixed grades and are from different places"

"We are smart"

"We are talented"

When Ingrid and I faxed the test scores to headquarters, the results came back with good news:

all the students were chosen as the new recruits! The chief also had a surprise for them: he was giving them a high speed yacht fully equipped with all the technology they would need. This way they could travel the world, following Carmen's trail. The chief named Ingrid Investigator the Captain, due to her extensive navigation experience.

These are the new recruits for the IDA and these are the recruits in their tourist disguises!

After we took a tour of the ship, we got a message from HQ! They had just intercepted some communications and needed us to figure them out immediately! We gathered in the stern of the boat (the captains room) and listened to a clip of music picked up from the background of a cell phone call. After listening several times, the students guessed that the music was from Africa. They got out their atlases again and from the following words, discovered that they think Carmen and her crew are headed to Kenya and will arrive in 7 days! "Equator, Coast, Lake Victoria, Nobel Peace Prize, Nairboi". The new agents mapped a route from NYC to the coast of Kenya through the Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, and finally the Indian Ocean. I said good-bye to the agents, letting them know I would go to Kenya ahead of them and make arrangements for their arrival.

They will spend the next 4 days traveling to Kenya. On the yacht they will go through an intensive study of Kenya in order to be prepared with as much knowledge when they arrive next Tuesday. Alexis (Captain Ingrid) has outfitted the yacht with a music and language listening/learning center, a library, a map/geography center, articles on the daily life of Kenyans and many other resources. They should be experts by the time they arrive, disguised as tourists to catch Carmen before she strikes again!