ENJOY IT!

My 1^st of ESO students will practice different English language skills, focusing on vocabulary acquisition, while they become writers, readers and even detectives!!

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success" (Henry Ford)

USEFUL RESOURCES

      1.   Using a dictionary

•  Look for a dictionary that includes pronunciation, how the word is used grammatically, examples of the word in context, etc.

• You can use the following link to use Wordreference.com online dictionary:

                http://www.wordreference.com/

• Write down your own list of vocabulary. If you want, you can use the following resource to make up your own glossaries:

         http://www.wordsmyth.net/

OUR TEAM RULES

- Don't be afraid of sharing your ideas. Everyone's 

  ideas are totally acceptable!

- If you disagree with a partner tell him/her, but try

  to be kind! 

- As well, your partners will feel heard if you agree

  with them and if you suggest new ideas to theirs.  

- If you don't understand what someone says, ask 

  him/her! 

- Work as a team  to reach solutions!

- Don't criticize your partners! 

CHAPTER I - OUR OWN GARDEN

Mr. and Mrs. Smith lived in a small and noisy house at the centre of Viladry. Mr. Smith was an irresponsible man that was always in troubles. His wife was a very patient woman and she suffered a lot with Mr. Smith's bad habits. At about 10 o'clock in a winter's morning Mrs. Smith entered their room and opened the shutters:

– Please, close the shutters! I have a terrible headache and that shadows from the street disturb me – shouted   Mr. Smith.

–  Shadows! I’d like to know why you arrived so late last night – Mrs. Smith asked.

– I was working, you know that we need money or we’ll have to leave this house – replied Mr. Smith.

–  Working? Have you found a new job? – she asked.

– Uhhm...yeah...it could be called a job! Please, let me alone! I want to sleep.

– Why are you so mysterious? Gardeners don’t work at night – said Mrs. Smith. 

– Gardener? hahaha better than that, honey... – he laughed - We’ll have our own garden! We’ll become as richer as...

– Oh...no, no, no...– Mrs. Smith interrupted astonished- Please, tell me that you haven’t been with... you know that I don’t like that man...Tell me that you haven’t been in troubles again... I prefer not having anything to live on to having something to do with that man - she said.

– Please, I want to sleep! Let me dream with that beautiful garden we’ll have... – Mr. Smith said

Mrs. Smith shook her head and left the room. She knew that something was going wrong...  

               ********************************************************

• What do you think about the title?

• Which words (verbs, nouns, adjectives) do you think will be significant for our story? Some of them can be related to Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’. Check your list of vocabulary and try to identify them. Why do you think they are here? 

CHAPTER II - SHOUTS

Mrs. Smith went to the news-stand because she wanted to buy the evening newspaper. The newspaper seller looked at her because she seemed to be nervous and her clothes and hands were dirty. ‘Do you know what happened?’ he asked. Mrs. Smith kept silent. ‘Two vandals robbed the bank in Wye Street last night!’ continued the man. ‘Oh, I don’t…’ said Mrs. Smith as she left the news-stand.

She returned home and when she arrived to the top floor, where they lived, she found her neighbours in the landing. Mr. Carter said to her that they had heard some screams in their house 10 minutes ago and he thought that they belonged to Mr. Smith. She began trembling and opened the door.

They went straight to the bedroom, but it was locked. Mr. Dupon knocked the door, but there was no answer. Then, Mrs. Smith took a key in a drawer and opened the door. The shutters were closed and when Mr. Dupon turned on the light they realized that there were drops of blood on the floor. ‘Mrs. Smith!’ shouted Mr. Dupon. ‘What’s going on?’ she asked. ‘I think you shouldn’t see this’ said Mr. Carter.

Mr. Smith had been killed and the murderer had hidden his corpse under the bed. Mrs. Smith fainted when she watched her husband’s corpse still bleeding on the floor. When she regained consciousness the police was there.

-          Could you tell us what happened? – asked a policewoman.

-        No, I couldn’t. I went to the news-stand ten minutes ago and my husband was sleeping – answered Mrs. Smith.

-        Some neighbours have said that they heard voices inside this house about 10 minutes ago – continued the policewoman.

-         I don’t... – said Mrs. Smith – as I’ve told you, I was out 10 minutes ago.

-       When we heard the screams we hurry to come upstairs. And when we arrived, Mr. Carter was trying to open the door – said Mr. Dupon.

-       Mr. Carter is my husbands’ murderer! He has always hated us... he’s the murderer! – shouted Mrs. Smith.

Mr. Carter didn’t have the chance to say anything. The police officers arrested him and took him to jail.

CHAPTER III - CLUES

Mr. Carter declared that he wasn’t guilty. He said that he had no problems with the Smith’s marriage and that there were witnesses that could declare his innocence. The police came back to the building because they wanted to take the testimony of other neighbours. They decided to analyze the crime in depth.

Some neighbours said that they were in the landing and that anybody left the house through the door à how then?

è Who was (were) the murderer(s)?

è How did he/she/they leave the house?

è Why did he/she/they kill Mr. Smith?

The police took the following notes about the case:

CHAPTER IV - WRITTEN BY THE STUDENTS

It was an April afternoon when the inspectors of the IES group met to analyze the clues that they had obtained about the murder of Mr. Smith. There were different versions about the motive of the crime, some detectives agreed with others about the motive and others disagreed. These are the things that they investigated:

Who could be the murderer?

How Mr. Smith was killed?

Which was the reason to kill Mr. Smith?

Who could be the murderer?

• Inspector Gray: The murderer could be a person who hated Mr. Smith or someone who was jealous of him.

• Inspector Fatty: If Mrs. Smith was dirty she could go out through the chimney. She was arguing with Mr. Smith and she decided to kill him.

• Inspector Croquettes: Mrs. Croft, the deaf-mute, should not be dismissed because deaf-mute people sometimes, unconsciously, do sounds. I think that there wasn’t a French accent, but it was the voice of this woman.

• Inspector Gray: I disagree with you because the witnesses said that they heard a foreign voice and analyzing the clues I’ve realized that Mr. Dupon is French. I think that Dupon helped Mrs. Smith.

• Inspectors 003: The testimony of the newspaper seller is very important because he talked with Mrs. Smith and he said that she was nervous when she came to the news-stand. She had a motive to be nervous, maybe she killed her husband.

• Inspector Panchi: The murderers could go to the attic, where the drunk lived and they entered the house through the chimney and killed Mr. Smith. That’s why the drunk said that he saw two shadows, a woman’s shadow and a man’s shadow.

• Inspectors Bob: Mrs. Smith and Mr. Dupon lied. Mrs. Smith lies because she said that Mr. Carter hated her husband but, where is the evidence? On the other hand, Mr. Dupon lied when he said that Mr. Carter was alone because his wife was with him and I trust what she said. Dupon had an important role in the murder of Mr. Smith. Maybe he was the murderer because he said that Mr. Carter was guilty and Mr. Carter seems to be a good man.

The inspectors decided that they have to conclude who the murderer was together. They all agreed that the deaf-mute person was innocent and Mr. Carter too, because they trusted the testimony of Mrs. Carter and Mrs. Croft. They trusted what the drunk said too. Then, Mrs. Smith and Mr. Dupon were the murderers or the accomplices.

How Mr. Smith was killed?

• Inspectors 003: The murderer could use a pillow because the corpse was near the bed

• Panchi: I disagree with you because he is bleeding

• Gray: I agree with Panchi, the corpse was bleeding. There was a weapon.

• Inspector Panchi: the murderer could hide the weapon on a drawer inside the house.

• Inspector 003: I think that the weapon is not in the house. The murderer could hide a razor in the attic.

• Inspector Gray: I also think that the murderer used a razor to kill Mr. Smith.

• Inspector Panchi: Maybe it was an accident because Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith were arguing and she killed him by accident.

• Inspectors Croquettes: I think that the drunk could throw bottles through the chimney and Mrs. Smith picked up a glass to kill her husband.

• Inspector Bob: I disagree with you because there aren’t glasses on the fireplace.

• Inspector Fatty: There were steps on the fireplace. The murderer had a 39 size. It was Mrs. Smith. I’m sure.

• Inspector Moon: The murderer used a razor to kill Mr. Smith.

• All: The murderer used a razor that he/she hid somewhere, but not inside the house or the attic.

Which was the reason to kill Mr. Smith?

• Inspector Croquettes: The motive could be that the murderer hated Mr. Smith.

• Inspector Panchi: In the first chapter Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith were arguing and she said that she didn’t like a man. The man could be Mr. Carter and she hated him, but Mr. Smith was his friend. They talked about money and being rich and Mr. Carter could be a rich man and they were jealous.

• Inspector 003: Yes, they killed Mr. Smith because he was Mr. Carter’s friend and they wanted to send Mr. Carter to jail. They wanted to kill two birds with one stone.

• The rest of inspectors agreed with these conclusions. 

The detectives decided to hurry because Mrs. Smith and Mr. Dupon could escape. They went to the neighbourhood and they arrested Mrs. Smith in the news-stand. Then, they went to Mr. Dupon's home, but he wasn't there. They were worried because they thought that Mr. Dupon could have gone to France. They decided to go to the airport and Mr. Dupon was in the gate.