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Stories with Holes
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Stories
with
Holes
What are Stories with Holes?
Getting Started
For the next couple of weeks, we will have an (almost) daily Bell Ringer called "Stories with Holes".
This is an activity that I loved doing with one of my favorite Middle School Teachers, as it really challenges students to think critically through rhetorical questioning and problem solving.
Rules of the Game
The Rules
1) Grab a scrap piece of paper as you walk into the classroom.
2) Have a seat, and read the "story" on the board.
3) Brainstorm 3 questions on your scrap piece of paper. Your questions:
- Are meant to help you fill in the "holes" of the story.
- MUST BE RHETORICAL! This means that I must be able to answer your question with a "yes" or a "no".
4) Wait silently for Miss P to read the prompt and begin taking questions.
Rules Continued...
CONTINUED
5) When questioning begins, Miss P will randomly draw 5-10 students to ask ONE of their questions.
- Remember that I will only answer questions with "yes" or "no".
- If you ask a question that is irrelevant to filling in the holes in the story, however, then I will simply responds with “irrelevant”.
6) When questioning is over, Miss P will randomly draw 2 students who will attempt to SOLVE the Story with Holes.
7) If the 2 randomly drawn students cannot solve the Story, then Miss P will reveal the answer.
8) Any student that successfully solves the Story will receive a CANDY REWARD!
EXAMPLE
Example
Here is the riddle: The music stops, and a woman dies. What happened?
Let’s imagine one person asks this question:
- Did the music stopping have to do with her death?
- I would answer: YES!
- I answered Yes because you can get closer to the answer with this fact.
Now if another person asks this:
- Was she aware she was about to die?
- I would say NO.
The answer to this one is...
The woman is a circus performer. When her act came up, if it went according to plan, she would've started walking across the tightrope (blindfolded) when the music played. Then when it stopped, that was her signal she was safely across and could step off onto the platform. However, When her act REALLY came up the music started so she went on to walk across the rope, but someone in the band plotted against her and purposely stopped playing, so she thought it was her cue, stepped off, and fell to her death.
The answer to this one is...
The woman is a circus performer. When her act came up, if it went according to plan, she would've started walking across the tightrope (blindfolded) when the music played. Then when it stopped, that was her signal she was safely across and could step off onto the platform. However, When her act REALLY came up the music started so she went on to walk across the rope, but someone in the band plotted against her and purposely stopped playing, so she thought it was her cue, stepped off, and fell to her death.
Story with Holes
The Snake
The snake’s presence saved the Smith family from a disastrous flood.
Story with Holes
Dead On Arrival
A traveler on a deserted road came upon the body of a man lying by the roadside, dead. The dead man was wearing a knapsack. Though there are no marks on the body, or blood anywhere, the traveler could tell immediately the cause of death.
Story with Holes
Double Murder
When Mr. Ford returned home from work, John and Mary are lying dead on the floor in a puddle of water and broken glass. Chester the cat could not be found, but none of his other belongings were missing.
What happened while Mr. Ford was away?
Story with Holes
The Dogs
Jane and Bob packed up their dogs and some treats, and went out for a picnic. The dogs remained frozen when they got there, even though Jane and Bob were so hot that they decided to take a swim in the lake near their picnic site.
Story with Holes
Elevator
A man lives on the twelfth floor of a building. Each morning he gets up, showers, gets dressed, takes the elevator to the first floor, and goes to work. Each evening he comes home, takes the elevator to the sixth floor, runs up to the twelfth floor and he’s home.
Why doesn’t he take the elevator to the twelfth floor when he comes home?
Story with Holes
Sam the
Truck Driver
Sam, the truck driver, drove a huge oil rig from Massachusetts to California. Not once did Sam stop to use the Men's room the entire 3,000 mile trip.
How did Sam manage to do this?
Story with Holes
Seeing
Double
Two identical twins (biologically and physically identical) go into a corner candy store and each orders a glass of soda. The contents of the glasses are identical. Each twin drinks the soda and finishes it. One twin lives and one twin dies. Why?
Story with Holes
Locked Out
Mrs. Wicklow lost her car keys after driving home from the grocery store. She looked everywhere she had been since she came home, but no luck. She needed to bring in a bag of frozen food that she had put on the back seat. It was a hot day and soon the frozen food would melt and make a mess. Even though she didn’t have a key she wasn’t worried. She went out to her car, took the grocery bag out and brought it in the house-even though all the car doors and windows were closed tightly and locked. She did not damage the car in anyway getting the bag from the back seat of the locked car.
How was this possible?
Story with Holes
Water
A man is in the desert. In the distance he sees a refreshment stand. He walks in and says to the attendant, “Please, please, a glass of water.” The attendant takes out a gun and fires three shots in the air. The man said, “Thank you,” and left satisfied.
How come he was satisfied by the gunshots when he really wanted a glass of water?
Story with Holes
The Thief
MaryAnn’s parents were very proud of her. She was an excellent student, polite and well-behaved. She always followed rules and respected the law. One day her parents saw her stealing. They had seen her steal many times as she was growing up. They were not disappointed or upset. In fact she had been taught to steal. Even though her father was a police officer, he encouraged her to steal whenever she could.