Writing by Numbers

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Directions: Have students choose numbers in advance and write them down. Students should pick:

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• Two numbers between 1-12
• One between 13 and 20
• One between 21 and 30

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Once they have chosen the numbers, hand them a copy of the writing prompts sheet and go over the directions and your rubric. They are not allowed to change their numbers!

• Writing by Numbers
• Match your numbers to the items below and work them into a short story. More elements can be added but the four you chose must be used.
• Characters are:
• Old Dr. stein whose medical credentials were lost in W.W.II
• 15-year-old Robin whose parents are spending 10 days in Europe
• DJ West, motorcycle rider
• Tracey Stone who has held 11 different jobs in six years
• Miss Grey, 50-year-old, unmarried school teacher
• Orville, 12-year-old boy genius
• Rich, 84-year-old Alice Brady
• Gwen DeVine, stage actress and movie and TV star
• Kelly Ives, famous detective
• Ed hall, retired three years and totally alone since wife died
• Bert Dunn, TV talk show host
• Lee Davis, young athlete in training for the Olympics

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Setting is:

13. Winter: an isolated farm

14. A severe electrical storm: passenger cabin of a

jet liner

15. Tourist season: a beautiful resort hotel in Spain
16. Christmas Eve: a cheap, furnished apartment
17. Night: a 27-room Victorian mansion
18. Hunting Season: a cabin in the woods
19. Saturday night: city jail
20. Dawn: an empty stretch of desert highway

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Plot involves:

21. A fortune in rare coins
22. A fire that totally destroyed a huge warehouse
23. A suspicion of arsenic poisoning
24. A letter lost in the mail for over three years
25. A doctor’s reported an incurable disease
26. A stolen pedigree poodle
27. Automobile accident involving a sports car
28. A revenge plan for a child-hood accident
29. An invitation to a party
30. A new job

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