Jake the Detective

Vocabulary Lesson

          Jake couldn't believe it.  This was the third time this week that something was missing from his desk.  Monday his pencil was missing, and yesterday and again today it was his lunch money.

          He peered into his desk slot.    

          “Jake,” said his teacher Miss Winters, “are you paying attention?”

          Jake sat up straight.  What had Miss Winters been saying?  He hadn't realized that she was even talking at all.  “Were you saying something?”

          “Yes, Jake, we were discussing vocabulary.  Please listen.”

Jake nodded.  His dark hair stuck up at all angles.  He tried to smooth it down.  It bounced back up again.  It was bad enough that he was the smallest kid in his fourth grade class.  Why did he have to put up with bad hair too?

His mind began to wander.  Who could have taken his things?  Mikey had a pencil that looked like his.  So did Callie.  So did Angela.  His pencil had been an ordinary yellow one.  There was nothing special about his pencil, except that it was missing.  Does missing make a pencil special?  It was all so confusing.

          Just yesterday, his mother had told him to add something to the grocery list.  Well, anyone who's been in school knows that a list is for spelling words, and that adding is what you do in math.  Why didn’t his mother understand that?

          Jake waved his hand in the air, hoping Miss Winters would stop talking so he could tell her about his missing money.

          Finally she came to his desk.  “What is it, Jake?  Do you need help with your vocabulary words?”

          He shook his head.