Charlotte Morgan and the Great Big Math Problem--Chapter 12--Meeting in the Treehouse

  This is my next book.  

It is currently being copy edited, (so there will be the occasional typo in this version) and I am having a few illustrations done.

I am including the tag #steemiteducation because I wrote this thinking like a teacher.  The characters use math and describe their math thinking as they work through problems.  I am a former 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade teacher, so I used my experience and background from those years as I wrote this.

Update: The book is now available for preorder on Amazon.  

Click here to get it on Kindle.Click here to preorder the books

Chapter 12: Meeting in the Treehouse

Summary:  The Investigators meet with Calvin to see what he knows about Gavin taking their stuff.

At 4:30 in the afternoon, Sally and I sat in my front yard as we waited for Marcus and Aaron to show up.  We still weren’t sure if Calvin was going to come to our meeting.  According to Marcus, he asked him during recess, and Calvin said “maybe.” 

Aaron arrived first, he was in his baseball outfit, which was covered in dirt and grass stains.  He threw his glove down on the ground and sat down next to us.

“Do you know if he is coming yet?” Aaron asked.

“Nope,” replied Sally and she let a huge bubble pop.

“Look!” Aaron pointed to our left.  There was Marcus and Calvin coming down the street together on their bikes.

“Hey guys!” said Marcus as they arrived.  He let his bike drop to the ground.  He held up his box of Magnix and pointed to Calvin behind him. “Can Calvin join us as we play with these?”  Marcus asked, as if we didn’t already know that he had asked him.

“Sure!” I replied.  “We can  go up into my tree house.”

“That sounds cool,” said Calvin.

The tree house was a little more crowded with one extra person in it.  We spread the Magnix out onto the floor.  We sorted them by object.  The rods went together, the spheres went in a group, the triangles together, and circles went together.  There were hundreds of different pieces.  986 pieces according to the box, but with the four missing pieces, that brought the number down to 982 pieces.

“This is where you meet for your math club,” Calvin asked.

“Yeah.  Sometimes we have to meet in my room, like when it’s too cold,” I said.

“Do you actually work on math things?” Calvin asked as he put together two blue rods and a red triangle.

I nodded my head, “Yeah, we do.  But a lot of the times were work on other things as well.”

Calvin cocked his head, “Work?”

“We made a working rocket ship once.  It was one of those model rocket ships, my dad a had gotten it for me for Christmas.  That sort of work,” explained Aaron.

“That sounds like fun and play,” said Calvin.

“Of course, we also work on our homework,” said Sally.

“That doesn’t sound like fun and play,” Calvin shook his head.

“It beats doing homework on your own or with your parents,” I said.

Calvin nodded his head, “I could see that.”

I couldn’t wait anymore, the words just fell out of my mouth, “So what sort of problems do you Gavin caused this weekend?  Do you think it was a big thing?” 

Calvin didn’t look up, he kept working on his Magnix.  Sally, Aaron, and Marcus looked Calvin waiting his response.

“What are you talking about?” Calvin replied.

“This morning at school, during Morning Meeting, after you teased him,” my voice got faster.

“Oh, that.  I don’t know.  I just know that his cousin came over and I saw them leave on their bikes.  I don’t know exactly what he did.  I just like messing with him.  It’s fun to get him mad,” Calvin kept working on his Magnix, it looked like he was building a car with his pieces.

“Did he come down this street?” Aaron asked.

“Of course, he came down this street.  He lives just up the road,” Calvin pointed in the direction of Calvin’s house.  “Why do you guys care about what he did over the weekend?” Calvin stopped working on his Magnix car.  “I thought you guys didn’t like him.”

“That’s true.  He bullies us a lot at school,” I replied.

“Do you know if he stole anything of ours?” Marcus asked.

“How would I know that?  It’s not like he is going to tell me that he stole anything,” said Calvin.

My heart sank.  We didn’t have proof that Gavin took our stuff.

Thirty-seven items missing, and zero proof of who did the crime.

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