Activity--"Ordeal by Cheque"

The acts of reading and writing are inseparable. We tend to think of
them as discreet, mutually exclusive activities. That could hardly be
further from the truth! When we are writing, we are constantly doubling
back, re-reading what we have just written so that we can craft and
complete the rest of our sentence, the rest of our paragraph, the rest
of our essay or letter. When we are reading, our mind is writing the
words across our imagination, helping us to form a mental picture of the
words we process.

If you're looking for a fun and challenging way to illustrate the
twinned tasks of reading and writing, share "Ordeal by Cheque" with your
student. Wuther Crue's "Ordeal by Cheque," originally published in
Vanity Fair in 1932, is, at first glance, a most unconventional short
story. It doesn't look like a story at all. Instead it looks like a
series of ordinary personal checks.

Challenge your student to tell Crue's story. This will involve
critical thinking and reading skills, attention to detail, logic, a dose
of American history and a bit of imagination. As students read and
re-read the checks, they will "write" Crue's story. There is no answer
key, no "traditional" version of the story. This gives students a
chance to defend the narrative choices they make based on the evidence
Crue provides. Students can do this activitiy individually, but it can
be even more fun in groups.