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Red Cell The
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Questioning Worksheet |
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Red Cell The
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Questioning Worksheet:
Red Cell
Name _________________________________ Top
Secret. The
red stamp stained itself diagonally across the manila folder. The
warning was clear, though rarely do such furtive things so boldly
announce their presence. Yet confidential files as this were not
uncommon in this government office. 1.
What question is begging to be asked?
__________________________________________________________________ In fact, the man behind the
desk where the folder lay might well be asked to review dozens of
these in a given day. But what made this particular folder so
interesting was that he wasn’t examining this one. He was the
mastermind behind the project. And by mere notion, it had become
classified. 2.
What clarifying question should your mind be asking?
_______________________________________________________ It wouldn’t just be his reputation on the line if it became public. 3.
What question is begging to be asked?
__________________________________________________________________ Even
though he firmly stood by his theory, its contents made him more
excited and more apprehensive than any covert operation he had ever
been part of. Never had such extreme feelings played tug-of-war with
his guts; one moment his stomach would swell with nausea and the next
flutter with butterflies and his enthusiasm could instantly condense
into cold sweats. 4.
What clarifying question should your mind be asking?
_______________________________________________________ Yet,
to the untrained eye, he was a pillar of composure. His finger
smoothly traced the rounded edge of the folder’s tab as his left
hand held steady the morning’s newspaper. Crumpled and smudgy under
his grip, the paper had aged under his intense stare and scrutiny—he
had been clutching the page for most of the morning. 5.
What clarifying question(s) should your mind be asking?
_____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________
If not for the conscious movements of his right index finger, one would
think he had been petrified by what he had read, yet his finger easily
enough gave away his thoughts. 6.
What questions are begging to be asked?
________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Holding
the folded paper open to the third page of the sports section, his
thumb underscored the headline, “Injun-uity!” The
article told the story of the thrilling finish for a local Pony League
baseball team as they triumphed over a bitter rival the night before.
The Chiefs might not have come away with a “W” at their summer
season’s opening game had it not been for the remarkable quick
thinking of their fourteen-year-old star shortstop. 7.
Make a prediction in the form of a question:_______________________________________________________________
8.
What clarifying questions
should your mind be asking?:
_____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. How does the word
“Chiefs” help you understand the headline “Injun-uity”? ______________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Though
the Chiefs had been ahead by a run since the fifth inning, the
sportswriter noted the deciding play came just moments before the
final at-bat. 10.
What clarifying question should your mind be asking?
______________________________________________________
*** The
night before, during the bottom of the ninth inning, Will Conlan, from
his shortstop position, glanced over at the runner on third and
calculated how many paces off the bag the guy had stepped for a lead.
Digging his fist into the pit of his glove and sweeping the loose
gravel with the inside of his cleat, Will readied himself to snag any
hit in his vicinity. The opposing Knights had their backs to the wall,
and Will figured the batter would be desperate to put the ball into
play to try to score their runner. Will hoped Cody, the pitcher, would
throw something that could only be chopped for a grounder. 11.
What clarifying question should your mind be asking?
______________________________________________________ Stepping
off the back of the mound, Cody flipped the rosin bag over with a puff
of powered dust in his right hand and took a deep breath before
dropping it to the ground. Shuffling back up to the rectangular plate,
Cody dug his eyes into the catcher’s mitt. Kicking his leg high, he
let loose with the ball. The second it left his hand, the batter slid
his hand down the bat for a bunt. The ball shanked straight and hot
instead of down the line. Will
noted that Cody’s follow-through had twisted him away from the
rolling ball. Knowing Cody might not get to the ball in time, Will
charged inward, pumping his legs with exertion. He couldn’t simply
be a spectator and watch the game slip out of their hands. To Will’s
right, the base runner was paralleling his dash homeward. Just
as Will was lowering his glove, Cody’s hand came out of nowhere,
snatched that ball from the grass, and turned toward first base.
Bug-eyed, Will wanted to scream. Couldn’t Cody see what was
happening? Had he forgotten about the man on third? The play was at
the plate! 12.
What clarifying question should your mind be asking?
______________________________________________________ In
a moment of panic, he desperately called out to Cody, but the play was
happening too quickly. Closing in on the pitcher’s mound, Will was
badly out of position, but what did it matter now? His head turned to
watch the ball leave Cody’s hand and, in that split second, Will’s
vision caught a second spot of white—a pouch that resembled a ball. 13.
What question is begging to be asked?
_________________________________________________________________ Obeying
his intuitive nature rather than logic, he countered to give his team
their only chance. 14.
Make a prediction in the form of a question:______________________________________________________________
Reaching
downward to the incline of dirt, he stretched his fingertips toward
the pitcher’s rosin bag. In one fluid motion, he seized the pouch
and snapped it sidearm toward home plate. Will
saw the watermelon-sized eyes of the catcher swell between the bars of
his facemask as he raised his arms to make a target of his catcher’s
mitt. He snatched the flying object out of the air and slapped his
throwing hand inward to secure the cupped object, holding it there
behind home plate without another movement of his body. The
runner snapped his head back-and-forth between Will and the catcher
and locked his legs, digging his heels into the dirt. Spinning
backward, he charged back to third. The catcher didn’t give chase. After
a long umpires’ conference, the home plate umpire ruled the runner
had not been “obstructed” from crossing home plate. Immediately,
two screaming coaches stomped toward the home plate umpire. One
shouted that the run should count. The other countered that a run
couldn’t count if the base runner never crossed home plate. Shaking
his head, he further contested that there was no specific rule against
what had happened. Will watched the umpire shift uneasily from foot to
foot as if he were wondering how kids could possibly think of these
things. 15.
What clarifying question should your mind be asking?
______________________________________________________ *** The
man leaned slightly forward in his office chair and rested his forearm
on the desk. He had replayed that scene over and over in his mind
until it almost seemed as if he had been there to witness it. Clasping
a thick sharpie, he drew a red circle around the article. Tapping the
newspaper with the cap of his marker, he seemed to make up his mind
once and for all. Then, very deliberately, he traced a second circle
around the name of the athlete, Will Conlan. Lifting the front flap of
the ink-stamped manila folder with the tip of his finger, he slid the
article now framed like a bull’s-eye directly inside. 16.
What clarifying questions
should your mind be asking?
_______________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 17. Why do you think this
man wanted a Top Secret file on the teenager Will Conlan?_____________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 18. (Consider your
questions in #3 & #8) Can you now answer these questions? What’s
probably the main reason the man was so apprehensive about this file?
__________________________________________________________________________ Possible Questions: 1. Which
government office? 2. Why
would it get classified by merely thinking about it? What was so bad
about his thought that it would require a Top Secret status? 3. Why
would his reputation be ruined if people found out? 4. What
was it about this project that made him so worried? So excited? 5. Did
the paper give him the idea? What did the newspaper say? 6. What
idea did he get from the paper? How did his finger give away his
thoughts? What was he going to do with the paper and the folder? 7. Will
this 14-yr old get involved in something top secret? Will he do
something remarkable in the game? 8. How
did the shortstop win the game? How did he catch the attention of the
man behind the desk? What would “Injun-uity” be referring to? What
could the article be about? Are the Indians a sports team? Why would a
sporting event be a topic for a classified folder? 9. The Chiefs refer to
the Injun. Ingenuity refers to the remarkable play. The Chiefs must
have made a very original play. 10. What happened on that play? 11.
What pitch will get thrown? Why’d he want a grounder? How’s a
grounder help Will’s team? 12.
Why was the play at the plate? What did Will want Cody to do? 13.
What was the spot of white? 14.
Is he going to use the pouch to make a play? 15.
Should the run have counted? 16.
Did Will Conlan just become part of something Top Secret? Why do you
think this man wanted a Top Secret file on the teenager Will Conlan? 17. Because he thinks in original ways. 18.
Probably apprehensive because he’s contemplating something top
secret involving a teenager. Top Secret files rarely involve
teenagers. |
