ABSTRACT
The project presented in this chapter not only provides the children with an opportunity to develop data-handling skills; it sets the activities into an interesting and imaginative context which should make it more memorable. The creation of the portrait, the poster production and the writing of the crime story provide ample opportunities for the children to develop the skills and knowledge needed to consider the needs of their audience – particularly as they know the reader will need to use the information to try and solve the crime. The specific areas of language learning which this project work can be used to address are: descriptive writing and vocabulary extension work; opportunities for drafting and redrafting written work to emulate a particular genre (i.e. newspaper reporting); and concise writing and elaboration/extemporisation.
