An Integrated Curriculum: Teaching Ideas, Vocabulary Builders, and Other Educational Activities

Educational curriculum including vocabulary building for child book mystery

Here are many educational activities that can be used in an integrated curriculum

with A Key Keepers Mystery: The Game Begins by Liz Shore.

Below are ideas for Vocabulary, Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, and Science.

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Please note: In order for the documents and handouts to print properly, you will need to print them as web pages (web-to-page). Many need to be printed in landscape. If you have difficulty getting them to suitably print, please email the author at shore@keykeepersmystery.com . Documents can be emailed to you if you have difficulty printing them directly from the website. In the near future, these documents will be PDF files that can easily be printed.

Language Arts activities:

There are many vocabulary activities on this website, including chapter previews, posters, crossword puzzles, and vocabulary quizzes.

Review narrative elements: Characters, Setting, Plot (problem/solution)

Look for synonyms for “said” especially in chapters 1-3.

There are many opportunities to discuss figurative language. See a poster of examples from the story, especially from chapters 1-5 & 9. This should be printed in landscape view. Categorize examples as simile, metaphor, personification. Explain that authors use figurative language to help readers picture what is happening and to help them better understand the story. You might also introduce hyperbole (exaggeration) in phrases like “You almost made me jump through the ceiling.” (chapter 2)

Look for vivid verbs in chapters 1-3.

Practice analogies. (bat : mammal :: lizard : reptile)

Study prefixes and suffixes in the context of words from the story.

Songs

Drama

Write a poem: Students can write their own poems entitled “The Greatest Treasure.”

Have each student start a “word jar” in which they place a favorite new vocabulary word from each chapter.

Ask students to make a list of homophones as they read, such as stake and threw. Chapter 3 contains “their, there, they’re.”

Review the rules for lay and lie (present and past). Students should look for variations on these words as they read. Especially look for this in chapters 2 and 4.

Review the rules for its and it’s. Examples of this can be found in chapter 12.

Discuss alliteration in the passage “freaky . . . feline” and “silly, slinky, sneaky sloth” in chapter 2.

An example of paraphrasing can be found in chapter 5 when Emma coins the phrase, “a book in a nook.”

Discuss the mystery genre.

Have students visualize as they read. Some suggested passages include the spiral staircase in chapters 2 & 4; Mr. Fields, the lawyer in chapter 3; Emma’s gift from Uncle Jack in chapter 4; the apparition in chapter 4; the library in chapters 2 & 5.

Play the Smugglers game. This is played like "Clue." Students can draw the rooms for the game board based on descriptions in the story.

Students can dramatize Maddie’s movements when she introduces Michael in chapter 2 and when she imitates the queen conch coming out of its shell in chapter 15.

Encourage students to start writing in a journal like the children in the book do.

See ideas for how to use the cyberhunt / web quest in class. This educational activity meets a variety of curriculum standards for many grade levels and across many subject areas.

Teach students how to gather research, complete an outline, and write a short report on the plants and animals of the Everglades and coral reefs.

A mnemonic technique can be found in chapter 5 when Emma tries to memorize a short list of words: cat, map, moon, book.

Social Studies activities:

Map skills—Have students identify locations mentioned in the story: Westchester County (NY), Manhattan, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Chicago, England, the Bermuda Triangle, St. Augustine, the Everglades, Key Largo, Key West, Canada, Alaska, California, Florida, Tennessee, South Dakota.

Locating Everglades National Park

The South Florida National Parks Activity Guide--a resource guide of the National Park Service includes activities on native people and natural history of the Everglades.

Map keys—As Emma wonders about the “keys” that Uncle Jack mentions in his final whisper, take this opportunity to build prior knowledge about different types of keys.

Map Skills—Figure out which states are missing from the map in chapter 5. You may want to print some maps to help your students. Students can then play the game on the Games and Puzzles page.

Brochures—Students can make brochures of places that Maddie, Michael, and Emma visited. (View some online brochures.) The Cyberhunt / Web Quest links will provide a lot of information to help with this, as well as the Behind the Scenes page.

Diagram—Have students sketch a diagram of the inside of Uncle Jack’s house. Chapters 2 & 4 will help with this. Then check the Greystone Manor page to see if they’re close.

Jeopardy—Play the educational Jeopardy games found on the Games and Puzzles Page. This activity meets many curriculum standards for science and social studies.

Family trees—Have students trace the family trees of the three children. Then they can make generational trees of their own families. See more activities.

Itineraries—Students can create itineraries of the children’s schedules as they travel to new places.

Math & Science activities:

Plants & Animals—Match them to the correct habitat. See the Games & Puzzles page.

Aquifer—Demonstrate how the aquifer soaks up water like a sponge. For more information on the aquifer, see chapter 12.

Measurement—Measure the wingspan of the wood stork, and compare its weight to something else that weighs 4-7 pounds. You can repeat this with the alligator and crocodile, as well as many other animals and plants in chapters 12 – 14.

Percentages are mentioned in Ch. 14.

Make a mural—Have students re-create the Everglades or the coral reefs by researching the plants and animals from the story. They can draw life-size examples and attach note cards containing their research. Go to the Student Projects page to see examples.

The South Florida National Parks Activity Guide--an excellent resource that includes many activities on water, environment, plants, & wildlife.