ELA 8 Standard 1 8-30
8/30/02
5:16 PM
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8.1.3
NAEP
Mystery Words
Purpose
Students will verify the meaning of a word in its context, even when
its meaning is not directly stated.
Materials
For the teacher: Copy of Black Line Master (BLM) Mystery Words,
dictionary, chalk, chalkboard
For the students: copies of BLM Mystery Words, pens or pencils.
Activity
A. Pre-Activity Preparation
Look over the BLM Mystery Words and be ready to answer
questions about the boldfaced words.
B. Pre-Activity Discussion
1. Ask students to describe what they should do if they come upon
a word they do not know while they are reading (e.g., look it up
in the dictionary, ask someone, figure it out from the context).
2. Explain that they will be looking at ways to determine the
meaning of words based on clues from the text.
C. Detective Work With Words
1. Distribute the BLM Mystery Words and read through the
selection.
2. Explain that the boldfaced words will probably be new to most
people in class.
3. Explain that the class will go through the selection again,
examining each new word and guessing what it means.
4. Read the first sentence and ask students what they think
flummoxed means [confused].
5. Ask students to explain how they know the word’s meaning. Point
out that it is restated at the end of the sentence (“in confusion”).
6. Write “restated” on the board and reinforce that often the
meaning of new words becomes clear later in the sentence, when
the word is restated in another way.
7. Continue through the selection, using the answer key on the
back of the BLM to help you label the technique used to clarify
the meaning of each new word.
(continued)
Standard 1 / Activity 3
Indiana English/Language Arts Grade 8 Curriculum Framework, October 2002
extending
THE
ACTIVITY
Have students find
unknown or unfamiliar
words in magazines,
newspapers, novels,
or textbooks. Have
students write their
guesses of the meaning
of the words, as well as
the actual definitions,
in a word journal.
connecting
across the
curriculum
Science
Have students research
the words used in
discussion of a scientific
topic, such as plate
tectonics, solar energy,
fuel cells, or gene
therapy. From their
reading, have students
compile a list of at least
eight new words
and their meanings.
Standards Link
8.2.6
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Standard 1
Standard Indicator
ELA 8 Standard 1 8-30
8/30/02
5:16 PM
Page 34
Standard 1
Activity (continued)
D. Close the Activity
1. When you have finished going through the selection a second
time, summarize the techniques used. Be sure to include the
following:
restating (the new word’s meaning appears again
in other words)
contrasting (the new word is contrasted with a familiar
word or phrase or an example)
explaining (the meaning of the new word is clarified
by more detail)
suggesting (we can get a good idea of the word’s meaning
by understanding the scene and the characters’ states of mind)
comparing (the writer says the new word is similar to a
familiar word or phrase)
2. Ask students which new words were their favorites. Have them
each choose one of the new words and use it in a sentence that
makes the word’s meaning clear to the reader.
Classroom Assessment
Basic Concepts and Processes
After they have completed the activity, ask students the following
questions:
What are two ways writers clarify the meaning of a new word?
Why don’t writers use familiar words all the time?
How can you tell what dingle means in the eighth paragraph?
Which new word means flighty person?
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Standard 1 / Activity 3
Indiana English/Language Arts Grade 8 Curriculum Framework, October 2002
ELA 8 Standard 1 8-30
8/30/02
5:16 PM
Page 35
Mystery Words
“I’ve never felt so flummoxed,” Miles said, looking around him in confusion. “I don’t know how
it could have happened. That golden platypus was my most precious possession, and now it’s gone!”
“You’ve been bamboozled,” Miss Hollymeade said decisively. “That nice young man who was claiming
to help was really a reprobate out to trick you.”
Miles was amazed at Miss Hollymeade’s perspicacity. Miles had assumed the sweet old woman was a
flibbertigibbet who couldn’t follow a train of thought if she were chained to the caboose. But now Miles
saw that Miss Hollymeade was the most lucid person on the case. In contrast, Detective Quigley could
do nothing more than belabor the incident with the ferret, going over it again and again with niggling
detail until Miles wanted to cudgel him with the golden platypus. But the platypus was gone!
Miss Hollymeade daintily stepped over Detective Quigley’s immense brogans. They were all that
showed of the man as he hunted under the bed yet again for the ferret.
“Clearly, this is what transpired,” Miss Hollymeade said, pulling Miles into a quiet corner. “That
execrable young man distracted you with the sales pitch about his halitosis cure. Really, Miles, I don’t
know why you were interested at all. I’ve never noticed a problem with your breath.”
Miles surreptitiously shifted his mint under his tongue.
“While you were examining his wares, the young man slipped your platypus into his case of samples.
The ferret that landed on your neck was unrelated, simply a passerby, a peripatetic rodent wandering
through at a bad time.”
“Hey, I think I’ve almost caught it,” Detective Quigley called from under the bed. “Could you hand
me that dingle? You know, the whosit, the whatchamacallit? I mean, the cage?”
Miss Hollymeade idly shoved the cage under her bed with her foot. “Actually, I don’t believe it’s
a ferret at all,” she told Miles quietly. “I believe it’s the same uninvited guest that horripilated Polly
Hazelthworpe yesterday. She described it quite clearly as a titanic, long-toothed rat.”
“Yow!” Detective Quigley cried. “Ouch! Deuced ferret!”
“As for your golden platypus,” Miss Hollymeade said, “I believe you will enjoy it again shortly.
I’ve instructed my man Hobbes to detain the young jackanapes at the Longhampton petrol station.
He will be obliged to stop there, since I siphoned most of the petrol from his tank while he attempted
to perpetrate the same perfidy on Nigel Stilton.”
A cheerful chirp came from Miss Hollymeade’s cell phone. “That will be Hobbes,” she said.
“Shall we go retrieve your treasure?”
“Yes, indeed!” Miles said, elated. Miss Hollymeade took his arm, and together they left the room.
“I need a bigger cage,” Detective Quigley said from under the bed. “But I can’t seem to get out.
Miles, could you give my feet a pull? Miles?”
Standard 1 / Activity 3
Indiana English/Language Arts Grade 8 Curriculum Framework, October 2002
Black Line Master 1
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