Chapter Four — Square One
THEME: Quick Thinking
⏰ Time: 40 minutes (depending on your activities of choice)
Add 15-30 minutes for Omnopoly Quiz Game & Travelogue Writing Prompt
which can be done at any time after the session
🎁 Experience Enhancers: Ship sounds, room-service leftovers
👀 AT-A-GLANCE options
- ⏪ Recap previous chapter
- 🧮 Life-Skills Math — all ages can help with this to a degree
- 🤔 Deduction
- 🔍 Research
- 🎭 Re-enact
- 💬 Discuss
Meanwhile...
At the end of (or after) the lesson
- ♟️Omnopoly Quiz Game
- ✍️Travelogue Writing Prompt
- ⛺️🗓️ Today's Story Advent{ure} Calendar action (if applicable)
- ☎️ 🌊 This week's FATHOMS group call (optional)
📏 Scroll to bottom for Skills, DISCIPLINES, and Ages breakdown for this lesson 📐
SUPPLIES SUGGESTIONS
(Click on image to enlarge)
🗄️ DETAILS by Category
1. ⏪ RECAP previous chapter - As you recall ... the gang arranged for room service, and the cruise constable paid a visit after hearing reports of what sounded like children
2. 🧮 Based on Finn's call to Room Service in Chapter Three, how much was the bill for the items ordered specifically for the Robinson Children? Have older kids add 15% gratuity & the Room Service Charge (printed on the menu) to the subtotal to come up with a grand total. See this lesson's Printables for the answer
3. 🤔 DEDUCTION
- Where could the kids have gone?
- What do you think will happen to the children—or to Finn if he pursues them?
- What might be a “better solution” than putting the kids back in the luggage room?
- Who do you think gave the instruction to “keep an eye out”? How did you come to this conclusion based on the story so far?
4. 🔍 RESEARCH
- What are saddle shoes? And how did they get their name?
- Where does the term guttersnipes come from? What does it mean? Why would Frankie refer to the kids this way?
5. 🎭 RE-ENACTMENT
- Play Frankie's Simon Says, adding some silly commands of your own
- What is a snooty tone? Try doing one
- The cruise constable coming to look for the kids
- Finn talking to crewman (or hold off for a better interaction in the next chapter)
6. 💬 DISCUSSION
- Fretting is never fun. Is there something you fret over? What can you do to fret less?
- What does “a practiced smile” mean? What sorts of things do hospitality workers contend with? How can we make their jobs a bit more enjoyable? 🎭 Try doing a practiced smile
- Frankie’s comment about "misplacing" the kids was meant to be a joke, but Finn didn’t find it funny. Is there a right time and a wrong time for joking?
- What sort of “desperate measures” could Frankie have in mind?
- What does it mean to "go back to square one"? Why do you think this chapter may be titled Square One?
During the re-enactment when the cruise constable barges into the suite, have the kids hide in an adjoining room (if possible), then (when signaled) sneak out to hide under a table cloth concealing a cart or wagon (if possible). Then wheel them out!
👶 WEE ONES OPTION 🫣
Let them join in hiding from the cruise constable
(and expect some giggling to ensue!)
🤪 ZOOMIES OPTION 🙃
If you have a cart or wagon for the kids to "hide" in, take them for a thrilling high-speed ride. In the absence of a cart or wagon, pretend you are the cruise constable and chase them!
🖨️ Click here or on image for Printables (including 1 coloring page)
🔠 Optional VOCAB Flashcards
♟️Omnopoly Quiz Game 4 (includes puzzle)
✍️Travelogue Writing Prompt:
If you were in Frankie & Finn’s position, what would you have done at this point? How far do you think they should go in helping the Robinson kids, when doing so may result in getting themselves in trouble. After all, they hardly know the kids.
📐SKILLS (dependent on age): Being quiet, thinking on your feet, understanding nuances, knowing how to hide for safety, taking charge, problem solving, talking to an authority figure, roleplay, imagination, helpfulness, vocabulary, acting, understanding concepts, Q&A discussion, memory, figuring out a brain-teaser puzzle (in Omnopoly)
listed by age
