For Teachers

Take advantage of the enthusiasm your students have

for Olivia Brophie and the Pearl of Tagelus!

 

 

 

 

Worlds Around Us is an 84-page curriculum built specifically to teach Olivia Brophie and the Pearl of Tagelus as well as related science activities and lessons. It is appropriate for grades 3-6. Most of the content has been created by other teachers who have successfully used it with their students.

 

There are lots of options for using Worlds Around Us. You can simply use the Language Arts activities in your reading classroom. Or you can coordinate the language arts lessons with the science lessons. Worlds Around Us makes this easy by connecting relavent passages  with science activities. Most chapters have several options of varying levels of complexity for easy adaptation to your specific needs.  Find your own tardigrades, learn about Linnaean classification, and dive into the Floridan aquifer. All of this and much more are easily achievable with this valuable resource.

 

Finally, you can use Worlds Around Us in coordination with Archbold Biological Station's Discovering Florida Scrub for the most comprehensive classroom program. I partnered with Archbold to provide a custom path through Discovering Florida Scrub that takes advantage of Olivia Brophie's adventure.

All activities and lessons are tagged with Common Core Language Arts standards and Next Generation Science standards.

 

Learn about the scrub at the same time Olivia is discovering it for herself!

 

 

Download Worlds Around Us curriculum

 

Download Discovering Florida Scrub curriculum

 

Download Waters Journey curriculum

 

Download a Florida Scrub coloring book

 

 

 

If you have suggestions for activities that you've used to teach Olivia Brophie, please let me know. I will continue to improve this curriculum as new ideas arise.

 

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If you are not a Central Florida school, you should consider  a Skype Visit with me. I meet with classrooms all over the country and world! You can either email me directly (crtozier@gmail.com) or contact me through the Skype in the Classroom program to arrange a visit. I Skype with classrooms all over the world!

 

Here are two reviews of my Skype Visits:
"My class of Third graders had an AMAZING Skype lesson with Chris Tozier!! He answered all of their questions, mind you that was 21 curious questions, we had to know! (: He also shared some things that were unique to where he lived, which here as he showed these items, were lots of ooo's and ah's. What a great Author who is willing to devote time to share his love of writing! We cannot wait to get started on reading his book and talk with him again as we read!! "

"Thank you so much Mr. Tozier! My students were so excited after our visit. We HAD to go online to find out all about Tardigrades. We are going to find our own this week and look at them under the microscope. We watched your trailer too. They all want their own copy of the book now, so I am talking with my Principal about buying them each their own copy. Thank you for making education so exciting for kids!"

Here is her response after I later asked if they found tardigrades:

Hi,
Yes we did! The kids were so excited!I can't thank you enough for opening up their eyes to a whole new world. Please continue your work. It is very important that teachers have books like yours to use in the classroom.
I grew up in Massachusetts. As a child I spent many hours outside exploring the woods. My students spend so much time inside playing video games that don't understand the world around them. I have used books to introduce science concepts to the kids in the past. I can't wait until next years group of kids because I plan on using your first book and your second book! Thanks again.

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Olivia Brophie and the Pearl of Tagelus is the perfect choice for your elementary or middle grade classroom. It is a fun read with challenging vocabulary and a literary sensibility. It also serves as a great introduction to natural sciences including the scrub, wildlife corridors, adaptation, aquifers. Not to mention: bears, snakes, echinoids, tardigrades, and prehistoric megafauna.
 

 

Olivia Brophie has the following attributes:

ATOS Book Level: 4.5 
AR Points: 8 
Word Count: 56825 

These numbers are comparable to: City of Ember, Artemis Fowl, Hoot, A Wrinkle in Time

 

Included on this page:

Introduction to School Visits

Chapter Study Questions
Vocabulary Words in The Pearl of Tagelus

Florida Scrub Plants and Animals in The Pearl of Tagelus

 

Introduction to School Visits

I can customize a classroom visit to your needs. If you want to focus on a particular subject or avoid a subject, it is very easy for me to adapt. Typical visits last one hour. I can also spend the entire time reading from the novel and talking about the writing process.  Please email me  crtozier@gmail.com if you have questions or you want to schedule a visit.

Example of a typical classroom visit:

·         Introduction to Olivia Brophie and the Pearl of Tagelus

·         What is the Florida Scrub?

·         Animals of the Florida Scrub – Pictures, not real animals!

·         What is ancient Florida?

·         Real Florida fossils that inspired Olivia Brophie's adventures

·         Reading an excerpt from Olivia Brophie

·         Questions about the book, nature, and writing

I wrote Olivia Brophie and the Pearl of Tagelus to be an exciting fantasy that readers will enjoy. It is not a textbook. But instead of aliens, fairies, and vampires, I used real nature to drive the magic in Olivia's world. Teachers can use this middle-reader fantasy novel to introduce many concepts into their curriculum. On this page I will provide suggestions for using Olivia Brophie to teach subjects such as:

• The Floridan Aquifer
• The Cenozoic Era
• Florida Scrub Plants and Animals
• Fossils and fossilization

**********************

Chapter One Questions

1)      What emotions do you think Olivia is feeling when her dad sends her to live in Florida?

2)      What was Olivia’s first impression of her Aunt and Uncle?

3)      What should Olivia have done in the candy store when she was attacked? Why do you think she did the wrong thing?

4)      What do you think the title “Pancakes to Waffles” means?

Chapter One Vocabulary

inexplicably

turquoise

**********************

Chapter Two Questions

1)      What was unusual about Aunt and Uncle’s house?

2)      How do you think Uncle got the giant boulder into the house?

3)      Why doesn’t Olivia want her uncle to call her Butterfly?

4)      What is condensation?

Chapter Two Vocabulary

condensation

geegaw

specimens

**********************

Chapter Three Questions

1)      Why is there so much cereal in Aunt and Uncle’s house?

2)      Name three things that are unique or strange about the forest around the house.

3)      What does Olivia dream of becoming?

4)      Why do you think Olivia couldn’t control running into the forest?

5)      What is the Florida scrub? What kinds of animals live there?

6)      What is Doug doing in the scrub?

7)      Why do you think Larry, Richard, Cuke, and Begonia don’t like Olivia and Doug?

Chapter Three Vocabulary

artfully

colossal

coontie

endangered

polka

precisely

**********************

Chapter Four Questions

1)      Who are Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison?

2)      Do you think Olivia and Gnat understand Uncle’s story?

3)      What kind of device does Uncle place at the north and south poles? Why do you think Nikola wanted him to put them there?

4)      What is the difference between the north pole and the magnetic north pole?

5)      Why doesn’t Aunt want Uncle to tell Olivia his story?

Chapter Four Vocabulary

cavorting

fluctuating

gingham

magnetic pole

phonograph

**********************

Chapter Five Questions

1)      What do tree frogs write with on Olivia’s window?

2)      Name a country that speaks Arabic.

3)      Why do you think Gnat wanted to sleep in his sister’s room?

Chapter Five Vocabulary

amphibian

lapis

limber

medallions

methodically

**********************

Chapter Six Questions

1)      Why do you think the coral snakes left Olivia red, black, and yellow beads?

2)      What kind of language do the walkingsticks use?

3)      Why do you think it gets cooler when Olivia, Doug, and Gnat get closer to the spring?

4)      Why does Olivia get so upset with the boys after she gets out of the spring?

5)      Why does Olivia take charge when they fall down the hole to the underground cavern? Why does Doug hyperventilate?

Chapter Six Vocabulary

dissipated

lilting

sarcasm

**********************

Chapter Seven Questions

1)      What is a tombolo?

2)      What is an aquifer? What do people in Florida get from the aquifer?

3)      What kind of animal is Squirt? Why does he follow the kids?

4)      Why do you think the cave urchins shoot pink ink?

5)      Who made the best decision for dealing with the clear monster? Why?

Chapter Seven Vocabulary

aquifer
limestone
mammoth

tombolo

**********************

Chapter Eight Questions

1)      Write one trillion in numerical form.

2)      What do you think the underground city looked like? How do you think it was constructed?

3)      Why are there so many mushrooms growing in the city?

4)      What do cave urchins eat?

5)      Why do you think Doug doesn’t answer when Gnat calls him on the walkie-talkie?

Chapter Eight Vocabulary

aqueduct

bulbous

buttress

facade

portico

precarious

veranda

whorls

**********************

Chapter Nine Questions

1)      Why does the clear monster suddenly start obeying Doug?

2)      How big are tardigrades and where do they live on the surface?

3)      How does Doug see in the dark cave without a flashlight?

Chapter Nine Vocabulary

stalactites

stalagmites

tardigrade

**********************

Chapter Ten Questions

1)      How do you think the underground city created light back when people lived there?

2)      What kind of animal is an Anaspidean?

3)      Why does Olivia leave Squirt behind?

4)      Why did the bag of bread taste so good to Olivia, Doug, and Gnat?

5)      How do you think Thunder knows his way through the forest?

Chapter Ten Vocabulary

dais

exuberance

mottled

operculum

sonorous

**********************

Chapter Eleven Questions

1)      Why is Uncle fixing an old television?

2)      Why is Doug’s mother trying to keep him away from Olivia?

3)      Why do the tree frogs scold Olivia?

Chapter Eleven Vocabulary

erratic

sphere

translation

**********************

Chapter Twelve Questions

1)      What is the Teslatron?

2)      What seems to happen to everyone who searches for the sphere?

3)      Why is Olivia much more interested in Uncle’s story this time?

Chapter Twelve Vocabulary

alchemist
crocheting

decipher
ghastly
mystics
parallel
physicists

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Chapter Thirteen Questions

1)      Why is Olivia famous now?

2)      Why don’t Olivia and Gnat believe Doug when he tells them he commanded the tardigrade?

3)      What is a boil?

4)      Why does Mrs. Vitaly have so many certificates on her office wall?

5)      Why does Olivia make Mrs. Vitaly, Mr. Ott, and the bullies nervous?

Chapter Thirteen Vocabulary

Cambrian

cotillion

elucidate

reconciliation

scarcity

stewardship

**********************

Chapter Fourteen Questions

1)      What is the town of Lyonia named after?

2)      Why does Olivia smile when she realizes that everyone is afraid of her?

Chapter Fourteen Vocabulary

bickering
trilled
yammering

**********************

Chapter Fifteen Questions

1)      Why does Olivia like Miss Rinkle so much?

2)      Why does Olivia wait until nighttime to open the sphere again?

3)      What do you think would happen if Olivia didn’t restore gravity?

Chapter Fifteen Vocabulary

biologist
geostationary
paddock
reeled
sophisticated

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Chapter Sixteen Questions

1)      What food is hanging moss related to?

2)      What plant does the cochineal insect live on?

3)      Why do Larry and Richard become so enraged at Olivia?

4)      Why is Doug scared of Olivia?

5)      Why is Doug flunking school?

6)      Why do Aunt and Uncle like Miss Rinkle so much?

Chapter Sixteen Vocabulary

carmine

caveat

diagnostic

eclectic
exacerbating

flummoxed

perturbed

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Chapter Seventeen Questions

1)      Who is Miss Rinkle and what does she want?

2)      Why were the Junonians different than other people?

3)      What is a Dark Eye and why does Miss Rinkle dislike them?

4)      What magic has Miss Rinkle been casting on Aunt and Uncle?

5)      What is a mud eater?

Chapter Seventeen Vocabulary

bristled
optimist
precocious
quartz

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Chapter Eighteen Questions

1)      Who is protecting Olivia from the Bobwhite Witch?

2)      Why does Olivia feel so lonely?

3)      What do you think Gnat did at yoga class?

Chapter Eighteen Vocabulary

unimpeded
yoga

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Chapter Nineteen Questions

1)      Why didn’t Miss Rinkle show up to school?

2)      Why is everyone evacuated from school? Why is Mr Ott so eager to finish dropping everyone back home?

3)      Who messed up the Milligan’s home? Who does Uncle think did it?

4)      Why does Olivia tell Uncle everything?

5)      Why does a small bear look to Olivia for comfort?

Chapter Nineteen Vocabulary

coherence
culprits
unimpeded

**********************

Chapter Twenty Questions

1)      Who destroyed the air conditioner?

2)      Why was Squirt able to find Olivia?

3)      Who are the men in the house?

4)      Why did the walkingsticks help Olivia?

Chapter Twenty Vocabulary

kamikaze
venerable

**********************

Chapter Twenty-one Questions

1)      Why don’t the bears want to walk down the tombolo?

2)      What language does Doug speak?

3)      If water froze at 68 degrees, what do you think it would feel like?

4)      Do you think the Bobwhite Witch was really just trying to help Olivia?

Chapter Twenty-one Vocabulary

disarticulated

**********************

Chapter Twenty-two Questions

1)      How has the world change since Olivia used the Pearl?

2)      Why does Olivia run off with Hoolie?

3)      Why does Olivia call Doug a genius?

Chapter Twenty-two Vocabulary

None!

**********************

Full vocabulary list for use in the classroom

alchemist
amphibian
aqueduct
aquifer
artfully
bestowed
bickering
biologist
bristled
bulbous
buttress
Cambrian
carmine
caveat
cavorting
coherence
colossal
condensation
coontie
cotillion
crocheting
culprits
dais
decipher
diagnostic
disarticulated
dissipated
divulge
eclectic
elucidate
endangered
erratic
exacerbating
exuberance
façade
fluctuating
flummoxed
geegaw
geostationary
ghastly
gingham
inexplicably
insinuate
kamikaze
lapis
lilting
limber
magnetic pole
medallions
methodically
mottled
mystics
operculum
optimist
paddock
parallel
perturbed
phonograph
physicists
polka
portico
precarious
precisely
precocious
quartz
reconciliation
reeled
sarcasm
scarcity
sonorous
sophisticated
specimens
sphere
stalactites
stalagmites
stewardship
tardigrade
tombolo
translation
trilled
turquoise
unimpeded
venerable
veranda
whorls
yammering

Florida Scrub Animals and Plants in The Pearl of Tagelus

 

gopher apples

dahoon holly

palmetto

lyonia – crookedwood

blueberries

prickly pear cactus

scrub oaks

coral snakes

gopher tortoise

muskmare walkingsticks

gopher frogs

indigo snakes

burrowing owls

black bears

swallow-tailed kites

rattlesnake

cochineal

tarflower

Buy Olivia Brophie and the Pearl of Tagelus at Amazon.com