Has and Have Game: A Guide to the Missing Masterpiece Mystery
Choosing has or have is more than matching a pronoun with a word. Learners also need to recognize how the pattern changes in a negative or a question, and use the complete sentence to communicate what someone possesses.
The Missing Masterpiece Museum Mystery is a has and have digital escape room for Grades 2–4 and elementary ESL/ELL learners. Students examine seven suspects, follow picture and reading clues, and investigate a vanished painting. Here is how to build a useful subject–verb agreement lesson around the museum case.
Meet The Missing Masterpiece Museum Mystery
A valuable museum painting has disappeared. Students investigate seven suspects, complete seven grammar challenges, and use the developing evidence to help recover the masterpiece.
Story discoveries reveal the next lead, and the investigation ends with a cabinet-lock challenge. Introduce the case without explaining the outcome. Ask students to pay attention to the descriptions and clues as well as the grammar task on the screen.
Explore The Missing Masterpiece Museum Mystery and view the activity previews.
What do students practice with has and have?
The mission reviews has/have agreement, affirmative and negative sentences, do/does questions, short answers, and reading descriptions with picture clues. These patterns connect, but each needs an explicit model when it is new.
In an affirmative example, compare She has a notebook with They have a notebook. When adding does or doesn’t, use the base form have: Does she have a notebook? and She doesn’t have a notebook. This prevents a learner from carrying has into every sentence with she.
These are teacher-created examples for a warm-up, not questions taken from the game. Add a short answer such as Yes, she does and point out that it uses the auxiliary. Keep the examples focused on the do/does pattern used by this resource rather than introduce every possible have construction at once.
How does the museum investigation work?
Across seven challenges, learners match people with descriptions, type missing verbs, arrange words into sentences, answer grammar questions, and search illustrated museum scenes. The resource includes two full search scenes, connected story discoveries, and the final cabinet-lock challenge.
The variation makes it useful to look beyond one correct answer. A student may choose has accurately in a simple affirmative sentence and still need support with doesn’t have. Another may understand the agreement but miss a detail in a longer description. Listen for which part of the task caused the hesitation.
Ask learners to connect a response with its evidence. They might identify the subject that controls a verb choice or point to a visual detail supporting a description. Grammar and reading both contribute to the investigation, and each deserves focused feedback.
How to set up the mission for your class
- Follow the purchase access instructions. Activate the mission as directed and open the teacher dashboard.
- Preview the resource. Review the activities and printable materials, check progress monitoring, and decide whether to use the optional timer.
- Create a classroom code. Share the code and the student access instructions supplied with the mission.
- Help students join. Learners enter a classroom code and a nickname or team name. Student email accounts are not required.
Use an internet-connected desktop computer, laptop, Chromebook, or compatible tablet in landscape orientation. Gameplay is not designed for phones. Test access on the same school device and network you plan to use.
Before purchasing or planning the lesson, visit the Mystery Missions school-device test page. Use it as a preparation step alongside your school’s access procedures and the resource instructions.
The current resource information suggests about 30–35 minutes for the adventure. Add time for joining, a short grammar model, and follow-up discussion. Reading support and the amount of partner explanation will affect your classroom schedule.
A practical classroom lesson sequence
Before playing: compare the three sentence patterns
Use one familiar object and model an affirmative sentence, a negative, and a question. Highlight the subject, the auxiliary when present, and have or has. Ask learners to explain why a form changes instead of only repeating the finished sentence.
During the mission: separate grammar and evidence checks
Give partners alternating reader and checker roles. The checker identifies the subject and verb pattern, then confirms any relevant detail in the description or picture. If an error appears, ask whether the difficulty is agreement, the question structure, unfamiliar vocabulary, or the evidence itself before you intervene.
After playing: use new subjects and objects
Provide a fresh picture and ask for one affirmative sentence, one negative, and a question about it. Include a short answer if students have studied that pattern. Change the subject so learners need to apply the agreement rather than copy a sentence remembered from the game.
Support learners and extend the challenge
For support, keep complete models visible: She has…, She doesn’t have…, and Does she have…? Preview vocabulary for objects and appearance descriptions, and read a story passage together if the text obscures the target grammar.
For an extension, invite learners to create a short description for a partner and ask a question that can be answered from it. Have the partner identify the supporting detail. These are suggested classroom additions; choose sentence length and vocabulary according to the group.
Use the printable follow-up thoughtfully
The resource includes printable practice worksheets with answer keys. Use a suitable page for an independent check, a small-group review, or the next lesson’s warm-up. Focus the follow-up on an observed difficulty instead of automatically adding more of every task.
For an introduction to the series, read our teacher’s guide to Mystery Missions.
Frequently asked questions
Does the mission practice only affirmative has/have sentences?
No. It also includes negatives, do/does questions, short answers, and reading descriptions with picture clues.
How can I respond to Does she has…?
Return to a complete model with does and the base form have. Ask the learner to identify the auxiliary, repair the sentence, and apply the same pattern to a new example.
Do students need their own email accounts?
No. They join with a classroom code and a nickname or team name.
Can the mission be used with partners or a guided class?
Yes. Choose individual, partner, small-group, or guided class play according to reading independence and classroom needs. Model the access and turn-taking routines before students begin.
Plan your next Mystery Mission lesson
The Missing Masterpiece Museum Mystery gives has/have practice a clear investigative purpose. Model how the sentence patterns change, listen to students’ explanations during play, and end with language they produce about a new picture.
View The Missing Masterpiece Museum Mystery and explore the resource details.
You can also view this resource on Teachers Pay Teachers.
