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Chasing Vermeer |
Purpose
Allow students to make inferences and solve a mystery. |
Objective
1. to sharpen our inductive and deductive reasoning skills |
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2. to enlarge our awareness of codes &
puzzles in the world |
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3. experience the mystery genre for
recreational reading |
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4. gain an appreciation of the visual
arts |
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Lesson Plans |
Day 1: Cut out your own pentominoe set or try working the puzzle
online
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Day 2: Read Chapter 1 and discuss their
thoughts about the letter. Read Ch 2 up to page 9. Discuss possible "life
changing" events.
Assignment: Write a life-changing letter to someone, real or imaginary. You
may be anyone you wish in the letter, real or imaginary. Be prepared to
discuss why your letter is life-changing with the group. |
Day 3: Read each letter
and discuss the life-changing circumstances. Can you think of any more?
Read the rest of Chapter 2
aloud. Discuss characteristics of Calder & Petra. Why are they both at
the bookstore? What do they have in common?
Read Chapter 3 at home.. |
Day 4: Ms. Hussy bought an art
book at the bookstore in Chapter 2 - can you figure out which one? Check the
online catalogue for RISD (blue button on your left) &
Dallas Public Library.
Read Chapter 4 aloud.
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Day 5:
How many "letters" can you find in an art museum? Use these resources to
find works of art with letters or books in them. Do NOT travel any other
links!
Did you notice anything about the
paintings in general like a common them or a reoccurring item or person or
pose? Did any painting "grab" you? Why?
Do you have any ideas about where the author got the name "Calder"?
(hint-look in one of the online tours above for this "modern" name) |
Day 6
Read Chapter 5 aloud. Describe your own piece of art like Petra and Calder
did. Don't tell the reader what it is but describe it in as much detail as
you can & we'll all try to guess what it is. If it is something small you
can bring it to our next class. Read Chapter 6 at home.
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Day 7: Tommy & Calder's code,
Anagrams
Decode Calder & Tommy's letters. Write a note to
someone at school using this code.
Try creating your own anagrams. Complete the page "Anagrams: Rat, Art, Tar"
with your partner today. Look at example of anagrams in the book.
| Book |
Elvis Lives! and
other anagrams by Jon Agee |
Read Chapter 7 at home. |
Day 8: Charles Fort
Who is Charles Fort? Is he a real person and is "Lo!" a real book? Read
about the author's life and his unusual beliefs. What animal did he often
write about?
The Life's Work:
http://www.forteana.org/html/fortsbooks.html
The Author:
http://skepdic.com/fortean.html
Read Chapter 8 at home
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Day 10: The Lady Writing
Find the painting that Calder thinks Petra's costume resembles on this
webpage. Click
on the painting to enlarge it.
Read Chapter 9 aloud. Are Petra and Calder just making a big deal out of
nothing or are all these little things really related somehow? Aren't some
things just coincidence?
Solve the first cryptogram
Read Chapter 10 at home. |
Day 11:
Read Chapter 11 aloud
Solve the second cryptogram |
Day 12:
Read Chapter 12, 13 & 14 at home, decode the notes in Chapters 12 & 14 |
Day 13: Military Signal Flag Code
Use these sources to write your own secret message using the military's flag
code. Use Word and copy & paste the symbols onto your document.
If you finish early you can see how good you are at using the alphabet verbally with the quick quiz.
Read Chapter 15 at home |
Day 14:Morse Code
Telegraph was a very important means of communication in the history of our
country. Use these resources to find out about Samuel Morse and his partner
Alfred Vail as well as Morse Code. We'll try out the telegraph too to see if
you could be a telegraph operator.
Read Chapter 16 at home.
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Day 15
Read Chapter 17 aloud
Solve the Word Search
Chapter 18 at home.
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Day 16
Read Chapter 19 aloud and Chapter 20 at home. |
Day 17
Read Chapter 21 & 22 aloud and Chapter 23 at home |
Day 18
Read Chapter 24 aloud.
Were all the questions answered? Look at the illustrations and reread "About
the Artwork" on the page before Chapter 1. Can you figure it out?
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Resources: |
Print:
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie by Chris Demarest
Elvis Lives! and other anagrams by Jon AgeeNonprint:
pentominoes:
http://scholastic.com/titles/chasingvermeer/index.htm
link page:
http://suzyred.com/2005vermeer.html
author:
http://www.yakscorner.com/stories/balliett.htm
painter:
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/vermeer/
body of work:
http://essentialvermeer.20m.com/
http://www.tchevalier.com/gwape/vermeer/index.html
http://wwar.com/masters/v/vermeer-johannes.html
http://www.nga.gov/education/schoolarts/vermeer.htm
movie:
http://www2.io.tudelft.nl/id-studiolab/vermeer/
http://www.grand-illusions.com/vermeer/vermeer1.htm
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