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Read Chasing Vermeer, Chapter 3: “Lost in the Art” — Chapter 11: “Nightmare;” Complete Student Packet Worksheets for Chapters 1-6 and 7-11

I will read the teaser located on the back cover, front cover, or inside book jacket of Chasing Vermeer. Students will discuss puzzling or suspenseful language in the teaser that entices them to read the story. I will explain that this “book teaser” raises puzzling questions or mysteries for the reader in order to get them to open the book and begin reading.

will explain that reading the teaser of a detective fiction book introduces the reader to the one or more of the mysteries that need to be solved in that book. I will create a Mystery Chart on chart paper. I will explain that in detective fiction, there is often one main mystery and several additional mysteries. The author presents the reader with a problem (i.e. A prized possession is stolen), and mysteries arise in conjunction with that problem (i.e. Who stole it? Why?). Note: See Mystery Chart Example for sample responses.

I will think about the chapters I have read so far in Chasing Vermeer, asking myself if there are any problems that I can recall. I will try to recall questions associated with that problem that seemed puzzling or didn’t have an answer in Chapters 1-6. As I recall problems and the questions that need to be answered, I will chart them on my Mystery Chart.

In the beginning of the book, I remember one problem was that three people received letters. I have some questions about this. Who received those letters? Who wrote those letters? I’ll note the problem and these questions on my Mystery Chart. Next, I remember another problem was that Petra found a strange book from Charles Fort. Who did the book belong to? Who threw it away? I also recall that Petra saw a lady in her dreams. Who was this woman? Why did Calder recognize Petra’s costume when she dressed up as her on Halloween? I remember that Tommy’s neighbor had disappeared. What happened to him? I recall Petra’s father’s behavior: Why was he acting so strange? I’ll note these problems and corresponding questions on my Mystery Chart.

If I find the solution to these mysteries as I read, I will come back to my Mystery Chart and write the solutions beneath the mystery questions. These may help unravel other mysteries.

Ask: "How did I figure out the mysteries that need to be solved?" Students should respond that you looked for problems in the text and asked questions about the mysteries surrounding those problems.

will read aloud Chapters 7 and 8 from Chasing Vermeer to look for problems, and the mysteries that arise from them. On our Mystery Chart, we will keep track of the problems we come across. We will turn each mystery into a question that needs to be solved. We will record our questions on our Mystery Chart. Note: Continue to use the Mystery Chart that was started during the Direct Teaching. See the Mystery Chart Example for sample responses.

will record additional problems you come across in Chapters 9 through 11 on the Mysteries Worksheet in your Student Packet. (See page 17 in the Student Packet.) You will turn each mystery into a question and record it on the Mysteries Worksheet. As you come across any solutions to mysteries you’ve identified, record the answers to those questions below the question or on a separate sheet of paper, as these can help you solve the main mystery.

will share our mysteries or problems that we have identified with the class, and if we hear questions we did not find on our own, we will add those questions to our Mysteries Worksheet. We will use the mysteries to write a book teaser for Chasing Vermeer as a class. As we continue to read Chasing Vermeer, we will refer to our Mystery Chart and Mysteries Worksheet for reference.