In this reading, you are introduced to the three central characters- Petra, Calder, and Tommy. Write and send a short piece- a couple of paragraphs in length- about what makes each character unique. How do they see the world? What are their talents? What inspires them? Which character do you relate to most?

You can begin to read buildings when you take a closer look at architectural language. Five elements of this language are:

Shapes (or Forms), Scale, Colors, Materials, and Texture

For this exercise, the focus will be on the shape, scale and colors of your school building. This is a “walk around” survey that familiarizes kids with looking at architecture and recording their observations.

Write and send a response with answers to the following questions.

1. What are the predominant shapes of the school’s design? Where do you find them?  Do you see any pentomino shapes?
2. What is the scale of the architecture? In other words, what is the relationship between the size of the building and the people who use it?
   1. Discuss whether windows, doors, lockers, and furniture are sized for kids, adults, or both. Is there anything in the school that is not proportioned for students, and if so, what is it?
   2. Do the spaces make you feel big or small?
   3. How does this building compare in size to the buildings surrounding it?
3. What colors have been chosen for the exterior and interior of the building? Are they warm colors (yellow, orange, red) or cool colors (green, blue, purple)? Focusing on your classroom now… what are the colors of your classroom walls and why were they chosen? Do you think the colors were intended to produce a certain feeling in the rooms?

Go to http://www.scholastic.com/titles/chasingvermeer/pentominoes.pdf to print a set of pentominoes. Make a copy for each student so that each has his/her own set.

Discuss
What defines a pentomino?
Each has five squares.
The squares are all the same size.
One side of one square fits exactly against one side of another square.

Identify the letters represented.

Give them the opportunity to familiarize themselves with pentominoes in the following exercises:
Have students work in pairs. Using a 7 x 7 grid sheet , students will alternate placing a pentomino piece on the grid. The pieces cannot extend beyond the grid or overlap. The last player able to put a piece on the board wins.

To answer the challenge:
There are 7 different ways to cover a 3 x 5 rectangle. Challenge students to figure all 7 solutions in order to receive the points for this challenge. Record their solutions by tracing around the pentominoes on the grids and labeling the pentominoes used by the letters they resemble. Scan these outlines, or take digital photos, and upload to the site. Or, you can send them to us by mail.

Extra 10 bonus points:
To receive 10 points, send us your solutions for a 5 x 12, or 4 x 15 rectangle. Students will use all 12 pentominoes for these rectangles. Record by tracing the pentominoes on the grid sheets to show their work. Scan these outlines, or take digital photos and upload to the site. Or, you can send them to us by mail.