Making Meaning Vocab Week 12 Part 1

Making Meaning Vocab Week 12 Part 1

The Van Gogh Cafe

Harbor

• protect

• shelter

Harbor

You listened to to the first 2 chapters of The Van Gogh Cafe on Monday. In the first chapter, "The Cafe," the narrator describes the Van Gogh Cafe and its history.

"The Van Gogh Cafe sits on Main Street in Flowers, Kansas, and the building it is in was once a theater, which may be the reason for its magic. Anyone who has ever seen anything happen on a stage- anything- knows that a theater is so full of magic that after years and years of opening nights there must be magic enough to last forever in its walls. The Van Gogh Cafe is lucky it hasn't found itself in a building where people perhaps once had their broken arms fixed or their teeth pulled out. Those are not the sort of walls that harbor magic. But theater walls do."

Harbor

Harbor means to "protect or shelter." The cafe was once a theater where magical things happened. There was so much magic in the theater that now, years later, the cafe walls still harbor magic, or protect or shelter magic.

Harbor

People sometimes harbor, or protect or shelter, other people who are running away from natural disasters or war.

Harbor

People might also harbor, or protect or shelter, friends or family. For example, friends or neighbors might harbor a family who has lost a home to a fire until the family finds another place to live.

Harbor

It is against the law, however, to harbor a criminal (a person who has broken the law)

Open Ended

Why do you think it is against the law to harbor a criminal?

"I think it is against the law to harbor a criminal because..."

Harbor

Sometimes, people harbor stray or injured animals.

Open Ended

If a stray cat that looked sick wandered into your yard, would you harbor it? Why?

"I [would/would not] harbor the cat because..."

Multiple Choice

What is the new word we're learning that means to "protect or shelter?"

• budge

• picturesque

• harbor

• peculiar

Picturesque

• beautiful

• pleasant to look at

Picturesque

In chapter 1, we find out that the Van Gogh Cafe is located in Flowers, Kansas. In chapter 2, the narrator describes what that part of Kansas looks like.

Picturesque

"Kansas is not what one would call picturesque. It is flat. So flat it could make some people a little crazy, people who need a hill now and then to keep their balance. But in Kansas at least things get noticed."

When a place is picturesque, it is beautiful or pleasant to look at. In The Van Gogh Cafe, the narrator would not describe Kansas as picturesque, or beautiful to look at, because it is so flat.

Open Ended

Do you think the area where we live is picturesque?

"I [do/do not] think the area where we live is picturesque because..."

Picturesque

All of us have seen picturesque, or beautiful or pleasant, places in person, on TV, or in movies. I think the Adirondack Mountains are picturesque. These mountains have lots of bare rock, forests, wild flowers and solitude.

Picturesque

I read a book about the Grand Canyon. It is very picturesque. The Grand Canyon has spectacular canyons and towering, colorful rock formations. The views are beautiful.

Open Ended

What picturesque place have you seen? Why do you think it is picturesque?

"_______ is a picturesque place because..."

Multiple Choice

What is the new word we're learning that means "beautiful or pleasant to look at?"

• picturesque

• harbor

• peculiar

• budge

Peculiar

• strange

• odd

Peculiar

Clara notices a possum hanging upside down in the tree outside the cafe. "Now this is the magic of the Van Gogh Cafe: not one person says, 'Amazing! A possum upside down on Main Street!' No, everyone is not all that surprised."

Peculiar means "strange or odd."

Peculiar, strange, and odd, are all SYNONYMS for each other.

Peculiar

If a possum were hanging from a tree outside any other cafe, people might think it was peculiar, or strange or odd. The customers at the Van Gogh Cafe do not think it is peculiar at all because the cafe is a magical place.

Peculiar

Most of the time our lives are pretty normal or ordinary, but occasionally something peculiar, or strange or odd, happens.

The other day, I kept getting phone calls from different numbers. They never left a message. It was very peculiar. My friend told me that things around her house kept going missing or moving to different spots without her moving them. That was very peculiar!

Open Ended

What peculiar thing has happened to you or to someone you know?

"A peculiar thing that happened to _____ is..."

Open Ended

Imagine a very peculiar day at school when strange things happen. What might happen during a very peculiar day at school?

"It would be peculiar if..."

"A peculiar thing that might happen is..."

Multiple Choice

What is the new word we're learning that is a synonym of odd and strange?

• budge

• peculiar

• picturesque

• harbor

Multiple Meaning Words

In the story, harbor means "protect or shelter." The word harbor has another meaning. A harbor can also be a place where ships can find shelter or unload their cargo.