The Sign Painter Visual Vocabulary

Another great way to engage your students is by creating a storyboard that uses vocabulary from The Sign Painter.

In this activity, students demonstrate their understanding of vocabulary words using sentences and corresponding images. Students may be provided the vocabulary words, or they can use words that they have discovered through their reading of the text. The sentences and images validate the understanding of the word and the context that it was used in the novel.

Here are some ways to help your students find the meaning of the vocabulary words they choose:

1. Use context clues: sometimes you can figure out the meaning of a word by reading the sentences that come before and after the unknown word.
2. Sometimes, the author may tell the definition of the word right in the same sentence or in the following sentence.
3. Picture clues may help define an unknown word.
4. Look at the unknown word and look for parts you may know. Sometimes a new ending or beginning has been added or changed.
5. Use a dictionary or glossary.

mural

n. a painting or other work of art executed directly on a wall
"'It'll be like painting a mural,’ the boy said. ‘But who's going to see it way out here?’”

vacant

adj. having no fixtures, furniture, or inhabitants; empty
”They drove to a vacant lot where a blank billboard had been set up.”

raging

adj. continuing with great force or intensity
”But a wind came up, and they were caught in a raging dust storm.”

Some other vocabulary words that can be used are: storefront, hesitated, beckoned, stammered, billboard, landscape, canvas, ignition, horizon, and mesa