Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier
Lesson plans and teaching resources

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier
Resources from the author, including a link to a reading group guide with 8 questions.

Tracy Chevalier: Finding the story inside the painting
In this TED talk (14:21) author Tracey Chevalier discusses her inspiration for Girl with a Pearl Earring (3:16-7:49) and the stories she sees in 2 other paintings.

Girl with a Pearl Earring Reading Group Guide
Summary, background, and 8 discussion questions.

Girl with a Pearl Earring
Good pre-reading activity: guided portrait analysis. Work with Updike's poem "Head of a Girl, at the Met." (text included), and fact search questions for author's biography. 6 pages, word processor required.

Point of view
Scroll to Activity 2 on the 6th page (marked page 2) of this document. Students read an excerpt from the novel and identify the point of view and provide evidence to support characterization. Adobe Reader required.

Unique Metaphor Collections
Inspired by the first chapter of the novel Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, students will discover metaphors in their world and reading and create their own unique metaphorical descriptions for a collection they devote a page to in their writers notebooks or their journals. Once a collection of unique metaphors has been built in the writers notebook, teachers can challenge students to create a longer piece of writing (poem, narrative, reflection, etc.) that is inspired by one or several of their metaphors.

Vocabulary from Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring
Words are presented in context and with definitions. Click on a word for pronunciation, examples of recent use, more.