S.O.S.

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S.O.S.
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S. O. S. From Three Skeleton Key

• Author George Toudouze
• Lesson Plans Bob Milo
• 7th Grade Language Arts
• Dunedin Highland Middle School

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Pinellas Education Foundation/AEGON Lesson
Plan Application

• Secondary Language Arts
• Making literature relevant
• Cross-curricular activities (History Music)
• Students communicating in a variety of modes
• Short story from Elements of Literature First
  Course, 7th grade edition

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State Standards and Essential Learnings

• LA. A.2.3.5 Research tasks in school and the
  real world
• LA. E.2.2.1 Cause Effect Relationships
• LA. A.1.3.2 Words and Phrases in Context
• LA . A.2.3.1 Main ideas, details, and methods of
  organization
• LA . C.1.3.1 Listening strategies

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Summary

• Three Skeleton Key is a horror story set during
  the late 1800s in a lighthouse some twenty-odd
  miles off the coast of South America. The
  nightmare begins when the three lighthouse
  keepers realize that a derelict sailing ship
  heading straight for their tiny, rocky island is
  filled with thousands of giant rats
• --teachers ed. Notes (page 65)

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Context -- Morse Code

• Finally, seeing the rats running in and out
  of the tower through the door and the windows,
  those on the ship (rescue ship) decided that we
  had perished and were about to leave when Itchoua
  (lighthouse keeper), regaining his senses,
  thought of using the light as a signal. He lit it
  and, using the plank placed and withdrawn before
  the beam to form the dots and dashes, quickly
  sent out our story to those on the vessel
• -- text (page 75)

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Historical Background

• Named after Samuel Morse (1791-1872)
• First working model produced in 1836
• First message What hath God wrought? from
  Washington, D.C. to Baltimore
• Can be transmitted using sound or light
• Now used in emergencies to transmit distress
  signals when no other form of communication is
  available
• -- from Omniglot Writing Systems
  and Languages of the World

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Morse Code Alphabet

• A. _ B_ . . . C_ . _ . D_ . . E. F. . _ . G_ _ .
  H. . . . I. .
• J. _ _ _K_ . _L. _ . .M_ _N_ .O_ _ _P. _ _ .Q_ _ .
   
• _R. _ .S. . .T_U. . _V. . . _W. _ _X_ . . _Y_ . _ 
  _
• Z_ _ . .
• (copy for student use)

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Written Activities

• Write the Morse Code distress signal, S O S,
  using the dots and dashes
• Write your first and last name using the dots and
  dashes
• Write a short note to your partner using the dots
  and dashes
• Write an imaginary text message using the dots
  and dashes

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Listening skills activity
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Beethovens Fifth Symphony

• First performed in 1808
• One of the most popular and well-known pieces of
  European classical music
• Distinctive and recognizable 4-note motif
• Repeated with multiple variations throughout

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The Self-Discovery

• An empowering moment occurs when the student is
  able to connect-the-dots by both looking at the
  Morse Code and listening to the Beethoven music
• Review the Nazi occupation of Europe and the
  behind-enemy-lines mentality
• Explain the use of the music as a radio signal, a
  broadcast frequency the Germans couldnt jam
• Ask students to approximate which Morse alphabet
  letter best matches the rhythm of the music
• When the student finds the V, show the V for
  Victory hand signal

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The V for Victory Campaign

• The Morse Code for V (three dots and a dash) was
  replicated by the opening bars of Beethovens
  Fifth Symphony
• All across Europe people hummed and whistled the
  tune during Nazi occupation
• Along with a cigar, Prime Minister Churchill made
  the hand-sign his personal trademark
• The BBC used the notes on its radio broadcasts to
  signal the call-to-arms for the D-Day invasion
• The Nazis made listening to the BBC punishable by
  death

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Dit-dit-dit-daaah

• Talk about a great hook! Three quick G's
  and a long E-flat the opening of Ludwig van
  Beethoven's Fifth Symphony just could be the most
  memorable musical phrase of all time.
• During World War II its suggestion of Morse
  Code became the powerful symbol of V For
  Victory. GI's who didn't know Schumann from
  shinola knew this was Beethoven and relished the
  irony of a German's music galvanizing the Allied
  effort to defeat the horrific murder machine that
  country had become.
• From Classical Classics by Peter Gutmann

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Extended Activities --Learn more about

• the WWII D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944

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Learn more about

• The evolution of lighthouses as they relate to
  transportation and navigation

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Learn more about

• The telegraph and its predecessor, the Pony
  Express

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Learn more about

• Ludwig van Beethoven and his place in musical
  history

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• The End