Classroom Activities
Activity One: An Introduction to Looking At Art
Objective: Students will look at Mary Cassatt's Girl in a Blue Armchair, 1878, San Diego and Young Mother Sewing, 1900, Metropolitan Museum of Art and then follow along with a teacher-led discussion using the critical thinking format.
Focus: Students will understand that artists use their own experiences when they paint, when you look at art, you may be able to see another person's point of view, and when you create art, your art may reflect your emotions.
Materials: Chart paper, marker, and Opinion Writing papers, and an array of artwork by Mary Cassatt to share with class, including Little Girl in the Blue Armchair, 1878, Yale University Library Visual Resources Collection; In the Loge, 1878, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Young Mother Sewing, 1900, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Children Playing on the Beach, 1884, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; The Child's Bath, 1891-2, Art Institute of Chicago, Maternal Caress, 1896, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Emmie and Her Child, 1889, Wichita Art Museum; The Boating Party,1893-4, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Teacher-Led Discussion Procedure: I will gather my class on the carpet in front of the projector and explain how we will look closely at paintings and talk about what the image shows, who created the image, and why the artist decided to paint it. Then I will show Girl in a Blue Armchair by Mary Cassatt, 1878, Yale University Library Visual Resources Collection. Using the critical thinking format, I will lead discussion by asking questions:
- What is the central idea of this painting? What are important details that support the central idea? What events happened before? What events will happen next?
- Knowledge: Who do you see? Where is she? What happened before this picture was painted?
- Comprehension: What does this picture tell you? What could happen next?
- Application: Who do you think this girl is? What questions would you ask the girl?
- Analysis: How is the dog similar to the girl? What are some of the problems of taking a nap in a public room?
- Synthesis: Do you think taking a nap in public is a good thing? What other solution could you suggest for the girl?
- Evaluation: Do you agree that it is okay to nap in public?
Discuss related topics
- How does the artist use colors in this painting?
- How does the artist use point of view?
- What does the artist want us to see?
- What happened right before this scene?
- What do you think will happen next?
Connect learning with life experiences
- What does this remind me of in my life?
- What is this similar to in my life?
- Has anything ever happened like this to me?
- How does this relate to my life?
- What were my feelings when I saw this?
- What does this remind me of in another painting I've seen?
- How is this painting different from other paintings I've seen?
Think-Pair-Share Procedure: Next I will give the students a chance to practice leading their own discussion using Young Mother Sewing, 1900, Metropolitan Museum of Art. After about one minute, I will call the group back together. I will ask the class to volunteer some questions the pairs raised and I will record one question on chart paper for the class to see. I reinforce the question and ask the class to answers. Next, we will repeat Think-Pair-Share until it seems as though the class has a handle on asking questions.
Empathizing through Pantomiming: After asking a lot of questions, the class will pantomime the actions seen in Young Mother Sewing. Pantomime is when students are shown a painting and then they act out the scene. This improvisation builds imagination by allowing children to create a scene from nothing. First, I'll have a pair of students volunteer to act out the scene. Then, the rest of the class will pantomime as well. Since the goal is to promote empathy, I will encourage the students to think about what is going through their mind as they play the mother. "Why are you sewing?" "What are you thinking about?" For the child playing the little girl, I would probe, "How are you feeling?" "What thoughts are going on in your head?" "Is there anything else you would rather be doing?"
Opinion Writing: I will call the children back on the rug while I introduce Opinion Writing. I will say, "We've been taking a close look at Mary Cassatt's Young Mother Sewing. We've thought about why Mary Cassatt painted this scene, who the characters are, what the characters are thinking, what might happen next, and so on. Now you are going to write down your opinion. When you finish, please read over your work and make sure that you have written your opinion on Young Mother Sewing, supplied reasons to support your opinion, used linking words to connect opinions with reasons, and provided a concluding statement." (see Appendix)
Close Reading Procedure: What is Impressionism?
http://www.edhelperblog.com/cgi-bin/vspec.cgi I will carefully read this article to the children and give them each a copy on which they will be free to highlight or write notes. I will break up the text into smaller segments so that we can have deep discussion about the content. We will consider: What is the author telling us? Are there any hard or important words? What do you think the word impression means? How about impressionistic? How about impressionism?
Conclusion Procedure: I'll ask the children to tell their partner three things that they remember from today's lesson. After about one minute, I'll call on each child to give me an opinion about today's lesson so that they can return to their seats.
Activity Two: Introduction to Pirates
Objective: Students will look at Howard Pyle's We Started to Run Back to the Raft for Our Lives, 1902, Delaware Art Museum and The Buccaneer Was a Picturesque Fellow, The Fate of a Treasure Town, Harper's Monthly, December 1905 and then follow along with a teacher-led discussion using critical thinking format.
Focus: Students will understand that artists use their own experiences when they paint, when you look at art, you may be able to see another person's point of view, and when you create art, your art may reflect your emotions.
Materials: Chart paper, marker, and Opinion Writing papers, and an array of artwork by Howard Pyle to share with class, including Captain Keitt, The Ruby of Kishmoor by Howard Pyle, Harper's Monthly Magazine, August 1907. You can really see how Pyle used diagonal lines to make you feel like you are onboard with the captain. Just looking at the swirling waves in the background makes me seasick. Marooned, Buccaneers and Marooners of the Spanish Main by Howard Pyle, Harper's Monthly Magazine, September 1887, We Started to Run Back to the Raft for Our Lives, 1902, Delaware Art Museum. The Buccaneer Was a Picturesque Fellow, The Fate of a Treasure Town, Harper's Monthly, December 1905, An Attack on a Galleon, 1905, The Fate of a Treasure Town, Harper's Monthly, December 1905Delaware Art Museum, and The Flying Dutchman, 1900 For Collier's Weekly, December 8, 1900, Delaware Art Museum.
Teacher-Led Discussion Procedure: I will gather my class on the carpet in front of the projector discuss how we will look closely at paintings. Then I will show We Started to Run Back to the Raft for Our Lives, 1902, Delaware Art Museum. Here are some general discussion questions that could apply to We Started to Run Back to the Raft for Our Lives, 1902, Delaware Art Museum:
What is the central idea of this painting? What are important details that support the central idea? What events happened before? What events will happen next?
Knowledge: Who do you see? Where are they? What happened just before?
Comprehension: What does this picture tell you? Have you ever seen an image like this before?
Application: Who do you think these men are? What questions would you ask the first man?
Analysis: How is the man in front different from the one behind him? Can you explain what must have happened to make them run?
Synthesis: Suppose the raft was gone. Create a plan for the men.
Evaluation: What is most important to these men at this moment? How would you have handled this situation?
Discuss related topics
- Why do you think Howard Pyle drew this picture?
- How does Pyle use colors in this painting?
- How does he use point of view?
- What does he want us to see?
- What happened right before this scene?
- What do you think will happen next?
Connect learning with life experiences
- What does this remind me of in my life?
- What is this similar to in my life?
- Has anything ever happened like this to me?
- How does this relate to my life?
- What were my feelings when I saw this?
- What does this remind me of in another painting I've seen?
- How is this painting different from other paintings I've seen?
Think-Pair-Share Procedure: Next I give the students a chance to practice leading their own discussion using The Buccaneer Was a Picturesque Fellow, The Fate of a Treasure Town, Harper's Monthly, December 1905. After about one minute, I will call the group back together. I will ask the class to volunteer some questions the pairs raised and I will record one question on chart paper for the class to see. I reinforce the question and ask the class to answers. Next, we will repeat Think-Pair-Share until it seems as though the class has a handle on asking questions.
Empathizing through Sculpturing: I will tell the class that they will create living sculptures of the Buccaneer. First, each child needs to find a partner and a space in which to work. One student will be the artist and the other will be the clay. The artist will decide whether the sculpture will be standing, sitting, or lying down. The artist will carefully mold the partner, moving arms, legs, head, and even fingers into place. When the sculpture is complete, the artist will step back and take one last look, making sure there is not anything to change. Then, the "clay" students hold their shape for 20 seconds after being molded. They close their eyes and think about the shape they are in so they can reform their pose later. The artist and clay take turns to make statues.
Opinion Writing: I will call the children back on the rug while I introduce Opinion Writing. I will say, "We've been taking a close look at Howard Pyle's The Buccaneer Was a Picturesque Fellow. We've thought about why Howard Pyle painted this scene, who the characters are, what the characters are thinking, what might happen next, and so on. Now you are going to write down your opinion. When you finish, please read over your work and make sure that you have written your opinion on The Buccaneer Was a Picturesque Fellow, supplied reasons to support your opinion, used linking words to connect opinions with reasons, and provided a concluding statement." (see Appendix)
Close Reading Procedure: Lost Treasure http://www.readworks.org/sites/default/files/passages/Lost%20Treasure%20Passage.pdf
I will carefully read this article to the children and give them each a copy on which they will be free to highlight or write notes. I will break up the text into smaller segments so that we can have deep discussion about the content. We will consider: What is the author telling us? Are there any hard or important words? Have you ever heard of such a story before? Can you connect this story to We Started to Run Back to the Raft for Our Lives?
Conclusion Procedure: I will hand out exit tickets and ask the children to write about something that stuck with them about today's lesson.
Activity Three: Pirates vs. Mothers
Objective: Students will look at works of Howard Pyle and Mary Cassatt and then follow along with a teacher-led discussion using critical thinking format.
Focus: Students will understand that artists use their own experiences when they paint, when you look at art, you may be able to see another person's point of view, and when you create art, your art may reflect your emotions.
Materials: Chart paper, marker, drawing paper, and Opinion Writing papers, and an array of artwork by Howard Pyle and Mary Cassatt to share with class.
Teacher-Led Discussion Procedure: I will gather my class on the carpet in front of the projector to discuss how we will look closely at two paintings and then compare them. Then I will show Walking the Plank, Buccaneers and Marooners of the Spanish Main, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, September 1887 and Mary Cassatt's The Child's Bath, 1893, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Instead of me leading discussion, I will explain that today, each pair will lead their own discussion. I will pass out the Pirates vs. Mothers Discussion sheet out and bring up one pair of students who will model how to pose the questions. After checking for understanding, I move on to…
Think-Pair-Share Procedure: The pairs will lead their own compare and contrast discussions using the Pirates vs. Mothers Discussion sheet. I will circulate among the students to support meaningful discussions.
Empathizing through Drawing: I will tell the class that they will draw a picture based on their Pirates vs. Mothers discussion with their partner. I will pass out papers, supply colored pencils, and direct the students to work quietly.
Opinion Writing: I will call the children back on the rug while I introduce Opinion Writing. I will say, "You have drawn a picture and now you are going to write down your opinion of Pirates vs. Mothers. When you finish, please read over your work and make sure that you have written your opinion, supplied reasons to support your opinion, used linking words to connect opinions with reasons, and provided a concluding statement". (see Appendix)
Close Reading Procedure: Forgetting the Words
http://www.readworks.org/sites/default/files/bundles/passages-forgetting-words_files.pdf
I will carefully read this article to the children and give them each a copy on which they will be free to highlight or write notes. I will break up the text into smaller segments so that we can have deep discussion about the content. We will consider: What is the author telling us? What does Andy have to do in the play? How does Andy's mother help him?
Conclusion Procedure: I will ask each child to tell me what the most important think they learned about Pirates vs. Mothers.
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