Introduction

"Arrrgh!" "Avast ye maties!" "Look at that sword!" "Why is he wearing a patch over his eye?" "What is up with his leg?" "Where is the treasure?" "I want to see a treasure map!" Just imagine children looking at pirates. The fascination of these dirty, threatening characters, ready to plunder treasure and take no prisoners, drives many children to put on eye patches and gold earrings and count out paces while they search for hidden treasure. There is no doubt that pirates are masculine figures: illustrations prove them to be powerful, adventurous, and determined and, in a way, pirates are captivating. In his book, The Book of Pirates, Howard Pyle writes:

To make my meaning more clear, would not every boy, for instance—that is, every boy of any account—rather be a pirate captain than a Member of Parliament? And we ourselves—would we not rather read such a story as that of Captain Avery's capture of the East Indian treasure ship, with its beautiful princess and load of jewels … ¹

What could be more different than pirates? Mothers are characterized as loving, nurturing, and safe. Children pretend to be mothers by taking a baby doll, swaddling it in a blanket, feeding it a bottle, and rocking it to sleep. There is a strong appeal for children playing house to imitate their mothers by taking care of domestic duties and setting rules for the family to follow. Just as pirates epitomize the masculine, mothers are the essence of the feminine. Mary Cassatt is known for painting mothers bathing, cuddling, and playing with their child. I think it will be instructive and interesting for students to study gender by looking at how the masculine and feminine roles are portrayed in the visual arts. What two more appropriate artists for me to target then two from the Delaware area. Imagine the fun of interpreting the works of Howard Pyle and Mary Cassatt and concentrating on pirates versus mothers.

Rationale

This curriculum unit was written for students at West Park Place Elementary School, a diverse school uniquely located by the University of Delaware. With an enrollment of about 370 students, West Park Place is one of several suburban host sites for students in the English as a Second Language program, Delaware Autistic Program, and REACH (Realistic Educational Alternatives for Children with Disabilities). West Park Place, in partnership with the University of Delaware, provides English language instruction and support to students representing over 25 countries and languages around the world. Our demographics are diverse with approximate reports of 20% African American, 26% Asian, 46% White, and 4% Hispanic children (DE Department of Education, 2014). Other characteristics show 29% of students are English Language Learners, 6% are identified Special Education students, and 47% are from low-income families.

My students coming from low-income families face the challenge of reading literature at a growing rate of complexity and independence by the end of the school year. There are few opportunities to help learners with weak critical thinking skills. Asking questions, discussing related topics, connecting learning with life experiences, and promoting empathy are ways to build critical thinking skills. One way to do this is through close reading of literature. First we choose a specific passage and then we analyze it in fine detail. We can take a close look at artwork and do the same by using the same types of questions: general understandings, key details, artist's purpose, inferences, opinion, arguments, and inter-medium connections. Being curious and asking questions serves to engage students which in turn leads them to achieve greater understanding of the content.

Just imagine taking close reading of literature to another form like portraits, paintings, photographs, sculpture, and cartoons. Students will take a break from reading text and dive into seeing images thus refreshing their minds with art. As the class learns how to see images, they will be exposed to culture and history as they learn about the circumstances that took place at the time the art was created. This two week unit is designed for 2 ^nd graders to learn how to see artwork and think critically by asking questions, researching facts, discussing related topics, connecting learning with life experiences, and promoting empathy.

Making learning relevant is critical and that is why I chose Howard Pyle and Mary Cassatt as they are both from the Delaware area. Both Pyle and Cassatt created iconic images of masculinity and femininity and pioneered the way for others to follow in their footsteps: both are still popular and influential today. This unit will focus on how Pyle and Cassatt used their own experiences when they painted, how they tended to articulate ideas in their paintings, and when we look closely at art, we can see other points of views.

Brief Biographies of Howard Pyle and Mary Cassatt

Howard Pyle

Howard Pyle was born on March 5, 1853 in Wilmington, Delaware. Pyle's mother influenced his early literary education and interest in art. "She habitually read to us from the very best literature of the day, which, in 1860, was very good indeed." ² Since Wilmington, Delaware lacked any art galleries or museums before 1871, Pyle's mother hung prints on the walls of their house and shared her love of illustrated weeklies. ³ Even though Pyle's parents didn't believe studying art was on the Quaker agenda, he studied for three years at the Art Students League in Philadelphia and went into illustration to earn a living. Pyle returned to Delaware in 1879 and produced a number of books including Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates, the Story of King Arthur and his Knights, and Men of Iron. Pyle founded the Howard Pyle School of Art (1900-1905) in Wilmington, Delaware which had about 200 students during his teaching career, 50% of whom were female which was unheard of at the time.

Pyle was known as "The Father of American Illustration" and created stereotypes that will remain in people's minds (rakish pirates, tough cowboys, and noble knights). Even modern stereotypes of his flamboyant, gypsy-like pirate dress has been emulated on costumes worn by Errol Flynn and Johnny Depp. Pyle's teaching methods encouraged his students to "jump into their paintings" by taking excursions to historical sites and performing impromptu dramas using props and costumes meant to stimulate imagination, emotion, atmosphere, and the observation of humans in action. Pyle stressed historical accuracy, used precise details, and direct knowledge by going to the source

Mary Cassatt

Mary Stevenson Cassatt was born in 1844 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. Her father was a successful stockbroker and land speculator while her mother came from a banking family. Her parents believed that travel was integral to education. Although her parents objected to her becoming a professional artist, they relented and she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1860 to1862. She convinced her parents to let her study in Paris in 1865 and had private lessons from the old masters. She had her own "Grand Tour", defining herself as a professional woman artist. In 1894, Cassatt remarked, "Above all give me France—women do not have to fight for recognition here, if they do serious work." ⁴ Even though her painting Mandolin Player (under the name Mary Stevenson) was accepted at the Paris Salon in 1868, Cassatt became impatient with the Salon's artistic conservatism. ⁵ Edgar Degas invited her to join the Impressionists where she was the only American member. Influenced by Degas and his pastels and the Impressionists, Cassatt revised her technique, composition, and use of color and light.

Her subjects were often based on members of her family, and although she never married or had children of her own, she was known for creating images of the social and private lives of women, with a particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children. Cassatt traveled through France, Italy, and Spain. Using big, long strokes, Cassatt painted ordinary people doing ordinary things such as knitting, reading, and sewing. Cassatt was the only American artist who was closely affiliated with the French Impressionists and she participated in four of their exhibitions between 1879 and 1886. ⁶ As an Impressionist, Cassatt was interested in capturing the fleeting gesture rather than falling back on more conventional poses. ⁷ Maybe this is why Little Girl in a Blue Armchair is so refreshing to me: there is no sugar-coating for this exhausted, inelegant posture!

Understanding History and Society through Visual Art Content

In order to teach students how to critically look at artwork, teachers need to know this skill. I am including background knowledge for teachers to apply to their own thinking and learning about history and society from 1837-1900.

Views of Gender in the Victorian Era

Woman should not be expected to write, or fight, or build, or compose scores. She does all by inspiring man to do all.—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841

During 1837-1900, the Victorian era was full of both the hope of peaceful family life and the dread of social problems. Victorian era women were expected to love, honor, and obey their husbands and to keep their children clean, warm, dry, and fed. Victorian era men were expected to provide for and defend their family and were viewed as powerful and active.

During the Crimean War (1853-1856), women kept their homes intact while their husbands went off fighting. In Ford Madox Brown's Waiting: An English Fireside, 1854-55, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, a mother and child are seen in a cluttered and cozy abode. The mother is doing needlework with her infant on her lap. There are letters to the left of her, perhaps suggesting that the husband has written while she is left to care for the family. We see a similar scene in Frederic George Stephens' Mother and Child, 1854, Tate Gallery, London, where a contemplative mother holds a letter while a child of about three seems to comfort her. Both these images show mothers making a home for their children and offering stability.

In 1852, over three hundred thousand emigrants left Britain to seek their fortune in other countries. In Ford Madox Brown's, The Last of England, 1852-55, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, we see a couple on a ship leaving England to start a new life in a new land. Gender roles are clear: the man looks determined to make a new living, while the woman looks unconvinced about why they are leaving. Both man and woman offer security to each other as they hold each other's hand but we can also see the woman holding the hand of a child wrapped in her cloak. The man braves the wind and sea with his hat and coat while the woman holds an umbrella to shelter herself and her child. As the man stares ahead resolutely, the woman seems to already regret leaving. She is wearing a pink scarf, as if it is one thing from her past that she cannot release or maybe it is one luxury item she could take. There are cabbages tied to the front of the ship as if the woman is continuing to make a home for and nourish her family during the long voyage.

In the Victorian era, there were few occupations available for women. With few other occupational choices available, factories offered assembly lines jobs, but women were not paid the same wage as a man for doing the same work. Unfortunately, this meant that many women resorted to prostitution to make ends meet. "Poverty is the chief determining cause which drives women into prostitution in England as in France." ⁸ One especially poignant image is Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Found, 1854-55, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. In this scene, a stockboy, coming to the city to sell his lamb for slaughter, has noticed a passing girl. He recognizes her as his first love, now corrupted by the city. ⁹ She is ashamed and shrinks from him, unable to look him in the eye. The setting of innocence here is pointedly rural, as opposed to the equally pointed urbanism of the setting of sin in the same series. ¹⁰

In 1852-63, Ford Madox Brown painted Work, Manchester City Art Galleries. The scene shows construction workers digging a trench in the middle of a busy London street. The working class commands our attention as they are spotlighted while other social classes are pushed to the side. In front of the laborers are lower class children dressed in tattered clothes and led by a girl who takes care of her baby sibling and younger brother. To the left are middle class women passing the site and at the top of the road are members of the upper class on horseback. You can see how Victorian era men were expected to be strong, look handsome, and do work, while the Victorian era women were expected be on the sidelines, look pretty, and avoid work.

Masculinity is also demonstrated in William Bell Scott's Iron and Coal: the Nineteenth Century, 1861, Wallington Hall, Northumberland, England. We see workers with their massively strong forearms swinging hammers down onto molten ore with the furnace breathing intense heat onto them. The workers in both Work and Iron and Coal: the Nineteenth Century are portrayed as heroes, building roads and molding metals to bring modernity to their cities. Howard Pyle brought another image to the world of men: dashing pirates, valiant adventurers, and historical heroes. He wrote and illustrated Robin Hood, published be Scribner's in 1883 and Pyle created illustrations and wrote pirate fiction in 1887. ¹¹ It is interesting how Pyle's pirates could be elegant and dashing like The Buccaneer Was a Picturesque Fellow, The Fate of a Treasure Town, Harper's Monthly December 1905 and lean and haggard like in the pirates in The Buccaneers, Harper's Monthly Magazine, January 1911.

Comparing Two Artists

Howard Pyle and Mary Cassatt were two American contemporaries from the Delaware valley area. Both artists came from educated and wealthy families, who at first disapproved of their notions of making careers in art, but later supported them. Both Pyle and Cassatt studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and came to work with a group of artists: Pyle opened up the Howard Pyle School of Art in 1900, while Cassatt joined the Impressionists in 1877.

In teaching his students how to illustrate, Pyle said, "After you have chosen a general subject, submit it to the crucible of your own imaginations and let it evolve into the picture. Project your mind into it. Identify yourself with the people and sense, that is feel and smell the things that naturally belong there." ¹² As an illustrator, Pyle had three rules: get familiarized with historical details such as dress, social habits, architecture, and technology, keep a sketchbook, avoid overdramatization so that you leave something to the imagination. ¹³ Finally, Pyle endorsed four basic techniques: concentrate on black and white composition, use diagonal lines and cropping to give your viewer a sense of participation in the scene, make your figures and objects smaller or larger according to their relative significance, and use the surroundings and background of the image to enhance the mood of a scene. ¹⁴ In addition to pirates, Pyle painted patriots, princesses, knights, and outlaws.

Cassatt's work looks so different from Pyle's because she was trained in France with the Impressionists, who shared a passion for things modern and refused to go along with the demands of the Salon. As an Impressionist painter, Cassatt lightened her palette and indulged in painting the ever-fleeting moment, as seen in her Self-Portrait, 1878, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ¹⁵ Impressionists used loose brushwork which gave the effect of spontaneity and effortlessness and bright colors to make their paintings more vivid. Cassatt was revolutionary during the Victorian era because her women are doing something, not just looking at the viewer. Cassatt painted the leisure class of women who entertained and frequently attended the theater and opera, while wearing fashionable clothes and accessories like in Two Young Ladies in a Loge, 1882, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Cassatt painted women going to the theater drinking tea, doing needlework, and taking boat rides, but she may be best known for painting mothers and children. Even though Cassatt never married or had children, the mother-child theme of many of her paintings may have resulted because Edgar Degas encouraged it, her nephew's birth enabled her to see the maternal bond in a new light, or she was influenced by her studies of the Old Master' treatments of the Madonna and Christ Child. ¹⁶ In 1924, Mary Cassatt told a young painter from Philadelphia, "My mistake was in devoting myself to art, instead of having children." ¹⁷

This unit will feature four of Pyles works and four of Cassatt's works:

Captain Keitt, The Ruby of Kishmoor by Howard Pyle, Harper's Monthly Magazine, August 1907. I am choosing this illustration because 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. When I walked into the Delaware Art Museum and saw this huge painting framed in gold, I was awestruck. It is amazing how Pyle captures the golden light that covers the canvas. By having one figure with nothing but this empty beach, amplifies the solitude of a pirate who gets left behind.

We Started to Run Back to the Raft for Our Lives, 1902, from Sinbad on Burrator, Scribner's Magazine, August 1902, Delaware Art Museum. A line of runners speed down the beach, running away from something. This looks exactly like a scene from The Pirates of the Caribbean when Jack Sparrow and his men are fleeing the cannibal tribe.

The Buccaneer Was a Picturesque Fellow, The Fate of a Treasure Town, Harper's Monthly, December 1905. Buccaneers gained their name from the word buccanning, which was a process of curing thin strips of meat by salting, smoking, and drying in the sun. ¹⁸ You can see how Pyle's buccaneer influenced Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow. Both characters are dressed in flowing shirts, with weapons tucked into sashes and belts and are quite masculine in their stances.

Young Mother Sewing, 1900, Metropolitan Museum of Art. I find it very interesting how Cassatt hired unrelated models to pose for this painting to get an objective effect. The mother is intent on her needlework while the little girl is gazing frankly at the viewer. ¹⁹ I love how natural this scene is and can just imagine the girl shifting her weight impatiently while her mother finishes her sewing.

The Child's Bath, 1893, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL. The downward perspective of this painting is fascinating to me. I also love how the mother appears to be talking to the girls as she bathes her. I think it is very interesting how Cassatt cropped this picture so we see every detail of the two figures. It is just like a close-up photograph.

Two Children at the Seashore, 1884, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. I think most every child can relate to a day at the beach. I also think the class will have fun re-enacting this scene and then writing about it. I can imagine how my students will notice how both children are wearing socks and shoes while digging in sand.

Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, 1878, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. This is my favorite image of Cassatt because it is so colorful and natural. Discussing the girl and her pose will make learning relevant, because I think all my students and I can remember a time when we were either sleepy or bored to the point of taking a nap in public.

Strategies

Teacher-led Discussions

Central to this unit is getting students to think critically. Teacher-led discussions will encourage understanding of how to pose questions when looking at art. In order to meet my district standards and utilize the six question types that improve critical thinking skills, my unit will focus on knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Here are some general discussion questions that could apply to most artwork:

• 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?

Here are questions to prompt related topics:

• Why do you think the artist drew this?
• 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?

Here are questions to 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

Using Think-Pair-Share is a specific type of responding to questions strategy where students think and generate their own conclusions about a prompt or question. Then they share the conclusions they each came up with a partner. Think-Pair-Share is an efficient way to maximize verbalizing and listening to ideas.

I will use Think-Pair-Share often to encourage participation in leading a discussion and responding in a discussion. Each child will be assigned either an A or B. The A's will lead with one question and the B's will respond. Then they will trade turns to make sure that each child practices posing questions and responding to them. I see this strategy being used after the Teacher-Led discussion so that the children will be able to use fresh examples from the teacher.

Once partners have had ample time to share their thoughts and have a discussion, I will expand the "share" into a whole-class discussion, allowing each group to choose who will present their thoughts, ideas, and questions they had to the rest of the class.

Promoting Empathy

Seeing, Writing, Observing is an activity that helps students become more creative thinkers. First, students are shown a painting. After the students consider what the subject is, where the setting is, what will happen next in the photograph, and so on, they write about their responses down. Next, the students collaborate in pairs to share their ideas.

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. Students work as a team to listen to each other and to respond naturally to what has been said. By thinking on their feet, students learn how to adapt to evolving circumstances.

Performing a tableau is to recreate the painting as a "frozen picture". Participants represent both living and non-living elements from the story and pose. This activity promotes team building, creativity, collaboration and thinking in three dimensions. Each group of students would be given a painting and they would have to decide how they could capture the essence of the painting in one still or "frozen" moment. Students could represent the people and inanimate objects in the painting, drawing or sculpture.

In the book, Interdisciplinary Learning Through Dance: 101 MOVEntures, I have learned that sculpturing is a technique where you create living sculptures. First, tell each child 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. ²⁰ It is really fun to vary the level of poses from standing, sitting, and lying down.

I think that drawing is a way to make learning concrete, express feelings, and be experimental. Drawing benefits children in a number of ways by exercising imaginations, strengthening fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, and developing visual analysis. ²¹ After learning about the artists and their paintings, children may be excited about trying to draw pirates and mothers for themselves.

Opinion Writing

This unit requires students to write opinion pieces in which they introduce a piece of artwork, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement. I plan to have my students write following the teacher-led discussion, think-pair-share activity, and promoting empathy activity. In order to help explain their thinking, I have included an opinion writing form that includes thinking stems in the appendix.

Close Reading

Through the course of my unit, my students and I will read an array of passages about the artists, pirates, mothers, and historical periods. By breaking down text into smaller segments, we will understand the purpose in reading, see ideas in the text being interconnected, and form questions and seek answers to the questions while reading.

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.

Appendix A

Common Core State Standards

SL.2.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

SL.2.2 Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

SL.2.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue.

W.2.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g. because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.

In order to meet all of my district standards and utilize the critical thinking format, my unit will encompass many activities that will allow my student to activate various levels of comprehension and link the principles of close reading: asking questions, discussing related topics, connecting learning with life experiences, and promoting empathy.

Appendix B

Opinion Writing

Appendix C

Pirates vs. Mothers Discussion Sheet