1st Grade - Homer - Snap the Whip 

ART MASTERPIECE LESSON PLAN

Art guide(s): M. Wells  taken from an Online Lesson Plan – http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxoYWxleWFydG1hc3RlcnBpZWNlfGd4OjVmYWZiZmMxM2YwNzRkOA

Grade level: 1st        

Print: Snap The Whip

Artist:   Winslow Homer     Time allotted:30-45 mins

I. Opening activity: music, props, a question ... something to hook the kids right away.

I brought in a bullwhip and demonstrated the “crack” sound a whip makes.

II. Observations of print: questions to ask students to prompt them to see elements of the print.      

o What is happening in this picture?

o What kind of game are the children playing?

o What kind of games do you like to play?

o Are the children wearing modern clothes?

o Close your eyes and imagine you are there – What sounds do you hear? What can you smell?

o What is the building in the background? (School house) Why do you think there is a chimney? Does it have electricity? Computers? ( Discuss the concept of a one room school house in the 1800’s)

o How do you think the children got to school? (No cars. Most walked, some lucky few rode horses and even fewer had a horse drawn buggy)

o What is in the foreground? (Flowers and grass)

o Where do you see curved lines? (Bent legs and the grassy hill)

o Where do you see straight lines? (Arms and the sides of the school house)

o Do you think this scene was from Homer’s imagination or did he really see this happen?

These children are playing “Snap the Whip” which is the name of this painting. Snap the Whip was a popular children’s game in the 1800s and early 1900s. Children held hands tightly and then ran very fast. The first kid in line would stop suddenly, yanking the others sideways. This causes the ones at the end to break free from the chain. Winning involved the last person not to get broken from the chain. This painting portrays children playing this game in a landscape.

III. Explanation of art project: explaining supplies, techniques, sequence, and clean-up of art activity:

FUN WITH PIPE CLEANERS

Materials needed: 6” pipe cleaners - 3 per student, drawing paper, pencils and erasers. If the time permits students can color their drawing with crayons or colored pencils.

Process:

1.) Have students take turns coming up to the front of the class to demonstrate movement of their favorite sport (throwing a ball, a karate move, skipping rope, a dance move etc...)

2.) Have the students fashion a pipe cleaner “person” doing one of these movements.  Use the three pipe cleaners to create a simple “skeleton” of a person. Bending the arms and legs will show movement.

3.) The students will then draw themselves as skeleton figures doing the same movement as the pipe cleaner. They can draw in the details such as a baseball or football field, basketball court, playground etc.

                                                         

IV. Information to share: nuggets of information about the print/artist/time period to share.

*Winslow Homer was born in Boston in 1836.

*He was always interested in art. His mother was a skilled painter and always encouraged her son to sketch what he saw.

*He painted in a style called “realism”; meaning we can plainly see and understand what he painted. The subjects were realistic.

*He did not receive much art schooling. He preferred to learn things on his own.  He believed on should study nature, not other paintings.

*He started drawing illustrations by the age of 19. He became a successful artist by the age of 21 by painting images he saw of the Civil War.

*After the war, he settled in the rural Northeast and painted what he saw. He loved painting people in a landscape setting. He loved using water color best. This painting is oil on canvas.

*He received numerous awards for his paintings.

*Homer was a shy man who said very little about his own life. He believed his art spoke for him.

*He lived until 1910 and died at the age of 74.

V. Back-up activity/worksheet available for those who finish early:

            Word Search

VI. Wrap-up: elicit questions/comments from students, encourage students to share their experience and artwork with people at home, share a snack (optional)

            Bring licorice “whips” to share with everyone.