Norman Rockwell Paints America

Print out copies of these two Rockwell paintings. (Option: Many classrooms are equipped with the technology to project these images directly from a computer.)

Note: Each link to Rockwell art on this page will take you to a Google Images results page. Click the small image (or the text that reads See full-size image at the top of the page to view the image without a lot of text or advertisement around it.

Rockwell Paintings At Your Fingertips The images below might be printed for use in your classroom discussion. Click on the small image at the top of each Google Images page for a full-size image to print. Autumn Dugout Gossip Oh, Yeahhr The Runaway Sunday Morning Surprise Tattooist

In addition, gather four sheets of chart paper or poster board. Attach to each sheet a copy of a different painting by Norman Rockwell. These four paintings might be good ones to use for this activity (or see the sidebar for additional ideas).

Share with students the Norman Rockwell painting Girl at Mirror. The painting shows a girl looking into a mirror as she tries to strike a pose similar to the magazine picture she sees of a beautiful model/movie star striking a pose. Invite students to share words or phrases that describe

You might take extra time to encourage students to write as many descriptive words as they can to fill the Vocabulary block.

When you have completed this activity, invite one or two students to tell about the story Rockwell was trying to capture in this painting. Students might draw from the list of terms written on the chart as they describe the painting.

Repeat the procedure above with another of Rockwell’s paintings, for example, At the Vet’s. Invite students to share words or phrases that describe the Setting, Characters, Events, and Vocabulary of this Rockwell painting. Then invite one or two students to share the story of what Rockwell tried to capture in "At the Vet’s.”

You might also talk about the "time period” when Rockwell was creating these paintings. Give students an opportunity to talk about how times have changed. They might draw parallels between the innocent times depicted in Rockwell’s paintings and some of the TV shows they might know from that era -- shows like Leave It to Beaver.

Norman Rockwell’s "Four Freedoms” Norman Rockwell captured the heart and soul of America in his "Four Freedoms” paintings. You might share these paintings with your students. Freedom of Speech Freedom of Worship Freedom from Fear Freedom from Want Share the story behind the paintings too. These paintings were inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s State of the Union Address in 1941. (Click to hear an excerpt of FDR’s speech. Doesn’t work for you? Here is an alternate audio source.) Challenge students to describe the Setting, Characters, Event, and Vocabulary of each of Rockwell’s four "Four Freedoms” paintings.

Next, arrange students into four groups. Fan out the cards or slips of paper on which you have written one of the words Setting, Characters, Events, and Vocabulary. Invite each student to choose a slip. Students will gather in groups according to the slips drawn. (For example, all students holding a slip labeled Setting will gather in one group, and so on.) Introduce students to four more paintings by Norman Rockwell.

Once students are gathered into their assigned group, it’s time for them to go on a "gallery walk.” Assign each group of students to one of the four charts/posters displayed around the classroom. Allow students five minutes to fill in their assigned block on the chart or poster. The Setting group will use markers or crayons to write words and phrases in the Setting block on the paper/poster to which they are assigned, the Characters group will fill in the Characters block on the poster to which they are assigned, and so on…

When five minutes have passed, each group will rotate to the next chart/poster and fill in their block… Continue rotating students at five-minute intervals until each group has visited and filled in their assigned block on each painting’s paper/poster.

When the "gallery walk” is completed, bring the groups back together. Share what the groups have written and invite other students in the class to add to the words and phrases to each block on the charts/posters.

Assessment

Finally, provide copies of some other Rockwell paintings (see first sidebar). Ask each student to create a 4-block graphic organizer; they will fill in each block -- Setting, Characters, Event, and Vocabulary -- with words or phrases that come to mind. When they have completed the graphic organizer, they will use the information in it to write a paragraph or short essay that shares their ideas about the story that Norman Rockwell was trying to tell through the painting.

Lesson Plan Source

EducationWorld.com

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

National Standards

FINE ARTS: Visual Arts
GRADES K - 4
NA-VA.K-4.3 Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.K-4.4 Understanding the Visual Arts In Relation to History and Cultures
NA-VA.K-4.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
GRADES 5 - 8
NA-VA.5-8.3 Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.5-8.4 Understanding the Visual Arts In Relation to History and Cultures
NA-VA.5-8.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
GRADES 9 - 12
NA-VA.9-12.3 Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.9-12.4 Understanding the Visual Arts In Relation to History and Cultures
NA-VA.9-12.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines

LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.3 Evaluation Strategies
NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication Skills
NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying Knowledge
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills

SOCIAL SCIENCES: U.S. History
GRADES K - 4
NSS-USH.K-4.1 Living and Working together in Families and Communities, Now and Long Ago
GRADES 5 - 12
NSS-USH.5-12.7 Era 7: The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
NSS-USH.5-12.8 Era 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
NSS-USH.5-12.9 Era 9: Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)

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For additional lessons in the arts, see these Education World resources:

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11/20/2006