Clockwise starting at top left: Cezanne {source}, Beethoven {source}, Walt Whitman {source}, Van Gogh {source}, Renoir {source}
Reminder: Read about this month's character trait, Resilience, and leave a comment to be entered into the drawing. Last day to enter is this Friday!
Now that we're in trimester 3, we get to shift our focus on the fine arts to new artists, composers, and of course, new poetry: let’s dive in! Feel free to refer to this post throughout the trimester/month as there is a lot of information.
Renoir, Van Gogh, and Cezanne have given us much to admire in their Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. Here are some wonderful resources both online and in print:
- Charlotte in Giverny: a sweet story of a girl’s travels that incorporates a wide selection of artist’s works.
- Impressionist Art Game and Van Gogh & Friends Art Game are also fun.
- Smart About Art: Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Paintings that Smile: a charming, happy little book Kinder and up would enjoy.
- Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists: Pierre Auguste Renoir: great exposure to a variety of Renoir’s works in an accessible format.
- Famous Artists: Cezanne
- Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists: Cezanne
- Famous Artists: Van Gogh
- Katie and the Sunflowers by James Mayhew
- What Makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh? by Richard Muhlberger
- The First Starry Night by Joan Shaddox Isom – sweet story of a child encountering Vincent Van Gogh
- Metropolitan Museum of Art website on van Gogh: very thorough and well done (Middle School and up)
Ludwig Beethoven is the composer for Trimester 3 and your students will hear selections in their classrooms from Beethoven for Book Lovers throughout April, May, and June. Here’s a fun site for students (Pri & Int) to explore: just wait for the candle to burn all the way down and then it will load. And if your students are tempted to think Beethoven is just an old musician, read a recent news article about surprising “new” Beethoven music!
After all that art and music, are you ready to talk poetry?! O Captain! My Captain! (page 72 of Classic Poetry) is the heart and soul of a grieving poet, Walt Whitman, who penned the lines to process the death of Abraham Lincoln. Similar to other poets we have read, Whitman lived through the Civil War (on the Union side) and was deeply effected by the reality of war. As a poet, Whitman has the ability to see the beauty, whimsy, and grandeur in the simple things. The grief he gave voice to in O Captain! My Captain! helped a grieving young country say goodbye to a beloved President who gave his all to preserve the Union. Nearly 150 years later, this poem resonates with people of every walk of life and continues to inspires readers. A thoughtful review and analysis of the poem as well as the cultural context can be read here.
Two nice print resources on Walt Whitman for younger students are here:
Have you found a resource you and your students are excited and inspired by? Feel free to share in the comments or e-mail us at [email protected]!
