Weatherbeaten | Lessons for Grades 2-5
Grade 2
Visual Arts, Language Arts, Math, and Science
Once Upon a Time there was a Man Named Winslow Homer
Kathryn Theriault and Madeleine Coombs
St. James School, Biddeford, Maine
The classroom teacher and visual arts teacher collaborated to bring Winslow Homer and Weatherbeaten into many aspects of the curriculum. Activities in this unit include:
- View Weatherbeaten through the five senses
- Read Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey to build descriptive vocabulary
- Discuss “a sense of place” and draw a favorite place
- Sketch with pencil and paint with watercolor a version of Weatherbeaten
- Use math patterns to recreate the waves in Weatherbeaten
- Explore and critique other artworks by Homer and write a letter to Homer discussing a work they enjoy
- Discover the animals that might live in the Weatherbeaten scene and use nouns, verbs, and adjectives to describe those sea creatures.
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Grades 3 & 4
Visual Arts
A Perfect Storm
Joanne Maloney
Wentworth Intermediate School, Scarborough, Maine
Students use watercolor techniques to recreate the drama found in Homer’s Weatherbeaten. First, they look closely at the painting, and then learn about Homer’s career through a video and discussion. The teacher demonstrates various watercolor techniques to create different effects of clouds, waves, and water, and students consider how to paint three-dimensional rocks using light and shadow.
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Grade 4
Visual Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Language Arts
Winslow Homer: A Sense of Place
Martha Burtt and Betsey Bailey
Harpswell Islands School, Harpswell, Maine
As the centerpiece of a Maine Studies unit, these lessons focus on the geology and economics of Maine, as well as the more poetic nature of Weatherbeaten.
- Maine geographic regions
- A study of rocks and geology
- An understanding of geometry and patterns in art and nature
- The economics of life on mid-coast Maine
- Local connections to community life and natural resources
- Paintings and dioramas of local scenes
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Grade 5
Language Arts and Visual Arts
The Poetry of the Sea
Sharon Hamman and Sherman Kendall
Hall Elementary School, Portland, Maine
The literacy specialist and visual arts teacher work together to introduce fifth graders to Winslow Homer and Weatherbeaten. Activities include:
- Read a biography of Homer
- Write a persuasive letter to Homer and ask him questions
- Create a sketch of a Homer painting
- Carefully view Weatherbeaten through the five senses
- Write haiku poems inspired by Weatherbeaten
- Have a field trip to the coast
- Write a reflection about being at the ocean and create an on-site watercolor painting
- Write haiku poems about being at the ocean
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Grade 5
Language Arts, Science, and Visual Arts
Weatherbeaten: A Symbol of Place
Sally Mitchell and David Millard
Presumpscot Elementary School, Portland, Maine
Students are immersed in the world of Weatherbeaten through activities that build descriptive vocabulary and teach about depth, line, color, and movement. Students create dynamic geometric interpretations of Weatherbeaten, build warm and cool color collages, and go on a field trip to paint watercolor ocean scenes on-site. Back in the classroom, students go beneath the surface to learn about rocks and the layers of the earth. They also write poems inspired by their field trip to the ocean.
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Grade 5
Visual Arts
The Artist’s Studio—Exploring the Artist’s Workroom
Genevieve Keller
Windsor Elementary School, Windsor, Maine
In this unit, students explore the place (environment) and space (studio) where an artist works. Students see artist studios as a personal space to create in and understand the studio's connection to the surrounding environment. After an introduction to Winslow Homer and an in-depth exploration of Weatherbeaten, students learn about Homer's studio at Prouts Neck. The students’ art journals feature sketches, Haiku poems, thoughts, and information in it as the students see fit. Students design and create a model of a studio of their own. For a final piece of artwork, students place their 'studios' outdoors and do a painting of their studio in an outdoor environment.
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Grades 4, 5, & 6
Visual Arts
Discovering Our Sense of Place
Kathleen Smith
Margaret Chase Smith School, Skowhegan, Maine
Through an in-depth series of lessons on landscape painting techniques, students discover Homer’s Weatherbeaten, compare his work to other landscapes, and create a series of landscape works that are assembled into an accordion book. Students express different seasons in Maine by using elements of art and perspective techniques.