Connect to Art > Mary Cassatt

Grades 3-5.
Preknowledge: Independent writing. Some developed fine motor skills.

Reading

Read Mary Cassatt book from Masterpieces: Artist and Their Works series.

Social Studies

Discuss women's rights throughout history, especially how they changed in the late 1800's and into 1900's. (See suggested external web resources below.)

Writing: Conversation

Practice using punctuation in conversational text. Display one of Mary Cassatt's paintings in which the people look like they are having a conversation (i.e., Offering the Panal to the Toreador). Have students imagine what the people in the painting might say and write a short dialogue about what they might be saying. Alternatively, select a painting in which the people look like they are thinking. Explain the ways to use punctuation when a character is thinking.

Art: Human Body Proportion

Human proportion follows simple rules - and most peoples figures can be approximated using the height of the head as the basic measurement to see how everything lines up.

Height:	Most people are about 7 1/2 head lengths (Head = 1 + Torso = 2 + Hips/Legs = 4 + ankles/feet/neck= 1/2 head total).
Width:	Shoulders = 2 heads, Hips = 2 heads
Length:	When arms are at the side, elbows align with the waist; hands fall at mid thigh; and knees are "3 heads" below the waist.

Have students cut out several identical ovals to represent "1 head" and have students construct figures in different poses (see example). [*Hint: Placing double sided tape on the back of each oval will keep the pieces in place and allow for pieces to be adjusted and moved.] When the pieces are in place, have student draw in the neck, hands and feet. Arms and legs will appear bulky, especially for female figures; however this exercise will get students to think about the length of their arms and legs in relation to the rest of their body.

External web resources:

http://www.historywiz.com/womenshistory.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html;
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/specials/whm/0,8805,101046,00.html

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