emember it may want to join you in reciting the poem:
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
But what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow-
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an India rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.
He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me.
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home beside me and was fast asleep in bed.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Brainstorm with the students about the things that are going on in the poem, stanza by stanza; then have the class report the results of their shadow watching. For example, from the image that Stevenson creates in the first stanza, you might ask: Where do you think the source of light was if the child says "I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed."? Ask: Why did the child in Stevenson's poem say that his shadow had stayed in bed in the last stanza?
Encourage the students to talk about the reasons for shadows shortening and lengthening, and what they noticed about the differences between shadows outdoors and indoors. (It is possible that discernible shadows are produced in your classroom, for example, if you have fluorescent lighting.)
If you have been able to find either of the two Suggested Books above, this would be a good time to read and show them to the class. Be sure that the students have a clear idea of the way in which an opaque object (such as the stake you put in the ground or their bodies) out of doors blocks the rays of the sun. Ask: What problems do you think an artist who likes to work outdoors in nature would have drawing or painting? (shadows change position, size, colors change) When everyone has had a chance to respond, pass out drawing paper and crayon and have each child choose something to draw -- it could be a tree, a building, a person, a fence, that throws a very clear shadow. Tell them: In your drawings, I want to be able to see each shadow, how large it is, and at what angle it falls.
Circulate among the students and give assistance and encouragement with the project. When they have all finished, have them gather around the stake you have planted and ask: What has happened to the shadow that was falling on the rock when we put it in? How far away would the rock have to be placed to mark the shadow this time?
Suggest that some students may want to experiment over the weekend on a clear, sunny day, marking with a rock exactly where the shadow of a stick falls from hour to hour for as long as the light lasts. Ask: Would the shadows themselves get longer or shorter as the morning progressed? (shorter) What about as the afternoon progressed? (longer)
Tell them that painters who paint landscapes out of doors often insist on working on a certain painting only within a small window of time each day to be sure that the shadows and quality of light and color are as much the same as possible. Say to the class: From now on, when we look at paintings, don't forget to note what the artist is doing with light, shadows, and reflections.
Fourth Grade - Visual Arts - Lesson 3 - Portrait of Paul Revere
Note to Teacher
This lesson should not be taught before the students have had American History Lesson 4 and Literature Lesson on Longfellow's Paul Revere's Ride.
Observe carefully a portrait of a famous American by an American painter.
Review the contribution of Paul Revere to the American Revolution.
Recall Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem about Paul Revere.
Hear that Paul Revere was a silversmith in colonial America.
Reproduction of John Sin