|
Sarah Albee is taking us back in time to visit a painter who was not exactly a model of good citizenship! Your students are sure to be hanging on every word. |
English/Language Arts
Explore biography
Author Albee has given her readers a focused peek at one aspect of Caravaggio’s life. Use this as a mentor text to discourage student bed-to-bed biographies by asking students to reach agreement on Albee’s focus. Ask them to find a focus, or lens, through which they can choose a famous person and write something about their lives.
Make sure to point out the format and meaning of the two years following Caravaggio’s introduction. Have them practice including birth and death years of famous people in their own writing.
Social Studies
Explore Renaissance Painters
Use this piece as an introduction to the importance of art during the renaissance period. Explore other artists of the period and ask students to infer why art might be an important facet when studying the renaissance.
STEM
Explore percentages - commissions
Author Albee tells the reader that this artist was working on commission. Use this Minute to introduce or reinforce the math behind commissions - another practical use for comprehending percentages!
Art
Explore oil painting - realism
The “realism movement” in painting is often cited as beginning in the 1800s - an end to the “romantic” style and precursor to the modern movement. Caravaggio, however, was a few hundred years ahead of his time. Have students explore Caravaggio’s work and compare it to the paintings from the nineteenth century realism movement. Note that the idea of realism, as Albee points out, is as much a function of the subjects chosen as it is of the style.
Research Skills
Explore visual literacy
Use this Minute to practice using art as a primary resource. Have students look for “clues” about daily life by examining paintings from the renaissance period. Based on frequently found elements and subjects, can students infer what kinds of things were most important? Things that were used daily? Food that might have been eaten? Clothes that may have been worn?
Explore Google’s “define” feature
In her second sentence, Author Albee uses the word “palazzi,” an unfamiliar word for most students. After explaining italics are often used to designate foreign words or phrases, have students look up the word in Google by using the “define” function - simply type define palazzi into the search bar and a definition, indicating part of speech and language of origin, will appear. Students can use this function whenever they need a quick definition.
Explore biography
Author Albee has given her readers a focused peek at one aspect of Caravaggio’s life. Use this as a mentor text to discourage student bed-to-bed biographies by asking students to reach agreement on Albee’s focus. Ask them to find a focus, or lens, through which they can choose a famous person and write something about their lives.
Make sure to point out the format and meaning of the two years following Caravaggio’s introduction. Have them practice including birth and death years of famous people in their own writing.
Social Studies
Explore Renaissance Painters
Use this piece as an introduction to the importance of art during the renaissance period. Explore other artists of the period and ask students to infer why art might be an important facet when studying the renaissance.
STEM
Explore percentages - commissions
Author Albee tells the reader that this artist was working on commission. Use this Minute to introduce or reinforce the math behind commissions - another practical use for comprehending percentages!
Art
Explore oil painting - realism
The “realism movement” in painting is often cited as beginning in the 1800s - an end to the “romantic” style and precursor to the modern movement. Caravaggio, however, was a few hundred years ahead of his time. Have students explore Caravaggio’s work and compare it to the paintings from the nineteenth century realism movement. Note that the idea of realism, as Albee points out, is as much a function of the subjects chosen as it is of the style.
Research Skills
Explore visual literacy
Use this Minute to practice using art as a primary resource. Have students look for “clues” about daily life by examining paintings from the renaissance period. Based on frequently found elements and subjects, can students infer what kinds of things were most important? Things that were used daily? Food that might have been eaten? Clothes that may have been worn?
Explore Google’s “define” feature
In her second sentence, Author Albee uses the word “palazzi,” an unfamiliar word for most students. After explaining italics are often used to designate foreign words or phrases, have students look up the word in Google by using the “define” function - simply type define palazzi into the search bar and a definition, indicating part of speech and language of origin, will appear. Students can use this function whenever they need a quick definition.
© Karen Sterling, 2017 - May be used for educational purposes without written permission
