1. Elementary Curriculum
Picturing Art
in the
Elementary Curriculum
Ideas for Using the NEH Picturing America Prints
Kathryn Tamms
Instructional Media Aide
Gary D. Wright Elementary
Hampshire, Illinois

2. Language Arts Standards:
3-A Grant Wood (1892–1942), The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Oil on
Masonite, 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x cm.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1950 (50.117). Photograph © 1988 The
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art © Estate of Grant Wood / Licensed by
VAGA, New York.
Language Arts Standards:
LA.1:13-4 Explain information from a drawing or graphic source.
LA.3:16 Generate questions about a defined focus area.
Math Standards:
MA.K:3-3 Locate plane shapes in the environment (Examples: circle=clock; rectangle=door; etc.)
MA.1:3-6 Locate objects in surroundings that meet geometric descriptions.
MA.2:8-5 Identify, compare and contrast 2-dimensional shapes.
MA.4:6-7 Identify and describe how geometric figures are used in practical settings.
Social Studies Standards:
SS.5:2-6 Summarize the causes and effects of ideas and actions of significant political figures during colonial times.
SS.5:3-1 Analyze political events, figures, and ideas in the colonies that led to the Revolutionary War.

3. The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1931)
Artist: Grant Wood ( )
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1931)
What is happening in this painting?
Write a list of at least 5 different things you see in the painting:
1. ____________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________
5.  ____________________________________________________
Where do you think the rider is going? Where do you think he has been?
The artist uses simple shapes to compose his painting. How many of the following shapes can you find in the picture?

4. • Background details – European Nobles
• Objects in painting – Meaning?
-rainbow
-medallion with stars & stripes
-ink stand/quill
-books
-saber
3-B Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828), George Washington, Oil
on canvas, 971⁄2 x 621⁄2 in. (247.6 x cm.). National Portrait
Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; acquired
as a gift to the nation through the generosity of the Donald
W. Reynolds Foundation.

5. •What is happening? •Compare this scene to modern voting place.
7-B George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879), e County Election, Oil on canvas, 38 x 52 in. (96.5 x cm.). Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Mo., Gift of Bank of America.
•What is happening? •Compare this scene to modern voting place.
•How many different hat styles? Why? •What is missing? Why?

6. •How old do you think Lincoln is here?
•How does his face compare to photos at beginning of presidency?
•What is he holding? Why is his hand blurred?
9-B Alexander Gardner (1821–1882), Abraham Lincoln, February 5,
1865. Photographic print. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.

7. 10-B.1 Hannah Greenlee (c. 1827–before 1896) and Emm
10-B.5 Split Bars Pattern Quilt, c Top, plain-weave and crepe wool; back, black-and-white twill printed-pattern plain-weave cotton. Overall dimensions 76 x 76 in. (193 x 193 cm.). Collections of the Heritage Center of Lancaster County, Lancaster, Pa
10-B.1 Hannah Greenlee (c. 1827–before 1896) and Emm
Greenlee (died c. 1910), Crazy Quilt, begun by Hannah and
finished by her daughter, Emm, Fabric scraps (some
homespun), length 90 in., width 711⁄2 in. (228.6 x cm.).
Historic Carson House, Marion, N.C., Gift of Ruth Greenlee.
10-B.2 Susan Noakes McCord (1829–1909; McCordsville, Hancock
County, Indiana), Grandmother’s Fan Quilt, c Wool, silk,and cotton, length 801⁄2 in., width 701⁄2 in. ( x cm.). From the Collections of The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Mich.

8. 19-B James Karales (1930–2002), Selma-to-Montgomery March for Voting Rights in 1965, Photographic print. Located in the James Karales Collection, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University. Photograph © Estate of James Karales.

9. Additional Resources http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/
National Endowment for the Humanities, EDSITEment, Everything in Its Right Place, a curriculum overview to a four-part lesson on the structural elements of a painting, featuring Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware, for Grades 9–12.
National Endowment for the Humanities, EDSITEment, Horse of a Different Color: An Introduction to Color in the Visual Arts has two lesson plans on color; the first, In Depth with the Full Spectrum, for Grades 9–12, introduces students to color basics, the color wheel, and how artists manipulate color to draw attention to aspects of their work.
National Endowment for the Humanities, EDSITEment, What Portraits Reveal, for Grades 9–12. A lesson on portraits that engages students in looking at a portrait to discover not only the physical description of a person, but how to interpret what is viewed. Also discusses manipulation of the image, including caricature.
Getty Museum Education department Web site, Teachers’ Programs and Resources, is designed for K–12 teachers who wish to introduce art and art history into their classrooms. The site uses works from the museum’s collection along with pages A Grade-by-Grade Guide, The Elements of Art (teaching the formal components of art such as line and color), and a PDF file, Lesson Template. Also included are pages for California State Content Standards and National Standards in the Visual Arts. Lesson plans for Grades 1–2 and 9–12 use the photography of Dorothea Lange.
Art Institute of Chicago Education department Web site, Art Access, is arranged by subject matter. Click on a link to open a page with essays on selected works, a link to lesson plans, online family activities, a glossary and maps. Artists covered are: Bearden, Cassatt, Copley, Homer, Lawrence, Sargent, Tiffany, and Whistler.
National Gallery of Art Web site, Themes in American Art, covers topics such as abstraction, historical subjects, narrative art, and portraiture; illustrated by works in the collection. Includes a glossary.
National Endowment for the Humanities, EDSITEment, Realistic Impressions: Investigating Movement in the Visual Arts, for Grades 9-12, teaches students about the meaning of the term "movement" in the visual arts, and cover the major movements of Impressionism, Realism, and Romanticism, with links to other movements in the arts.