Lesson Plan Title: Description of the picture “Washington Crossing the Delaware” by Emanuel Leutze.
Skills Covered: Reading, speaking, listening, writing.
General Goals: to make students familiar with important facts of American history by encouraging them to look at the work of art closely and interpret it adequately; to enrich the language related to picture description.
Specific Objectives:
- to make students sensitized to peer questioning in the classroom;
- to enhance the vocabulary related to picture description;
- to practice speaking by describing artwork;
- to practice giving a persuasive oral presentation;
- to improve reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.
Materials/Visual Aids: Picturing America WebSite, a poster Washington Crossing the Delaware, handouts, Power Point presentation, additional Internet resources.
1. Warm-up. (5 min.) The teacher starts a short group discussion by asking students to think over the following questions and give brief answers (1-2 sentences).
What is real courage?
Is a courageous person always a fighting person?
Can you give examples of courageous people?
2. Getting background information (15 min) (from the article Washington's crossing of the Delaware by Nancy Bence Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - Teutpolis Press-Dieterich Special Gazette )
2.1 Appendix A. Pair work.
Student 1 reads the information from the card starting it with the words Did you know that… Student 2 expresses his surprise Is it? It can’t be true! Student 1 confirms it giving additional information.
e.g.:
- Did you know that Washington's crossing of the Delaware River was the turning point in the Revolutionary War?
- Was it? I can’t believe it!
- Yes, it’s true. Up to that time a number of key battles had been lost by the Continental Army to the British occupation of New York City.
2.2 Writing activity. Memory training.
Individual work. The teacher collects the cards and asks the students to write down as many historic facts about George Washington’s crossing the Delaware as they can remember. Then one by one they read aloud one sentence from what they have written. They shouldn’t repeat each other’s information.
3. Vocabulary Work. (10 min). Independent work. Appendix B.
3.1. Match the words and their definitions.
1. treacherous |
a. tending to make one thoughtful or sober |
2. prow |
b. in a manner that is marked by extreme care in the treatment of details |
3. sobering |
c. marked by hidden dangers, hazards or perils |
4. dwindling |
d. feeling panic or extreme nervousness |
5. meticulously |
e. the bow of a ship |
6. jittery |
f. becoming steadily less |
7. reinvigorating |
g. high praise |
8. stupendous |
h. giving life and energy to |
9. eulogy |
i. of amazing size or greatness |
3.2 Fill in the gaps with the following words: treacherous, prow, dwindling, meticulously, jittery, reinvigorating, stupendous, sobering, eulogy.
1. In Emanuel Leutze’s painting, the commander of the Continental Army against Great Britain stands boldly near the (1)… of a crowded boat and navigates the (2)… Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776.
2. Through the (3)… autumn months General Washington led an army of (4)… numbers, with defeats mounting and morale sinking.
3. The victory confirmed Washington’s leadership and the brilliance of his military strategy, both vital to (5)… the American cause.
4. Leutze’s works are combinations of carefully researched information presented in a (6)… rendered dramatic style.
5. Other boats follow, crowded with soldiers and (7)… horses.
6. A private collector bought the work for ten thousand dollars, a (8)… sum at the time.
7. Along the top of the work’s original frame was a twelve-foot carved eagle holding a banner with the famous words from George Washington’s (9)…, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
- Writing and translating activities. Individual and group work.
Write 1 – 2 sentences using the new words to show that you understand their meaning. Read your sentences in Russian so that somebody from your group can translate them into English.
e.g.: His ability to persuade was absolutely stupendous. Nobody could refuse his suggestions.
4. Describing the portrait. (20 min). The information is partially taken from the Metropolitan Museum website: http://www.metmuseum.org
4.1 Before discussing the picture, the teacher makes the class familiar with the most important terms to describe a landscape: perspective, light, color, form, motion, composition. It may be done in the form of presentation using a power point. Appendix C.
4.2 Group work. The teacher divides the class into 2-3 groups and assigns them with a task to
prepare a description of the picture answering the questions given on the cards. Appendix D.
After the discussion a representative of each group gives answers to the questions. The class chooses the best speaker, taking into consideration argumentation of the speaker and the language. The teacher comments on the answers and contributes to the description of the picture using the information given in the keys for the lesson.
Closure. Review courage traits from the earlier brainstorming activity. Do Washington and his army depicted in the picture exemplify these qualities?
Extra-Class Work. A Project Activity.
1. You are an expert on the landscape “Washington Crossing the Delaware” by Emanuel Leutze.
Listen to the description of the picture “Washington Crossing the Delaware” by Curator Carrie Rebora Barratt (13 min) from the Metropolitan Museum website: http://www.learnoutloud.com
Note down some pieces of factual and personal information. Your fellow-students will ask you questions to find out what you know about it.
2. Do the crossword “Cross-ing the Delaware” from George Washington. A National Treasure website www.georgewashington.si.edu
List of References:
Picturing America. http://picturingamerica.neh.gov
The Metropolitan Museum website: http://www.metmuseum.org
Washington's crossing of the Delaware by Nancy Bence Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - Teutpolis Press-Dieterich Special Gazette ) http://www.davidhanaur.com
The American President. www.americanpresident.org
Peopling the American Past. http://chnm.gmu.edu
The Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov
Appendix A.
Student 1. Student 2.
1. Washington's Crossing of the Delaware River was the turning point in the Revolutionary War. Up to that time a number of key battles had been lost by the Continental Army to the British occupation of New York City. |
On the side of the British German soldiers fought. They were tough to beat in battle. |
At that time, the 13 colonies were like 13 countries. Each had its own characteristics and they did not always get along with one another. |
In 1776, Britain had the best army and navy in the world. The Continental Army looked like a ragtag band of men in comparison. |
The Continental Army crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night. At about 4 p.m. that evening, a terrible winter storm blew up with hurricane force winds, snow, sleet, and hail. |
George Washington and his army had to walk on snow-covered ground in temperatures below freezing with many of the men ill, not dressed warmly enough and more than a few without shoes. Their route to the River from their camp was traced out with blood from the men who didn't have shoes. |
The wind was howling at almost hurricane force. The water was extremely turbulent and in order to cross the River they had to stand in their boats. |
The exact area of the crossing has been lost to history. Every year since 1954, at this location a re-enactment is performed on Christmas Day of Washington crossing the Delaware River. |
Appendix B.
Match the words and their definitions.
1. treacherous |
a. tending to make one thoughtful or sober |
2. prow |
b. in a manner that is marked by extreme care in the treatment of details |
3. sobering |
c. marked by hidden dangers, hazards or perils |
4. dwindling |
d. feeling panic or extreme nervousness |
5. meticulously |
e. the bow of a ship |
6. jittery |
f. becoming steadily less |
7. reinvigorating |
g. high praise |
8. stupendous |
h. giving life and energy to |
9. eulogy |
i. of amazing size or greatness |
Fill in the gaps with the following words: treacherous, prow, dwindling, meticulously, jittery, reinvigorating, stupendous, sobering, eulogy.
1. In Emanuel Leutze’s painting, the commander of the Continental Army against Great Britain stands boldly near the (1)… of a crowded boat and navigates the (2)… Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776.
2. Through the (3)… autumn months General Washington led an army of (4)… numbers, with defeats mounting and morale sinking.
3. The victory confirmed Washington’s leadership and the brilliance of his military strategy, both vital to (5)… the American cause.
4. Leutze’s works are combinations of carefully researched information presented in a (6)… rendered dramatic style.
5. Other boats follow, crowded with soldiers and (7)… horses.
6. A private collector bought the work for ten thousand dollars, a (8)… sum at the time.
7. Along the top of the work’s original frame was a twelve-foot carved eagle holding a banner with the famous words from George Washington’s (9)…, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
Appendix C.
Composition is the arrangement of different elements in a work of art: light, color, form, perspective, proportion, and motion.
Perspective is the way in which artists create an illusion of depth on a flat surface.
Light. Just as stage designers use lighting to spotlight a performer, painters will often highlight important elements in paintings.
Form. Light and shadow give figures a three-dimensional form.
Motion. Depicting motion is a technique painters use to keep our attention focused on the picture.
Proportion. Proportion usually refers to the way different elements in a painting relate to each other in terms of size.
Appendix D.
- What colors are mostly used in the picture? Why?
- Why is the standing group in the center surrounded by light?
- How does the artist create the allusion of three dimensions on the canvas?
- How does he depict motion? Which of these elements appears to move in this painting? The boat, the water, the soldiers, the flag, General Washington.
- Can you find an object in the foreground whose size seems too small in relationship with everything else?
Keys:
3.1
1.c 2.e 3.a 4.f 5.b 6.d 7.h 8.i. 9.g
3.2
1 – prow
2 – treacherous
3- sobering
4. dwindling
5 – reinvigorating
6 – meticulously
7 – jittery
8 – stupendous
9 – eulogy
4.2
1. Mostly dark tones are used in this painting, probably because the crossing took place at dawn.
2. The standing group in the center of the boat is surrounded by light. This effect keeps our attention focused on the main aspects of the historic event: that General George Washington would become the first president and that this event would culminate in the country's separation from England.
3. He uses perspective - makes the objects that are far away smaller than those that are closer to the viewer. He gives his figures three-dimensional form is to reflect light off their bodies and paint shadows cast by them.
4. The boat seems as though it is rocking as it struggles against the wind, currents, and other obstacles.
The water is filled with menacing ice floes splashes against the boat.
Each of the soldiers is working hard to keep the boat on its course.
The flag is also a motion indicator. Its fabric is blown back by the wind.
General Washington appears to be the only element in the painting that does NOT move. Washington stands erect and resolute, focusing his thoughts on the future.
5. By decreasing the size of the boat relative to the figures inside, Leutze could concentrate our attention on the physical struggle the soldiers were enduring in order to complete their task. |
