In this project, students will view the images of cities in Europe as depicted by Monet. The students will study the relationship of relative distance between cities in Europe and Indiana. They discuss the differences in topography of these cities. While imagining they are Monet the students create a list of likely places in Indiana that an artist could find new and different scenery. The students locate a place in Indiana that has a different look or topography than their hometown. They research the area to determine how it looks and the characteristics of the site. They produce a brochure for the new place from the standpoint of an art school that is trying to induce artists to come and study at their school.

Lesson Plan Title: Finding Fresh Scenes - Geography with Monet

Keywords: Mapping, Geography, Monet, Indiana, France

Curriculum Area: Social Studies

Grade Level: Fourth Grade

Appropriate Group Size: Whole Class Instruction, Individual Response, Group Response

Time Expected to Complete Instructional Plan: First Day 30 minutes, Second Day 30 minutes, Work at home on completion of brochure

Instructional Objectives:

The students state:

• the relationship of the relative distance between their hometown in Indiana and Giverny in France
• the relative distance between Giverny, France and a series of places in Europe
• the relative distance between their hometown and two additional places in Indiana.

Indiana State Proficiencies: Social Studies
Geographic Relationships

• Students should be able to describe places in Indiana and other parts of the world in terms of their absolute (exact) and relative location (location in relationship to other places)
• Students should be able to estimate distances between places using maps and globes.
• Students should be able to use cardinal and intermediate directions and road maps to explain how to reach specific points in the community and state.

Materials and Resources: An Indiana map for each student, a large (class size) map of Europe, research materials for the students (via the Internet, encyclopedias, tourist flyers, etc.) that show scenes from around Indiana. Images from an Internet data base which show Monets paintings from the 1880's from the any of the following sites: Normandy coast (particularly Fecamp, Porville, and Varengeville), Etretat, Belle-Ile, Creuse Valley of central France, the Mediterranean area (i.e. Bordighera, Antibes, and Juan-les-Pins). Any of these sites would illustrate the point but for the purposes of this lesson do not include pictures from Giverny or Paris.

Preparation: On the first day the teacher sets the stage for the lesson by reviewing the life of Monet. This can be done by looking up the information in an Encyclopedia, using the Grove Dictionary of Art Online, or reading one of the suggested children's literature books listed in the following "Teachers Notes" section. The teacher should pay particular attention to the period between 1880 and 1888. During this time Monet traveled frequently on trips that were designed to "sharpen his sensibilities as a painter and to enlarge the range and appeal of his painting for prospective buyers". (Grove Dictionary of Art, Online, 1999). On the map of France, the teacher helps the students locate some of the European cities mentioned above in the "Materials Needed" section (these are the cities to which he traveled). Next, the teacher demonstrates how to estimate the distances between cities using the distance scale on a map of France. Following this demonstration, the students perform similar computations to estimate how far these places are from Giverny. This map examination activity is in preparation for a culminating activity and does not need to be recorded and can be done as a whole group activity.

On the second day, the teacher discusses the goal that Monet had for increasing the appeal of his paintings and the fact that he was looking for fresh scenery. Using images of paintings created by Monet, the teacher coordinates the cities listed above with the paintings that Monet made of these areas and shows the students the images from the Internet. The teacher leads a discussion about how different areas look different and what causes physical differences in topography. The teacher directs the conversation to Indiana and the different topography that is part of the state. The teacher asks the students to imagine themselves as Monet. But, instead of living in France, they live exactly where they do in Indiana. While imagining they are Monet the students create a list of likely places that painter could find new and different scenery in Indian. The next step is the student activity below.

Student Instruction: The students locate a place in Indiana that has a different look or topography than their hometown. They research the area to determine how it looks and the characteristics of the site. They produce a brochure for the new place from the standpoint of an art school that is trying to induce artists to come and study at their school. The brochure will include images of the area, a map, written directions to grounds of the make-believe school, and convincing text that tells why the prospective artist should choose this location.

Student Assessment: Use a rubric to determine student success. This rubric should be given to students prior to the start of their part of the project. Locate the rubric below in the "Teacher Notes" section.

Expansion/Interdisciplinary Connections This lesson is part of a thematic unit. The focus of the unit is Claude Monet with a special emphasis placed on his picture, Gare Saint-Lazare. Other interdisciplinary titles include:

• Getting to Know Claude Monet
• Impressions of Leaving - Writing Home
• Monet's Japanese Bridge - A Scientific Journal
• Monet’s Haystacks - An Experiment with Light
• Time for Monet - Time Line Game

Family Activities:When families visit historical sites, state parks, and museums around the state, they increase the background knowledge that their children bring to learning and create a shelf on which learning sits. These visits make the activities that students would normally only experience vicariously into personal experiences that have meaning and increase memory recall of events, facts, and historical figures and contribute to internalization of school activities. The family could actually take the trip that their child proposes in the brochure they create.

Teacher Notes: Make sure your class size map of France is large enough to be easily seen by the entire class and has enough detail to include small cities before you introduce the students to the project. They are small and difficult to find. The following are Internet sites that I have found useful at this time as well as the images I chose to represent the cities Monet traveled to in the 1880's.

Following is a list of images I used from the Corbis Images library:

Beach at Trouville
Creator Name: Claude Monet

Antibes: Morning by Claude Monet
Creator Name: Claude Monet

Manneporte, Etretat, II
Creator Name: Claude Monet

On the Seine at Bennecourt
Creator Name: Claude Monet

The Seine at Vetheuil, Effect of Sun After the Rain
Creator Name: Claude Monet

The Frost Near Vetheuil
Creator Name: Claude Monet

Pointe de la Heve, at Low Tide
Creator Name: Claude Monet

The Beach at Trouville
Creator Name: Claude Monet

The Varengeville Cliff
Creator Name: Claude Monet

Children's Literature Connections:

A Blue Butterfly: A Story about Claude Monet, by Bijou LeTord, Doubleday 1995

Linnea in Monet's Garden, by Christina Bjork, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1995

Monet (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists Series), by Mike Venezia, Children's Press,1994