Unit Title :

Unit Goals:
It is important for students to understand our
planet and how it works. It is also important
to have an understanding of the solar
system and be able to identify and be
familiar with other planets, the sun, and the
moon.

Teachers name:

Lesson Title:

Grade:

Length of time:

The Moon

Grade 4

2-60 Minute class

Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change

Kaitlyn McGowan

General Lesson Objectives:

Upon completion of this lesson, students will have an understanding of the moon and the relationship between the moon, Earth,
and the sun. Students will be able to identify Van Gogh and become familiar with his style by looking at examples of his work and
creating their own version of his Starry Night.
VA.SOLs :
Art SOLs:
Science 4.8: The student will investigate and understand the
relationships among the Earth, the moon, and the sun.
a) Motion of the moon

Art 4.5: The student will use the following to express meaning in
works of art:
1) Pattern- use repetition to imply movement
Art 4.13: The student will describe artists and their work.

Materials:
Resources for lesson or parts of lessonadvance organization to do before class:
1) www.incredibleart.org/lessons/elem/elem67.html
2) www.pinterest.com/pin/44930450029821119
Gather images to project through LCD
3) www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/space/moon.ht
1) Short YouTube video
ml
2) Van Gogh Starry Night
4) www.youtube.com/watch?v=82p-DYgGFjI
3) Silhouette 1
5)
4) Silhouette 2
Create Teacher example
teacher LCD projector
White Bristol paper
Black construction paper
Watered down black acrylic Paint
Paint brushes
Scissors
White glue
Crayons (neon)
White chalk
students Crayons
Vocabulary:
Foreground- the part of a scene that is near the viewer
Silhouette- dark shape and outline of someone or something against a lighter background

Anticipatory Set- Hook: (5 Minutes)

Last lesson, we learned that the planets orbit around the sun.
Who can tell me what it means to orbit?
Good, to orbit means to follow in a circular path around an object. As planet Earth slowly orbits around the sun there is something
orbiting around us.
Does anyone know what that is?
The moon!
Motivation:
1.Input- (Part 1- Background)
[Input for Day 1] (7-10 Minutes)
(SHOW SHORT YOUTUBE VIDEO OF SUN, EARTH, AND MOON ORBIT)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W47Wa7onrIQ
As we learned last class, it takes the Earth 365 days to do a complete orbit around the sun. As we circle around the sun the
moon does the same thing around the Earth but this circle is a lot smaller taking the moon only 27.3 days to make a complete orbit
around Earth. Since you have been learning about the moon we are going to create a crayon resist of the moon by creating our
own version of Van Goghs Starry Night.
Has anyone ever heard of Van Gogh?
(SHOW POWERPOINT SLIDE 1)
Does this image look familiar to anyone?
This is Van Goghs Starry Night
What do you guys see/notice in this painting?
What do you actually see? Describe what is going on here.
Notice how he uses small lines and color to make the sky appear as though it is moving.
The foreground is the part of a scene that is near the viewer.
What is happening in the foreground of this painting? What about the background?
Over the course of this class and the next class we will be creating our own version of Van Goghs Starry Night.
[ Input for Day 2] (5 minutes)
Does anyone know what a silhouette is?
A silhouette is a dark shape and outline of some one or something against a lighter background.
(SHOW POWERPOINT SLIDE 2)
This is an example of a silhouette. The figure and the outline of the image are dark and the background is light.
Today we will be making a silhouette for the foreground of our Starry Night.
Who remembers from last class what a foreground is?
Yes, a foreground is the part of the scene that is near the viewer.
Our foreground for this project will be a skyline.
(Hold up teacher example of silhouette)
Here is an example of a skyline silhouette. Your skyline does not have to look exactly like this, please be creative with it; you can
add houses, trees, mountains, buildings, etc.

2. Modeling/ Demo- (Minutes)

[Demo Day 1]
Part 1: (5 Minutes)
To begin you all will take your piece of white Bristol board paper and using crayon you will draw the moon and the stars like in
Starry Night. Be sure you are pressing down hard with your crayon! When choosing your colors, try to use bright, neon colors.
Once you have your moon and stars drawn add repeated shapes around them so it looks like the stars are shining. Then use small
repetitive lines to create swirls within your sky.
(Demo & Hold up teacher example of background)
Notice how the swirls make it look as though the sky is moving. Now, you will have the next 20-25 minutes to create your sky then
we will come back together for another demonstration. Please put your name in crayon at the top, like so, so we can tell who
created what.
Does anyone have any questions?
(Once everyone has created their sky background and all the crayons are put away I will demo the crayon resist).
Part 2: (5 Minutes)
Now that we all have our backgrounds complete I will demo the crayon resist! For this part we are going to take black paint and
paint over top of our sky!
(Demo painting black over sky)
The wax in the crayons resists the paint so the areas that were not colored in with crayon are the only places that the black paint
stayed! So for the next 5-10 minutes you guys will do just as I did! Paint over your sky with black paint, once you finish painting
please place your creation on the back desk to dry.
Does anyone have any questions about this? I will walk around while you are doing this and help anyone that needs help!
Next class we will be learning about silhouettes and making the foreground of our Starry Night.
[Demo Day 2] (10 Minutes)
To make your skyline silhouette you are going to take your black sheet of construction paper and with chalk you will draw a
baseline.
(Draw Baseline)
Once you have your baseline, you will then continue to use chalk to draw your mountains, buildings, etc.
(Draw mountains/building outline)
Once you have completed your outline you are going to take your scissors and cut along the outside edges being careful not to cut
off your baseline.
(Cut Silhouette)
Lastly, we are going to glue our silhouette to our background! Be sure to glue the side of your construction paper that has the chalk
on it. Once you put glue on your paper, turn your paper over, and place it glue side down onto the bottom of your crayon resist.
Boom! You will then have made your very own version of Van Goghs Starry Night!!
You will have the next 30-35 minutes to think about what you want to do for your skylines and then draw, cut, and glue them!
3. Directions:
1) Pressing hard with crayon, draw stars and moon like Starry Night.
2) Repeat shapes around them so it looks like the stars are shining
3) Add swirls to the sky
4) Put name in crayon at the top of the paper
5) Paint over crayoned sky with black paint (crayon resist)
6) Allow time for picture to dry
7) With chalk on black construction paper draw baseline
8) Draw mountains, buildings, etc for skyline
9) Cut around the outsides edges of your skyline
10) Add glue to the side of the silhouette that you chalked on
11) Turn silhouette over and place at the bottom of crayon resist
4. Ck. for understanding: Does everyone understand? Does anyone have any questions? If you have any questions at any time
about the project just raise your hand and I would be happy to help you!
Guided Practice- No guided practice

Distribute materials: ( minutes)

Independent Practice[Day 1] (30-40 Minutes)
Students will have minutes to use crayons to
create the stars, moon, and background for this
project.
Students will have minutes to apply black
paint to their background creating a crayon
resist.
[Day 2] ( 30-35 Minutes)
Students will have minutes to draw, cut, and
paste silhouette onto background of their project.

Evaluation of student workA

Student creates
Yes
Van Gogh styled
sky
Student completes
crayon resist

Yes

C
Somewhat

F
No

Somewhat

No

Closure- (7-10 minutes)

1.Clean- up- Students will wash their hands and place their project
on the back table to dry. I will come around and collect the paint,
water, and brushes from each table and remove newspaper.
2. Critique questions- (3-5minutes; Critique & Summary)
1) ______ orbits around planet Earth as it orbits around the
sun.
2) Who remembers the name of the artist we discussed today?
3) What is foreground?
4) What is a silhouette?
3. Summary- Over the past two classes we discussed how the Earth
and other planets orbit the sun, while the moon orbits around us. We
then took that discussion and made a crayon resist of the moon
influenced by Van Goghs Starry Night. We learned what a
silhouette was and created one of our own as the foreground in our
project. We also learned how to do a crayon resist.
Modifications
-spec. ed- Have a classmate and them work on one Starry Night
instead of them both creating one
-gifted- Encourage them to make specific patterns in their
background. When making silhouette, encourage student to get more
intricate in the detail of their skyline.
- if done early- Go back in and add any additional detail they would
like!
TEACHER EXAMPLES:

Student creates
silhouette

Yes

Somewhat

No