Lesson 1 - LearningThroughMuseums

Days 4–5: Comparing and Contrasting the City and the Farm
● Time Allotment
two days, 45 minutes each day (or two, 45‒minute segments in one day)
● Materials
• Reproduction of American Gothic, 1930
Materials for each student:
Copy of Mood Reader organizer
Copy of Compare and Contrast organizer
● Advance Preparation
• Prepare to display American Gothic and The Coffee House in the classroom for student
viewing.
• Review the Background Information section of this lesson about American Gothic.
● Vocabulary
comparison
conclude
contrast
descriptive writing
gothic
main idea
rural
summarize
● Procedure
Part 1
1. Ask students to look at American Gothic and fill in the Art Reader organizer. They should fill
out just the first two parts of the Art Reader. Then have students share their observations.
2. Explain to them that the painting was made in 1930 and shows the kinds of people who lived
in rural America almost 100 years ago. The artist grew up in rural Iowa and painted things that
reminded him of that time. Ask them to list the things that are rural in the painting.
3. Rather than have students finish the second half of the Art Reader, have them use the Mood
Reader organizer to infer the mood of the painting American Gothic.
4. As a class, compare and contrast the mood of the two paintings—The Coffee House and
American Gothic.
5. Ask students to infer what message about rural life that the artist, Grant Wood, was
communicating.
Art Institute of Chicago • 69