SMALL MOMENTS (GRADES K-5)

In this painting Rockwell tells the story of a little girl’s day by portraying small moments in her morning, afternoon, and night. It was created for the Post and is a companion to Rockwell’s prior Post cover, Day in the Life of a Little Boy [insert link]. Rockwell was known for his ability to tell a complete story within each of his images.

GOALS

  • Teach verbs.
  • Lean the names for daily actions and common events.

 

MATERIALS

  • A printed or digital copy of “A day in the Life of a Little Girl” [insert link to images].
  • Writing paper
Day in the Life of a Girl

Day in the Life of a Little Girl, Norman Rockwell. 1952
©1952 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN

[One line activity for teaser: What is this girl doing in each picture?]

ACTIVITY

 Observe

  • Look at the painting together. Draw student’s attention to the small moments within this girl’s day. Ask:
    • What do you notice in this moment?
    • What is this girl doing?

Explore

  • Point to a moment in the story and name the action that the girl is doing. You might say, “She is waking up” or “She is swimming”. Continue till you have gone through all of the events in her day.
  • Now choose a student to come up and act out one of the actions in the painting. Challenge the rest of the group to guess which action that student is performing.

EXTENSIONS

Try these activities to go even farther with your explorations.

Create

  • Have students draw the moments that take place within their own daily routines. For example they might draw waking up, eating breakfast, playing soccer etc. Then, work together to label each action within these moments.

Reflect

  • Show children “A Day in the Life of a Little Boy” and have them work in small groups to discuss and label the boy’s actions.