5th Grade Sunset By the Water Paintings

My 5th grade students recently learned about Claude Monet's visit to Venice, Italy, where he created the famous painting San Giorgio at Dusk. While in Venice, Monet did not complete many paintings, because he concluded it was a city too beautiful to be painted. San Giorgio is a monastery island in Venice. The city of Venice is composed of 117 islands, most of which are connected by bridges. The monastery is alone, and not connected to any nearby islands. I asked the students why they thought that artists loved to paint sunsets by the water; the students rightly concluded that the reflections multiply the beautiful sunset colors! Then, I asked each students to use a ruler to create a horizon; then they could add any details that they wanted to create a sunset by the water. Their water could be a lake, stream, river, pond, ocean, or anything else they liked! Here are a few finished results from my 5th grade students.