Additional Learning Resources for The Wind in the Willows Art & Baking Study Guide by The Build Your Masterpiece Class
Chapter 8: Toad’s Adventure"
Today we are reading Chapter 8, in The Wind in the Willows, and this chapter is called "Toad's Adventure" and Toad in prison because he stole a car, due to his recklessness and obsession with speed and driving cars.
As we learned in chapter 2, one of the first cars was the Model T, and they did not make too many of them each year - they were suited for the very wealthy. Can you imagine being so wealthy, that you could simply buy and wreak a car as many times as you would like?
In his sadness, he makes a friend who helps him escape, by dressing up as someone else, but without any money he gets into even more trouble, involving a train and him telling the truth.
Enjoy this Read Aloud of Chapter 8:
Listen to this chapter by following along with your own copy of the book, or enjoy listening while you paint your watercolor art project, below.
Discussion Ideas:
Do you think Toad actually became friends with the washerwoman in the jail?
Back in the authors time, there was a strong class system, based on jobs, income, and status. In this chapter we see Toad hold on to that rigid way of thinking.
Did Mr. Toad think himself better than the girl who had the job of washing clothes?
What do you think of this?
How can this type of judgement towards others effect us?
Optional:Pick a sentence from this chapter for copy-work.
Find more to do with vocabulary words, sentences, spelling bees and more with Vocabulary.com
Art Project: Colorful Village with a Train, part 1
Supplies Needed
Watercolor Paper
pencil
black sharpie marker
Watch this Lesson overview for Inspiration in our Colorful Village with a Train Art Project, for this chatper and the next:
Method for part 1 of our Colorful Village:
We will be drawing a village of houses. Lots of houses. Draw as many as you can handle, because today we are simply working on filling out our page with houses, detail, and anything else you would like to draw, while being inspired by Karla's Art. Plus, because Mr.Toad escapes onto a Train, add in a Train and some tracks, running through your village.
Tips:
Start with a 2D house, which appears as if you are looking straight at it. Then add in a 3D house, with corners, windows and doors, with cute details on the roofs. For younger children, simply focus on 2D houses, and only as many as they can. This can vary in levels because even at the simplest of levels, it comes down to what a house or village looks like to the artist. If you want to add little birds, cats, trees, things like that, go right ahead, and make this artwork your very own.When you are done, set this aside, and wait until the next chapter/week's plan, as we will be completing it then in the part 2.
Karla Gerard is a self-taught Abstract Folk Artist, who lives in Waterville, Maine, USA, and she has been painting and doing art since she was a teenager. She has a passion for art and has been selling it for over ten years. She loves to paint with color, patterns, painting trees, houses circles, and landscapes. She also loves to paint animals, such as blackbirds, cats, deer, moose, and raccoons which you can see in her series of beautiful, colorful and intense patterned designs of houses and villages. It is fun to look deeply at her artwork and try to spot all the little birds and cats. When asked where she gains her inspiration from, she says, 'inspiration comes from everywhere, nature, magazines, a dream and things I like. I am always looking for ideas and inspiration everywhere I go and I enjoy painting folk art and abstract because the styles are both simple and uncomplicated.'
She recalls that when she was a teenager, she had made up her mind that she would become an artist someday and that she would make it happen, no matter what and she most certainly did. She continued to find ways to learn new techniques, even as a young mother. She took an oil painting class, and after only 4 classes the teacher told her that she could teach the class! But she has experienced hardships as well, as the oil paints became a struggle to work with, due to the fumes they produce, and she became allergic. But that did not stop her creative journey and she soon found acrylic paint to be more suitable for her to use on a regular basis, and now enjoys painting with acrylic as well as designing her rug hook patterns, and other creative projects.
"My passion is painting and sharing my art with the world." ~ Karla Gerard
In the Kitchen: Make English Sausage Rolls
Using our Recipe in the PDF make your own yummy English Sausage Rolls
Check out these cheats on this Traditional Recipe from Jamie Oliver:
Additional Books for this Chapter:
Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Chapter 8
The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
Steam Train, Cream Train by Sherri Dusk
How to Train a Train by Jason Carter
My Big Train Book by Roger Priddy
Locomotive by Brian Floca