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Chiaroscuro: Painting with a Spotlight

6th grade nonfiction passage about light and dark in painting: 225 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction light and dark in painting 225 words

Chiaroscuro: Painting with a Spotlight

Imagine a face glowing in the dark, lit from one side as if by a single candle. Painters have created that effect for hundreds of years, and the technique has an Italian name, chiaroscuro. The word joins two older words that mean light and dark.

In a painting, chiaroscuro means using strong differences between bright areas and deep shadows. A flat shape on a canvas does not look solid. When one side of a cheek or an arm is bright and the other side fades into shadow, it begins to look round, as if you could reach out and touch it. Artists call this modeling.

Two painters famous for the style are Caravaggio, who worked in Italy around the year 1600, and Rembrandt, who worked in the Netherlands a little later. Their scenes often have a nearly black background. A beam of light falls on only the most important part of the picture, such as a face or a pair of hands. Your eyes go right to that spot.

Light can also tell a story. A bright spot may suggest hope, or a dark corner may hint that something is hidden. You can try the same idea at home. Set a lamp beside a pear on a table in a dim room, and notice how the shadow side turns deep and the bright side stands out.

Questions

  1. What does the word chiaroscuro mean? in the text

  2. What do artists call the effect that makes a flat shape look round? in the text

  3. Where did Caravaggio work? in the text

  4. What kind of background do many chiaroscuro scenes have? in the text

  5. Why do viewers look first at the lit part of the picture? think about it

  6. How can light and dark help a painting tell a story? think about it

Words to know

chiaroscuro
a painting style that uses strong light and deep shadow
technique
a special way of doing something
canvas
the cloth surface that many artists paint on
shadow
a darker area where light is blocked
modeling
using light and shade to make a flat shape look round
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 177 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.6

Picture a face glowing in the dark. It is lit from one side, as if by a candle. Painters have done this for hundreds of years. The way has an Italian name, chiaroscuro. It joins two older words that mean light and dark.

In a painting, chiaroscuro means strong bright spots and deep shadows. A flat shape does not look solid. If one side of an arm is bright and the other is dark, it looks round. Artists call this modeling.

Caravaggio worked in Italy around the year 1600. Rembrandt worked in the Netherlands a little later. Both were famous for this style. Their scenes often have a nearly black background. A beam of light falls on the key part, such as a face or hands. Your eyes go right to it.

Light can tell a story too. A bright spot may show hope. A dark corner may show that something is hidden. Try it at home. Put a lamp by a pear in a dim room. The shadow side turns deep, and the bright side stands out.

▲ This passage · 225 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.9

Imagine a face glowing in the dark, lit from one side as if by a single candle. Painters have created that effect for hundreds of years, and the technique has an Italian name, chiaroscuro. The word joins two older words that mean light and dark.

In a painting, chiaroscuro means using strong differences between bright areas and deep shadows. A flat shape on a canvas does not look solid. When one side of a cheek or an arm is bright and the other side fades into shadow, it begins to look round, as if you could reach out and touch it. Artists call this modeling.

Two painters famous for the style are Caravaggio, who worked in Italy around the year 1600, and Rembrandt, who worked in the Netherlands a little later. Their scenes often have a nearly black background. A beam of light falls on only the most important part of the picture, such as a face or a pair of hands. Your eyes go right to that spot.

Light can also tell a story. A bright spot may suggest hope, or a dark corner may hint that something is hidden. You can try the same idea at home. Set a lamp beside a pear on a table in a dim room, and notice how the shadow side turns deep and the bright side stands out.

■ Harder · 242 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 9.6

Imagine a face glowing out of the darkness, illuminated from one side as though by a single candle. Painters have produced this dramatic effect for hundreds of years, and the technique carries an Italian name, chiaroscuro, which combines two older words meaning light and dark.

In a painting, chiaroscuro refers to the deliberate use of strong contrasts between brilliant highlights and deep shadows. A flat shape on a canvas does not look solid by itself. When one side of a cheek or an arm is bright while the other side fades into shadow, however, it begins to look round, as if you could reach out and touch it. Artists describe this effect as modeling.

Two painters renowned for the style are Caravaggio, who worked in Italy around the year 1600, and Rembrandt, who worked in the Netherlands somewhat later. Their scenes frequently feature a nearly black background, with a single beam of light falling only on the most important part of the picture, such as a face or a pair of hands. The viewer's eyes are drawn immediately to that spot.

Light can also contribute to the story a painting tells. A bright spot may suggest hope, whereas a dark corner may hint that something is hidden. You can experiment with the same idea at home by setting a lamp beside a pear on a table in a dim room, and noticing how the shadow side deepens while the bright side stands out.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put chiaroscuro, technique, canvas, shadow and modeling on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Chiaroscuro: Painting with a Spotlight"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 225 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.9. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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