MATERIALS:
bleach set-up
9"x 12" colored construction paper
oil pastels
visuals and finished products
OBJECTIVES: Students will...
learn about aboriginal art.
draw an aboriginal style picture with bleach.
add pattern and borders.
add color with oil pastel techniques.
DISCUSSION:
Discuss Australian Aboriginal culture, Dreamtime and its relation to
creation, animal and spirit subjects: kangaroo, crocodile, snakes, fish,
eggs, plants and fruit, and Mimi spirits. Other subjects may also
be used. The Aborigine believe that everything was and is created
during a period called Dreamtime. If they want something in particular
to be created the will draw a picture of it, usually on rock or bark.
Food is the most common subject. Decoration of the subject with lines,
arcs, dots, and borders increase its effectiveness and meaning.
ACTIVITY:
Each student has a visual in hand to refer to as he/she draws on his/her
own or can choose to follow-the-leader. Subject is drawn on construction
paper with a Q-tip dipped in bleach solution. Decoration and details
are also added with the bleach. Do not fill in areas with the bleach,
use only line. Oil pastels are used to fill in the spaces.
The pastel can be laid down as a solid color, blended, or in short strokes.
Some areas of paper can be left uncolored.
VOCABULARY: aboriginal art, dreamtime
MATERIALS:
12"x18" red and black construction paper
fine line markers or pens
visuals
OBJECTIVES: Students will...
learn that dragons are a symbol for good luck, prosperity, rain and
the Orient in Chinese culture.
learn that red is the color symbolizing joy in Chinese culture.
use a pen to draw, no erasures, to gain confidence and to be
creative with their mistakes.
look for relationships of parts to draw the whole.
use pattern and texture to complete the dragon picture.
employ cutting skills to cut out the complex dragon shape.
DISCUSSION:
Display visuals of traditional Chinese dragons. Discuss symbolism
as mentioned above. Point out the structure of a traditional Chinese
dragon - reptilian head with teeth, fangs, flame-like mane, tendril mustache,
coiling, snake-like body with scales, spine, and four, clawed feet
(five claws for Imperial dragons, less for "common" dragons) which are
splayed out in all directions. Usually included is the "flaming pearl"
which the dragon holds or is trying to grasp.
ACTIVITY:
Explain to students how pattern is used in depicting the dragon.
Talk about creating good things from mistakes, drawing large, and looking
for relationships of parts to draw the whole.
Students draw on the red paper beginning with the eyes and working
outward from there. The entire face and body is drawn before the
pattern is added. When drawing is complete the dragon is cut out
leaving a contoured red border then is glued onto the black paper.
VOCABULARY: Imperial, dynasty, symbol
MATERIALS:
12"x18" colored construction paper
dark color crayon
scissors
oil pastels
glue
1"x18" and 1"x24" tagboard strips
stapler and staples
3"x18" strips of colored roll paper
mask examples and visuals
OBJECTIVES: Students will...
learn the purposes and uses of masks in primitive societies.
make three-dimensional, wearable art.
use symmetrical design.
apply oil pastels to colored paper.
use curling, crimping, and crumpling techniques with paper.
DISCUSSION:
Discuss and show examples or pictures of primitive masks.
ACTIVITY:
Distribute construction paper, crayons, oil pastels, and scissors.
Fold paper in half the long way. Place fold toward your tummy.
Put a dot in the two corners where the paper is folded. (The teacher
can quickly check this.) Connect the dots with a rainbow line which
touches the top of the paper. Cut along the rainbow line. Open
up the shape (a pointed oval), place it vertically on the table, put one
hand at the bottom, take the top with the other hand and touch the tip
to the top edge of the hand at the bottom. Fold.
To make the eye holes, place two fingers on the fold in the center.
Make a mark on either side of the two fingers. Place two fingers next to
the dot, make a dot on the other side. Repeat. Draw a smile
connecting each pair of dots. Cut on the smile lines. Open
up and look through your eye holes.
(I used some examples of various faces by Ed Emberly for the mask faces.
These were simple, geometrical, and easy for the students to draw.)
Stressing the use of geometrical, symmetrical shapes the students draw
the faces on the masks. Note that the eyes of the mask do not have
to match the eye holes. Color the masks with oil pastels.
* Teacher Preparation: Make a "T" with the tagboard strips
with 24" for the top of the "T" and 18" for the upright part. Staple
together with two staples. This will be used to hold the mask to
the head. For hair, cut roll paper into 3"x18" strips. Cut
long slits about 1/4-1/2" apart to form strands of hair.
As students are completing their coloring, distribute glue, "T" strips,
and two "hairpieces" to each student. Take "T" strip, fit to the
student's head, remove and staple the three ends together. Tear or
cut off excess. (This can be done as you go around the room helping
and making comments, etc.) The student will put a line of glue on
the back side of the mask just above the eyes, like one long eyebrow, place
the vertical strip on the fold and the horizontal strip on the glue.
Staple the strip to the mask on either side of the eye holes.
Demonstrate how to curl, crimp and/or crumple the hair. Put glue
on the root end of the hair and glue to the back of the mask. Make
sure the hair sticks out at the edges of the mask. The hair can be
placed anywhere along the edge. It can also be trimmed.
Wear your mask!
VOCABULARY: mask, primitive culture, symmetrical, geometric
MATERIALS:
construction paper
white drawing paper
glue
scissors
pens
crayons or markers
templates
yarn
hole puncher
OBJECTIVES: Students will...
find Russia on a world map.
learn about Russian tradition of nesting dolls.
make a set of paper nesting dolls.
create their own nesting doll designs.
color designs with markers and/or crayons.
DISCUSSION:
Today we are going to travel to Russia. Russia has the largest
land area of any country in the world. Here is Russia. (Point to
Russia on the map.) Russia covers parts of Europe and Asia.
The United States is only a couple of hundred years old. Russia is several
hundreds of years old. Russia has a lot of traditions, things that
are done over and over again because they have special meaning or remember
special times. In Russia, families live together with grandparents,
parents, and children. The traditions are passed from one generation
to the next. One of the traditions in Russia is carving nesting dolls.
The grandfather would carve a "portrait" of his family. The largest
doll would be the oldest, the next to the largest would be next to the
oldest, and so on down to the smallest and youngest of the family or the
baby. (Show actual nesting dolls.) These dolls were made in
Russia. The traditional colors are red, yellow and black. The
dolls are usually female.
ACTIVITY:
VOCABULARY:
MATERIALS:
9"x 12" construction paper (cut to 9"x 11" and two 1"x 4 1/2" pieces)
fan pattern
or use copier to print pattern and small pieces on construction
paper
9"x 12" watercolor paper
fan pattern
or use copier to print pattern on watercolor paper
14 wooden craft sticks
1 "baby stick" (1/4 craft stick)
pencil
scissors
craft glue
watercolor sets and brushes
water in containers
map
samples
OBJECTIVES: Students will...
learn origin and use of fans.
learn location of Oriental countries.
follow directions to construct an Oriental fan.
use watercolor to paint Oriental style design or scene on fan.
DISCUSSION:
Today we will make an Oriental fan, and the next art time, we will create
an Oriental watercolor to decorate our fan. I will keep your fan
until next time and give it back to you to add the watercolor.. You
can bring in some yarn or embroidery thread and some beads and decorate
your fan next time, too.
Fans have been used by people since the beginning of time. The
cave people probably picked up a large leaf and discovered that by moving
it back and forth, they could cool off and keep away pesky bugs, too.
In ancient Egypt, fans were much fancier. You've probably seen them
of movies about the pharaohs or old Bible times. Usually, a slave
would be holding a large fan, waving it to keep the king cool. The
fan was usually made of the feathers of some exotic bird, such as an ostrich.
The people who live in this part of the world are called Oriental people.
(Point to area on map.) The main countries in this area are China,
Japan, and Korea. The Oriental people made the fan into an art form.
They would make beautiful paintings to decorate their fans. They
made fans from bamboo and other materials such as silk, wood, and beautiful
paper. Some of the fans you have probably seen are the folding type.
The fan we are making does not fold. It is flat. We will make
the "ribs" with craft sticks (they look like popsicle sticks) instead of
bamboo. Next time, we will add a beautiful Oriental painting.
ACTIVITY:
Part One: "Building the Fan"
You are not really going to get to be creative today, except that you
will get to choose the color of paper for the back of your fan. You
will need to follow the instructions exactly for your fan to turn out right.
So you will need to be extra good listeners and direction followers today.
I will call you up by tables to choose your paper. Each person
at the table needs to tell me their colors first, then I will cut them
all at once. After I cut them, I will give them all to one person
to hand out back at your table. Each person gets one large piece
for the fan and two little strips for the handle. (Or, if the patterns
are copied onto the paper, each student will choose color and proceed to
count out craft sticks.)
After you get your paper, come up and count out 14 craft sticks and
1 baby stick. The baby sticks are the little ones in the box next
to the craft sticks. Then go back to your table, after you have your
paper and your sticks, and trace the pattern on the large piece of paper,
and cut it out. (If the patterns are copied onto the paper, students
will cut out on the heavy black line.) Throw away your scraps, put
the scissors and pencil back in the basket, and be ready to listen.
(You can call up four or five students at a time, have them select
their paper, and cut all four or five papers at once. Trim the 9"x
12" paper to 9"x 11". Take the 1"x 11" strip that you cut off, and
cut it in half to 1"x 4 1/2". Hand the stack of paper to one student
to divide up back at their table. Call up the next group. Remind
the class to get sticks after they have their paper, and to trace and cut
after that, and to clean up after that. Wait until everyone has finished
cutting and cleaning up to give gluing instructions.)
To begin constructing the fan, take three sticks and lay them
side by side in a row. (See example on board.) Put a dot of
glue at the end of each of the three sticks. Take three more sticks.
Lay the end of a stick on top of the glue, just overlapping the stick.
Press down firmly and count to ten. Repeat for the other two sticks.
These are your long ribs. Lay aside to dry.
Next, we are going to make the handles. Take the two strips of
paper. Make a thin line of glue down the middle of each
strip. Lay a stick on top of the glue line. Press down.
Make a line of glue down the paper on either side of the stick. Put
two more sticks on the glue lines, so there's three in a row. It's
okay if the sticks hang off the sides of the paper a little bit.
Clean up any glue with a paper towel. Do this to both strips.
Lay aside to dry. You should have two sticks and a baby stick left.
Take the paper fan and fold in half. Open it and fold back the
other way so it will lay flat. This fold marks the center of your
fan. (Or, if patterns are copied onto the paper use pattern as a
guide for placement instead of folding.) Take one of the long ribs,
and put a glue line down the top stick. Glue it to the center line
of your fan. The place where the two sticks join should be at the
middle of the "rainbow" at the bottom of the fan. There should be
about an inch of paper left over at the top. (Go around the room
checking and correcting this)
Next, put glue down the top sticks of the other two long ribs.
These make a "V" with the point just below and touching the center stick.
Each of these ribs should also cover the bottom point of the "rainbow"
at the bottom of the fan. Line up the stick just below the center
rib, then on the corner of the rainbow, and press down to glue. (Demonstrate.)
Repeat for the other side. The ends of the sticks should touch but
not overlap. (Go around the room checking and correcting this.)
Put about an inch of glue near the top of each of the two sticks left.
(Demonstrate.) Hold the bottom of the three long ribs down on the
table with your left hand, or the hand that you don't write with.
Take the single stick with your other hand, and slide the end of the stick
down into the "V" until it touches. Press down the other end to glue
to the fan. (Demonstrate.) The sticks should touch but not
overlap. Repeat for the other side. (Go around the room checking
and correcting this.)
Next, we are going to put on the handle. Put glue on the paper
side of one handle piece from the top to about one-third of the way down.
(Demonstrate.) Put a little line of glue across near the bottom.
Glue the baby stick here. (Demonstrate.) Lift up the ribs and
slide the handle under them. The ends of all the ribs should rest
on the handle. The short ribs should just be barely on the top of
the handle. Make sure the handle is in line straight up and down
with the center stick. (Go around the room checking and correcting
this.)
To put on the other handle piece, put glue dots on the ends of the
rib sticks. There should be five dots on five ends. (Demonstrate.)
Then put a line of glue on top of the baby stick. Place the other
handle piece, paper side down, to make a sandwich. Press firmly.
Your fan is finished until next time.
Put away all your supplies and get out a pencil. We are going
to have a test. (Check that all supplies are put away except for
pencils.) Lay down your fan so the ribs don't show. Find the
area of your fan between the handle and the paper. Write your name
on one of these sticks. Put away your pencils. When I call
your table, push your chair in, bring me your fan, and line up. (Check
fans for names, and tell them they got an "A" on the test if you see their
name, and place in tub for that class.)
Part two: "Oriental Style Watercolor"
Show some examples of Oriental style painting. Point out how
a lot of the painting is left white or unpainted, usually the background
or negative area. Most of the subjects are built from individual
strokes rather than drawn and filled in. Use natural subjects such
as plants, flowers, trees, grass, mountains, clouds, birds, butterflies,
and, of course, bamboo. Use the brush on "tippy-toes" for grass,
birds, leaves, etc. "Sit" the brush down for butterflies, flowers,
and clouds. Create a border around the outside edge of the fan.
Hand out water color paper. (If pattern is not copied onto paper,
have students trace pattern onto paper with a pencil.) Paper can
now be cut out and glued to fan, or watercolor can be done first, then
cut out and glued onto fan when dry.
VOCABULARY: Oriental
RESOURCES: The Metropolitan Museum Of Art Activity Book, Oriental Watercolor
MATERIALS:
3"x 5" tooling foil
wooden stylus
newspaper pad
Adinkra symbol templates
Adinkra symbol/Ashanti design visuals
5"x 7" cover weight paper
hot glue
marker
examples
map
OBJECTIVES: Students will...
learn/see geographical location of Ghana, Africa on map.
learn/hear about the Ashanti people of Ghana.
discuss the definiton of a symbol.
learn/see/hear/read about Adinkra symbols.
learn/watch metal repousse techniques.
create individual metal repousse using Adinkra symbol and other designs.
DISCUSSION:
Today we are going to travel to the continent of Africa. (Show
Africa on world map.) And visit the country of Ghana. (Show Ghana on map
of Africa.) There are many kinds of people who live in Ghana.
One kind of people are the Ashanti people. We are going to make some
art like the Ashanti people might make in Africa. Here is a picture
of an Ashanti boy from Ghana. (Show picture of boy.) He wears
a robe and hat. On his clothing are beautiful designs. These
designs are Adinkra symbols. The Ashanti people use Adinkra symbols
as designs on many things, especially clothing. Here in our country,
we also use symbols. Raise your hand if you can tell me a definition
for "symbol". (Something, i.e. a picture or design, that stands for
something else.) Raise your hand if you can give me an example of
a symbol. ( A heart for love, a cross for a church, a circle with
a slash through it for "not" or "no", a plus sign for addition or minus
sign for subtraction, etc.) Even words, letters and numbers are symbols.
The Adinkra symbols used by the Ashanti people also have meanings.
Get out the laminated sheet on your table. On one side of this sheet
are 12 Adinkra symbols with their names, pronounciations, and meanings.
On the other side are different kinds of Ashanti designs. Let's look
at a few of the Adinkra symbols and what they mean. (Pick out a few
and discuss their meanings and possible uses.) We are going to use
an Adinkra symbol as a design today in art. We are going to use metal
to make our art today.
There is a lot of gold in Africa. In Ghana, gold is used for
money. It is formed into small bars called gold weights and decorated
with beautiful designs. We are going to use metal foil that looks
like gold on one side. The technique we are using is called metal
repousse. Repousse is a French word for designing in relief by pushing
the metal from both sides.
ACTIVITY:
Come up around my table and I will show you how to do metal repousse.
Remember the rules for standing around my table. Do not touch
or lean or the table with any part of your body or clothing. Step
back away from the table so that everyone can see.
This is the foil we are going to use today. I ordered this foil
from an art supply company. You can probably buy some at a craft
store. Just ask for metal tooling foil. At home, you could
probably use heavy duty aluminum foil or the bottom of an aluminum pie
pan. We are going to work with a wooden stylus or pointed stick.
At home, you can use a pencil, toothpick, or a dowel, or stick, sharpened
in a pencil sharpener. First you need to get some padding underneath
the foil. Newspaper works well for padding. At each table there
are 4 newspapers, one for each person. Use a whole newspaper.
Do not divide it or take it apart. Put the newspaper under the foil.
Choose an Adinkra symbol from the basket at your table. Place it
on top of the foil. Trace the symbol using the wooden stylus.
It will show from both sides of the foil. Whatever is drawn on the
gold side pushes or bumps out on the silver side. Whatever is drawn
on the silver side bumps out on the gold side. We want to be sure
to push from both sides.
There are lots of ways to decorate inside and around your Adinkra symbol.
I want you to try all of them. Begin by creating a border.
Use straight, wavy, or zig-zag lines, dots, dashes, x's, etc. Try
copycat lines from both sides. Make a spiral, then push from the
other side between the lines. Draw a shape on one side and fill it
in from the other side. Create a design or texture using dots.
Use straight or wiggly stripes and copycat in between from the other side.
Make a balanced design. If you put a shape on one side, repeat it
on the other side. Don't use too many shapes, or it will look junky.
Don't use any words or letters in your design. Don't force the metal.
If it bunches up or wrinkles, just skip over it. Push out lightly
a little bit at a time. Try to smooth out the stroke lines by using
very light pressure in different directions. The last ten minutes
of class, we will frame the metal. I'll tell you more when the time
comes. Any questions about how to make your repousse design?
I'll give you the foil right here. Take it to your seat, get
out your newspaper pad, choose your Adinkra symbol, and get started.
Remember to work quietly.
(Allow students to work independently for a while, then travel around
the room giving assistance, suggestions, and encouraging comments.
If the glue gun is not heated, plug it in, and allow 5 minutes for warm-up.
When there are ten minutes left in class give instructions for framing.)
When you have finished your repousse, clean up your table, first, then
come up to my table and choose a card for your frame. Hand me the
card and your repousse, and I will hot glue it together for you.
Take it back to your table. Use the red marker to write your name
on the back. You can also write the name of the symbol and its meaning
on the back, too. You can also note that the art is from the Ashanti
people of Ghana, Africa. Do not use the marker anywhere else, only
on the back of your frame. Make sure your table is clean so that
I will be able to choose "artists of the day" before you leave. "Artists
of the day" will get another piece of foil and a frame card.
VOCABULARY: Africa, Ghana, Ashanti, Adinkra, symbol, metal repousse
MATERIALS:
12"x 12" black construction paper
12" circle templates
white crayons
scissors
old brushes
glue (thinned to the consistency of cream)
containers for glue
water container (on supply table to rinse brushes after class)
pie tins (one for each color of sand, one set for each table)
colored sand
(use powder tempera for color, about one-half lb. for each gallon milk
jug filled two-thirds with "play sand". Spray water mixed with
a little "pine sol" into jug, cap, then shake to distribute color.
Continue to spray and shake until there is a minimum of dust. Pour
into pie tin enough to cover bottom of tin. Spray again as needed.
Keep jugs capped to prevent drying. Stack pie tins to minimize drying.
At end of day, spray sand in tins and wrap each set in small garbage bag
and seal.)
visuals of Southwest Indian designs
OBJECTIVES: Students will...
learn history of Southwest Indian sand painting.
choose and draw Indian designs on a circular format.
use glue and colored sand to create their own sand paintings.
DISCUSSION:
Tell story of how the medicine man, or hathli, would create a sand
painting when someone in the tribe was in need of healing. He would
color the sand using natural materials: plants, different colored rocks,
turquoise stones, charcoal, etc. He would grind these up and mix
them with sand for his colors and place them in specially made clay bowls,
one for each color. Then he would take a giant eagle feather and
sweep the Holy Ground clean of all sticks and stones and debris.
He would take the sand in his hand and carefully trickle it onto the ground
in very fine lines. The sick person's life depended upon the skill
of the hathli. The medicine man would often have helpers. Even
with the helpers, it would take at least one whole day and sometimes more
to complete a painting. When the painting was complete, the medicine
man would call for the sick person to come. The sick person's friends
would carry him to the hathli. They would lay their friend on top of the
sand painting as if the painting was a blanket. The hathli would
sprinkle the sand over the sick person's body as everyone chanted their
special prayers for healing. When the ceremony was complete, the
hathli would call for silence, and everyone waited quietly. Do you
know what would happen? After a while, the person who was sick would
be well. He would stand up and walk with his friends back to his
home.
ACTIVITY:
Show some examples of sand paintings, if available. Talk about
the symbols used. The Indians used the circle as a symbol of the
sun and the moon. It symbolised life, completeness, wholeness.
We will use a circle for our sand painting. Trace the circle template
onto the black paper. Cut out the circle. Draw your design
with the white crayon to fit the circle. Draw the shapes large enough
to accomodate the glue and sand. After the design is drawn, paint
one area with the glue. Sprinkle one color of sand over that area.
Bend the circle like a "taco" and shake the sand back into the pie tin.
Repeat with each color until design is complete. Do not fill in the
negative space. The design will be "lost" if surrounded with sand.
VOCABULARY: Navajo Indians, hathli, chant, ceremomy, symbol
MATERIALS:
crayon scratchboard
sharpened drawing stick
egg template
rectangle template
ruler
symbols and eggs visuals
(Optional: storybook relating to Russian egg design.)
OBJECTIVES: Students will...
learn where Ukraine is located.
learn information concerning the art and craft of Russian egg design.
follow directions to create a layout of eggs and border.
create their own egg designs and border design.
DISCUSSION:
Today we are going to use the scratchboard we made in our last art
class to make Russian/Ukrainian egg designs. Ukraine used to be part
of Russia. Now it is an independent country. (Point to Ukraine
on world map.) These beautifully designed eggs are created to celebrate
Easter, but are often enjoyed year round as an art form. In fact,
many artists work all winter long creating these eggs to be finished by
Easter. (Show around the egg examples.) Here are two examples
of hand-painted Russian eggs. These eggs are made of solid wood.
They belong to the librarian at Chapman Elementary. A friend of hers
brought them to her from Moscow, the capital of Russia. These are
different from the Ukrainian egg designs, because they are paintings of
scenes. The Ukrainian egg designs are more geometric and symbolic
like the ones in the poster. The eggs on the poster are made by a
method called "pysanka". Pysanka designs are drawn with a needle-like
pen which uses hot melted wax instead of ink. The designs are drawn
on the egg with the wax and then the egg is dipped into the dye.
The dye does not stick to the wax. The wax is then remove and the
white lines remain. Some of the egg dying kits we use have a white
or clear crayon to draw on an egg to do the same type thing. The
fine lines and detail cannot be done with a crayon. That's why the
Ukrainians use the hot wax pen. The Ukrainians use symbols on their
eggs which have special meanings.
ACTIVITY:
Get out the two sheets that are on your table. One has words
on it, the other is a picture of the poster. Look at the one with
words on it and follow along as I tell you about some of the different
symbols they use. (Read over the sheet with students.) I would
like for you to use some of these symbols in your egg designs. Look
at the picture sheet. See how the symbols are used as part of the
designs on these eggs. The symbols are not just "stuck" on the eggs.
They are organized into a design using other lines and shapes. Try
not to let your symbols "float" on your egg. "Anchor" them down by
repeating them, putting them in rows, or inside lines or shapes.
You can use other designs or symbols as you wish. Do not use any
words or letters on your scratchboard.
First, trace the egg pattern to make three eggs. Trace one.
Trace the next one, making it touch the first egg. Trace the third
egg, making it touch one of the other eggs.
If the eggs overlap, do not trace over another egg. Skip
over where they overlap. (You can demonstrate on the board.)
After all three eggs are traced, take the rectangular pattern, put in the
center of the page and trace. Make sure it is centered with the same
amount of space on all sides. If the rectangle goes over an egg,
just stop at the egg and hop over it, and keep on going. After all
three eggs are traced, and the frame is traced, then you can design your
eggs. Be sure to thicken up some of the lines, especially the outside
of the eggs and the rectangular frame line. Also fill in some spaces
to bring out more color. Do not color the eggs in solid. That
is not a design. You may put stripes on the egg and color in every
other one, or dots, or hearts, or other shapes. Be sure to use some
of the special Russian symbols in your designs.
The artists of the day will get a piece of scratchboard and a toothpick.
When I call your name, come up and get your scratchboard. As soon
as you get your board, you may start tracing your eggs and frame.
Kindergarten: Have children sit up front on the floor and read
them the storybook, showing them the pictures. After the story, have
them sit down in their seats. Follow above procedures, only hand
out the scratchboard before explaining the egg/frame directions.
Then do the egg/frame directions step by step. The continue the above
procedures.
VOCABULARY: Russia, Ukraine, pysanka, scratchboard
MATERIALS:
6"x 12" construction paper
black or dark color crayon
glue
oil pastels
visuals
OBJECTIVES: Students will...
Learn that totem poles are long sticks that tell a story.
Hear a totem pole legend.
Create their own totem poles using oil pastels.
Make symmetrical images.
DISCUSSION:
Begin class by defining a pole as a long stick and naming different
kinds of poles. Totem poles are poles that tell a family story or
legend, are carved and erected in front of a home to tell that story and
protect the household. The Haida Indians who live in western Canada
and part of Alaska around the Charlotte Islands are the most famous totem
pole carvers. Most of their images are of animals that are part of
the family ancestry.
Tell one of the legends. I like the one about how the eagle helped
the bear get his claws by giving him one of his own. The bear was
then able to catch and eat fresh fish instead of dead ones found by the
river.
ACTIVITY:
Each student will choose color and receive two strips of that color
and glue them together end to end, longways. Fold paper longways
to mark the center line. Explain that the images are symmetrical
- both halves are the same. For K and 1, directed drawing is used
for the entire totem which tells the legend - the eagle is missing a claw,
the bear has claws and displays his heart signifying his gratitude toward
the eagle. For 2nd grade, I demonstrate or direct the drawing of
the first image, then let the student create the other one or two images
for their own legends.
Instruction is given on the usage of the oil pastels - working from
top to bottom, rubbing sufficiently to gain total coverage.
VOCABULARY: totem pole, Haida Indians, legend, symmetrical
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MATERIALS:
9"x12" colored construction paper
scissors
glue
crayon or pencil
oil pastels (for K-1)
3"x3" fadeless paper (for 2-3)
OBJECTIVES: Students will...
learn about Cuna Indian molas.
draw animal or birds using the shape method.
develop cutting skills.
use glue in the appropriate way.
use contrasting colors.
use stripes as a decorative motif.
DISCUSSION:
Begin by telling students that the Cuna Indians live in Central America.
If a map or globe is available point out the location. Ask whether
the weather is hot or cold there. Explain that this area of the world
is called the tropics and the weather is warm all year around. The
Cuna Indians, at one time, wore only "bathing suit" type clothes because
it was so warm, and they painted designs and stripes on their skin with
their fingers. They could paint four stripes at once with one hand.
Their favorite subjects to paint were birds, animals, and plants.
After a while, the missionaries came. Ask what a missionary is.
Explain that the missionaries taught the Cuna Indians many good things,
like how to grow food better, build better houses, read, and so on.
But they told the Indians that it was not good to wear only bathing suit
clothes all the time. They needed to wear more clothing. So
the missionaries taught the Cuna Indians how to sew and make clothing.
The Indians missed the bright designs and stripes that they painted on
their skin, so they began making them out of cloth and called their creations
molas. Show mola to the class and explain how it is made by sandwich
layers of cloth. The black layer and white layers being the "bread"
and the colors the "peanut butter and jelly". The Cuna Indians sew
the molas to their shirts and blouses and wear them front and back.
When they make a new one or get tired of the old ones they will sell them
to the tourists to make money. We will make our mola out of paper.
ACTIVITY:
Each student chooses three different colors of construction paper -
one for the subject, one for the sandwich layer, and one for the background.
Using a pencil or crayon, draw an oval by tracing around your hand with
your fingers together. This will help you get it large enough.
Add a circle for the head. Add beak or ears, tail, legs, and wings,
etc. This is to be an outline only. Do not draw eyes,
feathers, fur, etc. These will be added later with paper or oil pastels.
Carefully cut out your subject. Cut around the outside being careful
not to cut off legs, tails, etc. Put glue on the same side as the
pencil/crayon marks. Glue to the sandwich layer. Cut around
the first paper leaving about 1/8" to 1/4" border of the second color showing.
Put glue on the back of that and glue to the background color. Do
not cut this sheet.
Choose four squares of fadeless paper or pass out the oil pastels.
Draw/cut eyes with the oil pastels/paper. Cut strips and glue or
draw stripes by rubbing back and forth to get a solid fat stripe.
Fill the background with stripes like the cloth mola. Add details
to the subject or decorate with stripes or shapes. Put your name
on the back of the mola.
VOCABULARY: Cuna Indians, Central America, mola, sandwich layers