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
Back to Lessons Page

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