Kente cloth-inspired weavings.

Kente cloth-inspired weavings. How many of us have ever thought, "How am I supposed to teacha quality art lesson in 50 minutes?" I know I have many times, andover the last several years of teaching elementary art for 40 to 50minutes once a week, I have decided you can't. That is, a qualityart lesson can't be done in one class. Sure, we could do"quickie" art lessons that use paper and pencil or crayons,but the students wouldn't learn anything about aesthetics, historyand just plain artistic quality. Making interdisciplinary connections in my classroom is importantto me. It's great when a student comes in and can tell me somethingthey know about a project we are going to do. It is also fun to teachthem a thing or two that reinforces what they are learning in theiracademic classroom setting. (The classroom teachers love it, too.) I teach in a rural area and while many of my students know whereNew York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of is, most have never been outside of our hometown home��town?n.The town or city of one's birth, rearing, or main residence.Noun 1. hometown - the town (or city) where you grew up or where you have your principal residence; "he never went back to his hometown again" . I found usinggeography to base lessons on provides a great jumping-off point Noun 1. jumping-off point - a beginning from which an enterprise is launched; "he uses other people's ideas as a springboard for his own"; "reality provides the jumping-off point for his illusions"; "the point of departure of international comparison cannot be an . Thisyear, I broke up my curriculum and made the units into a journey aroundthe world, making a stop at each continent Each grade level studied acountry, their cultural history, created a project based on thatculture, then did a critique and display of their artworks. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When we got to Africa, I wanted to do a project based on fiberarts, but what culture was known for that? The answer came from a bookon African textile designers. I knew about kente ken��te?n.1. A brightly patterned, handwoven ceremonial cloth of the Ashanti.2. A durable machine-woven fabric similar to this fabric, prominently featured in Afrocentric fashion. cloth from the countryof Ghana, and this would create an opportunity to delve into history mystudents would enjoy. Creating weavings inspired by kente cloth would bethe project and, because of the dexterity needed to create such aweaving, I decided my fifth-graders were best suited for this project. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Our librarian helped in finding books about Ghana, and I found Websites my students could use to research the kente cloth and the Asante(or Ashanti) people. I was surprised to find that many of the studentshad never heard of kente, and most still thought Africa was a country.After this project, they would be familiar with both. Kente cloths are actually created from the kente strip, which iscreated on a handloom, woven by the boys and men of the tribe, andhistorically used only by royalty. The patterns and designs had greatcultural significance. Today, kente cloth is more widespread, althoughmost still only wear them for special occasions, such as weddings. [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Talking about kente cloth led to a discussion of hand weaving,which allowed me to introduce new vocabulary including warp, weft,shuttle and loom. I also wanted to incorporate texture and pattern into the project.I then demonstrated the process of weaving on a loom. ! made it clear tomy students that they were not creating a kente cloth, but a fiberproject using techniques created by the Asante people in order to weave. We used chipboard chip��board?n.A pasteboard made from discarded paper.chipboardNounthin rigid board made of compressed wood particlesNoun 1. and homemade cardboard looms to weave. Mainlybecause of time issues, students created five or six warp strings. Iwanted them to have a good-sized weaving that wouldn't take monthsto finish. The students were given basic instruction, and then allowedto create their own patterns of color not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed.See also: Color . Students chose brightly colored string to weave with and once theygot the alternating pattern of up and down, right to left and oppositeon the way back, they quickly realized there was a rhythm to weaving.Because these were 11- and 12-year-olds, I did not give them largeneedles to weave with, but many students improvised im��pro��vise?v. im��pro��vised, im��pro��vis��ing, im��pro��vis��esv.tr.1. To invent, compose, or perform with little or no preparation.2. and tied string ontheir pencils or pens to use as a shuttle. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Once the students finished creating their weavings, I asked them toadd texture to it. Many students added beads, pieces of wire, tasselsand pipe cleaners. Others didn't want any texture added, justwanting the piece itself to be the texture. After the work was completed, students tied off the pieces andmatted them for display. I think it is very important that student workbe displayed, and my students are always excited when they walk by andsee their artworks hanging. Students especially enjoy it if there is aparent meeting and they can show off their work. I enjoyed teaching this lesson and the kids were thrilled withtheir end results. At first, the boys thought weaving was "girlwork," but changed their tune when they learned that most of theweaving is done by the Asanti men. This project is relatively cost-effective, as looms can be made outof cardboard boxes, and yarn can--and often is--donated by parents whenthey have a little left over from some project. The other supplies canalso be donated by parents or grandparents, and wire is often availablefor donation from local phone and electrical companies. Because supplies are easily found at local discount stores,interested students can make looms at home and do weavings on their ownwhenever they wish. That is the best gratification GRATIFICATION. A reward given voluntarily for some service or benefit rendered, without being requested so to do, either expressly or by implication. for me, when theycome to me and say, "Look at what I did all by myself!" LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upper-elementary students will ... * reinforce their classroom studies. * learn about the Asanti people of Africa and kente cloth. * create a handwoven hand��wo��ven?adj.1. Woven on a hand-operated loom: handwoven rugs.2. Woven by hand: handwoven baskets.Adj. 1. fiber-art project. * become familiar with the terms loom, warp, weft and shuttle. * add texture to their fiber piece to create more aestheticallypleasing artworks. MATERIALS * Hand looms and/or cardboard * Bright-colored yarn * Scissors * Beads, wire, pipe cleaners, ribbon, etc. * Books on Ghana and kente cloths * Samples or reproductions of kente cloth RESOURCES Books * Davis, Lucile. Countries of the World: Ghana. Capstone Press,1999. * Ahiagble, Gilbert and Meyer, Louise. Master Weaver from Ghana.Open Hand Pub., 1998. * Chocolate, Debbi. Kente Colors. Walker Books for Young Readers,1997. Go to artsandactivities.com and click on this button for links toWeb sites related to this article. At the time of this project, E. Jeanine B. Jones was teaching artat Wilder Elementary School elementary school:see school. in Sumter, Ca. She is currently teaching atNesbit Elementary School in Tucker, Georgia.