Art Lesson: 1

Rationale for linking art to `You and Your World`: Since art is an important element in culture, it is important for students to see how art can take many forms depending on the culture they are learning about. However, it is not about making masks, or origami, it is about learning about what these objects represent in these cultures. What is their significant to them? Has this significance always been the same.

Cross-Curricular link: You and Your World:

YYW SCO: Specific Curriculum Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of what culture is: different elements and how it varies over time and space.

Grade: 1:

Time: 40-45 minutes.

Topic: Weaving:

Culture Focus: Mi'kmaq Aboriginals.

Materials:

- Video on basket weaving. ( to be used on smartboard or any video projector available.

- Construction paper

- Scissors

- Ruler

- Pencil.

- Chart paper

- Markers.

Introduction/Motivation: (10-12minutes) Beforehand, cut out a few strips of green construction paper (this will be the substitute for grass. The dimensions of the “grass” can be the length of the construction paper with a 1 inch width.

- Gather the students around the smartboard or video projector and show them a picture of a basket that has been weaved with grass, or if available, a picture of a grass hut. Ask the students how they think that it was made? How does the grass stay together? The grass in this case is woven. Write that word on the smartboard. Ask the students what they think woven means, and if a student answers, ask them to come up and try it to show the rest of the class how it is done. If no one knows, the teacher can demonstrate it by taking 2 strips of green construction paper (grass), and place them horizontally beside each other like =. Placing them on a flat surface will make the pieces easier to work with. Next, take another piece and weave in vertically across the horizontal pieces, rotating going over one piece and under the next, and so on. Once students appear to understand how to weave. Tell them that is was used by the Mi'kmaq aboriginals, but why would they use grass? What’s unique about grass? What would that use this skill for? As students answer, write their answers on the smartboard or chartpaper. Students can quickly partner up in small groups to share what they think, but after 2 minutes. Allow them to share and bring them back to the main group. Ask the class what does grass feel like (soft), and what shape is created when all the pieces are woven together (square or rectangular). The Mi'kmaq would use these are cushions for their chairs or even to pad a seat in a canoe, as a mat in their home, or even as a wall in their home. Weaving is an important skill in Mi'kmaq culture and they used that skill to make many of the things they needed to live on. Why weaving? That’s because it is hard to work with grass, as it is plentiful in supply but hard to make stuff out of other than when woven together. For example, ask the class if they could weld grass together? Tie it? Glue it? Etc. The teacher should also mention that Mi'kmaq aboriginals use “natural materials”, as they emphasise a strong connection to nature.

- To help give students with a visual learning style more support, show a quick minute video on basket weaving. Pause the video where it shows what the bottom of the basket looks like. (notice how pieces woven go over and under each other?)

Instruction/Body: (20 minutes)

- Have the class go back to their seats. Call on one student to hand out a ruler, another to hand out scissors, one to pass out 1 pencil and another to hand out construction paper. The teacher will model how to cut out a piece of grass. First take a piece of construction paper and decide whether or not you want to cut along the long side or the short side of the construction paper. (The side you pick will ultimately determine how big the “grass” mat will be when you cut it out. However, students can get creative in this by choose other colors of construction paper, but if they want to use colors other than green, it is advised to keep to a maximum of 2 colors (1 for the horizontal pieces and 1 for the vertical) By the time they made strips, they would only need a max of 2 pieces of construction paper. Take the strips and place one color (if colors other than green are used) and place them horizontally. For first timers, it may be easier to place strips horizontally one at a time. Remind the students when they place strips, that to place them as close as possible next to each other. This is because the closer they are, the less likely the finished product will come loose and fall apart. Note: it may be wise to either put some scotch tape on the ends of the strips of they do not come loose, or take a white piece of paper and glue it to the back of the mat to help secure it.

Conclusion:

If students finish early, they can go around and look at each other’s work as the rest of the class finishes up. Once the class finishes, they too can go look around at each other’s work. (The teacher can then put them up on our culture bulletin board). Afterwards, play a quick game of Bluff with the students. Bluff is a game where the teacher has questions and the class is divided up into two teams. One team gets to go at a time, the teacher will ask a question and any of the students who think they know the answer stands up. Even if they do not know the answer they can stand up as well (they can bluff!). The teacher will call on one person to answer the question, if they get it right, then they get points for each person who was standing. However, if they get it wrong, the other team gets 1 point. This is just a way of review of what the class learning today about Mi'kmaq culture through art and what importance weaving plays in their culture.