ART PARTNERS LESSON©
LESSON TITLE: African Textile Design: Finger Spinning and Weaving
AUTHOR: L. Andrus
GRADE/AGE LEVEL: Can be adapted for grades K-9
WRITTEN HERE FOR: Teens in special education
Unit/Theme and Relation of this Lesson to Larger; Major
Concepts to be Learned
This lesson will
commence our semester-long unit on studying lifestyles and traditions of
various peoples and their cultures in comparison with our own. The focus of the
teens’ classroom curriculum is on living skills. The Art Partners program will expose these students to the ways
in which other people around the world practice the same living skills but in
diverse ways. Today’s lesson will begin
a mini-unit on textiles: What do different people wear? How is their clothing made? How are cloth and clothes decorated?
How are artmakers involved in textile production? How is this different from
the way we do things in the USA, how is it the same?
How people dress and
decorate themselves is of particular interest to teens, so we will explore
these ideas as well. To begin, we go to Africa to learn about West Coast
traditions of weaving and the fabrication and decoration of cloth for clothing.
Students will explore the aesthetics of textile design and production as they
learn about West African textile industry. Part I of lesson will introduce the
culture, the people and textile artisans (slides, artifacts, hands-on
exploration), and Part II will allow time for students to complete their own
weavings using a simple cardboard loom. Weaving designs will incorporate
personal symbolism through the use of color.
Relation to Life:
As citizens working
towards integration into the mainstream, it is important for these young men
and women to become aware of the larger world that exists outside of their
own. In addition to enrichment, and for
instilling awareness and pride in cultural identity, broadening the students’
view of our global world will enable them to become part of the vital process
of working toward understanding and unity through recognition and appreciation
for diversity. It is not possible for the citizens of this new millennium to
live in peace and productivity without each person attaining such a view and attitude.
Increasing awareness of a culture’s aesthetics productions has universal appeal
and can aid in the promotion of this process.
The selection of
weaving as a focus is deliberately meant to provide an experience that is
inherently calming and therapeutic, and through actual experience, allows the
students to center, focus and sustain attention to task. In addition, the
weaving process will enhance the students’ fine motor control and other
psychomotor skills.
LEARNING STANDARDS
Goals Specific to Unit/Lesson (reflecting NYS Art Standards and
Targeted Learning areas. See key at
end):
The students will:
·
Increase knowledge
and understanding of African culture, particularly of West Coast countries (Std. # 4, AH, A/C, S)
·
Develop greater
appreciation for cultural diversity in lifestyle and aesthetic systems; and for
similarity (e.g., all makers of art use art elements and principles) (Std. 4,
AH, AC, AE, S)
·
Increase
understanding and appreciation for artisans and artistry of African textile
design and production (Std. 3 & 4, AC, AE)
·
Develop skill in the
art of weaving (Std. 2, AP)
·
Improve cognitive
skills: abstract thinking (symbol), and planning, follow through, problem
solving, and memory recall (Std. 3, AC,
AE, A/C)
·
Improve
perceptual/motor skills: directionality, fine motor, visual tracking
(Std. 2, AP, P/M)
·
Develop personal
aesthetic sensibilities (Std. 1, AE, E)
·
Improve attending and
participation skills (Std. 1, AP, W/S, S)
Performance Objectives for
Observational Assessment (reflecting goals):
The students will be able to:
Opening:
·
Name at least two
features a culture encompasses
·
Describe at least one
thing learned about African culture
· Define the term textile
· Name one example of African textile design (Adinkra, kente,
mud cloth, adire eleko)
·
Attend to slide
presentation without disruption
· Name/indicate the warp and weft threads on a weaving loom
· Finger spin at least five inches of thread from a cotton
boll
· Define the term symbol
Middle:
· Name/describe at least one personal quality to represent in
weaving, and select at least one color to symbolize this quality (e.g., I will
use red to symbolize my strength)
·
Using the plastic needle and pre-warped loom, create a
weaving that:
a. is at least 4
inches long
b. uses at least two
different colors, with at least one being the personal
symbol
color
·
Cut and tie fringe on
completed weaving with S/Ts’ help
Closing:
· Recall at least one example of African textile
design/method
· Describe how larger pieces of cloth for clothing are made in
West African culture (individual strips created are sewn together to create a
larger piece of fabric)
· Describe at least one thing about African culture that s/he
admires
Visuals:
Teacher-made: various
weaving examples, a cotton boll with a pre-spun length of thread, African
triangle loom (if possible), culture chart, map of Africa, warp and weft chart,
list of personal qualities chart or handout (see #21 under Procedural Steps)
Art Resources: slides
presenting an overview of African dress; slides from book, Master Weaver of Ghana by Louise Meyer (see www.africancraft.com);
selection of African artifacts (textiles including example of kente, Adinkra,
adire eleko and mud cloth); CD’s of African music
Kente: cloth that is woven with symbolic colors and shapes
Adinkra: cloth that is printed with Adinkra symbols,
Adire Eleko: a cloth design created using a cassava paste resist process
Mud Cloth: cloth printed with design using a mud paste resist
Vocabulary (defined in student-friendly language):
Culture: a way of life; the way certain people live;
the customs, habits and traditions of a group of people
Loom: what we weave on
Symbol: something that
stands for an idea, like a heart shape for love, or the color red to mean stop,
or the golden arches for McDonalds,
Textile: fabric, cloth, material clothes can be made
from
Warp: the
bottom/vertical strings of a loom that go on the loom first
Weft: the
horizontal threads we weave through the warp strings
Materials and Preparation:
boom box and CD of
African music
globe
slide projector,
screen, extension cord
piece of carded wool
cotton boll for each
(order from www.cottonman.com);
cardboard looms for
each (can be bought or made from corrugated cardboard)
cotton thread for
warp; warp each loom beforehand, app. 4” wide
colored yarns for
weft
plastic needle with
large eye
hair pic or comb for
each
scissors
masking tape &
black markers for labeling names
larger loom with
wider warp and weft material for demonstration
Procedural Steps:
(details on procedures from beginning to
end with
ability-appropriate language scripted in where necessary)
NOTE:This lesson
will take place over two sessions.
Opening:
1. African music should be playing in
background as we set up.
2. Lead teacher
opens with introduction to new unit, explaining that the world is such an
interesting place with so many different countries and people and
cultures. Teacher asks if students can
state where they live: city, state, country (continent, if possible). Can anyone come and find the USA (North
America) on this globe?
3. Teacher uses
globe to help students see how many other countries there are in the world, and
asks them if they can name any other countries that they know of. Does anyone
have a relative who came here to the USA from another country?
4. Teacher
focuses on continent of Africa: Does anyone recognize the music we heard
before? What place in the world do you think it might be from? Teacher shows
students Africa on the globe and the maps, focusing on the West Coast area of
Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, suggesting that we can learn something about the
people and culture of this area of the world.
5. Teacher
helps students define the term, culture using
culture chart: Culture is the way that people live, their habits, their
customs, their traditions. Can anyone think of something that is a part of a
person’s culture/our culture, the way they/we live? (use the chart which lists:
food, clothing, music, art, language, religion, beliefs, holidays, etc.)
6. Using the
map, the teacher explains geography of Western Africa, telling about some of
the ethnic groups that live in these places, like the people who all speak the
Akan language, such as the Ashanti from the country of Ghana.
7. The teacher
engages students in discussion that all people around the world have to have
living skills in order to survive. Just
like us, people from all different cultures have to learn how to take care of
themselves: cook, keep a house, learn a job, work, get around their towns and
cities, use money, etc.
8. Teacher
focuses on idea that people also have to know how to dress and how to get
clothes to wear, and suggests that we look
at some sides of different ways that African people dress (point out
relation between clothing and such factors as climate).
9. Following
the slides, the teachers help students to discuss: Where do we get our
clothes? Does everyone buy clothes in a
store? Do some people make their own
clothes? If so, where do we get cloth
or fabric from to make clothes? Who decorates the fabric? How is an artmaker
involved?
10. Teacher
explains that today, we will learn about some of the ways that the Akan people
of West Africa make cloth to sew into clothes for themselves, and to sell to
others in the market place. Teacher explains that the business of making and
decorating fabric is called the textile business, and defines the term, textile.
11. Using
artifacts from the display, teacher discusses and shows different examples
of African textiles, explaining each
piece and how it is designed and produced: Adinkra, adire eleko, mud cloth, and
finishing with kente cloth. Teacher explains use of indigenous materials, making
art and design materials and tools from nature, the use of cultural symbols
(recall term) in the choice of color and pattern of the cloths, some meanings
of the symbols that have been passed down for generations, who can wear the
cloth and when/why, the idea of talking
cloth (oral history and tradition), etc.
12. How do you
think the kente cloth was made? Teacher
now focuses on the art and craft of weaving to make cloth, explaining how
strips of cloth are woven and then sewed together to make a whole/larger piece
of cloth that can then be made into a garment.
13. Show selected slides from the book, Master Weaver of Ghana (optional,
depending on time allocation and students’ attention spans).
Middle:
14. Following
slides, the teacher explains that to weave cloth, you must start with thread,
and asks students: where do we get thread?
Teacher
explains that natural threads all come from nature in form of a plant or animal
fur, showing wool from a sheep, and then the cotton.
15. Teacher
presents cotton, from seed to plant to cotton boll, explaining how cotton is
grown in these parts of Africa we are studying because of the climate. Where
else is cotton grown? In the southern USA for many generations. All students
are given a cotton boll to gently handle.
16. Teacher asks
students how they think we can get thread from a cotton boll? What do we have to do with this fluff of
cotton? We have to spin it! What if we
don't have a spinning wheel? How can we
do this? Teacher begins to demonstrate
finger spinning.
17. Each student
can begin to finger spin from their cotton boll, working around the seeds: hold
boll in one hand, using pinkie and ring finger to hold stem, and middle, index
and thumb to gently hold the fluff, as index and thumb of opposite hand begin
to gently pull out a bit of fluff and start to spin it clockwise by twisting in
one direction only while gently continuing to pull out. Continue pulling and
spinning gently, twisting in the same direction. Students should try to finger spin at least three inches without
breaking thread. If thread breaks, twist back into itself.
18. Following
finger spinning, the teacher proceeds to explain weaving, showing the large
loom and explaining/demonstrating how it’s done, defining terms warp and weft,
etc. Teacher then asks a few students
to come and demonstrate, assessing for understanding.
19. After this
experience, teacher presents idea of making our own weavings on cardboard
looms. Teacher distributes looms, recalling warp and weft.
20. Teacher demonstrates:
area of loom to work in and where to start, using yarn, needle, pic/comb to
beat back rows and keep straight, how much yarn to cut to begin with, how to
begin a new color, how to weave weft on a diagonal (then use pic/comb) to keep
from pulling in sides of weaving too tight and distorting shape.
21. Teacher
recalls the use of symbolism in the Kente cloth weavings, and suggests students
do the same, asking them to think of something they would like to symbolize
about themselves, and then choose from our yarn colors accordingly to use in
their weavings. For example, think of a quality you have or would like to have
in yourself, like strength, or speed or bravery or kindness or friendliness or
helpfulness, etc., then choose a color that could represent or symbolize this
quality for you, such as red for strength, or green for generosity (colors will
have highly personal meanings). S/Ts help students to come up with ideas using
their personal qualities handout lists.
22. Students are
given yarns and looms and proceed to weave. S/Ts help students to see where
they should begin and end (need at least 3 inches of warp thread showing at
both top and bottom to tie off piece when finished, so do not start or end
close to the top or bottom of the loom; can mark with piece of masking tape for
a visual guide). Students are
encouraged to work in silence, and get into the rhythm of the weaving.
NOTE:
IF QUIET ENOUGH, PLAY AFRICAN MUSIC WHILE WEAVING
23. Weaving will
carry over into our second day of this lesson, when students complete their
weavings, and S/Ts will help them tie off/knot ends, making a fringe on bottom
by tying every two threads together. Top is tied off in the same manner.
24. Finished
weavings are labeled with masking tape, and taped up on board for display and
discussion.
Closing:
25. Teacher has
children recall major terms/concepts: culture, textile, types of African
textile designs, weaving terms, warp
and weft.
26. Students
share their weavings, explaining any symbolism they may have used.
27. Teacher
explains what’s coming up as we continue our journey to learn more about the
way people from other countries and cultures live their lives and how it
compares to us in the USA.
· Were students able to weave with a minimum of mistakes in applying their weft threads?
·
Are weavings fairly
uniform, with minimal bowing in center? Were students able to control their
tools and materials?
·
To what degree did
students incorporate use off symbolism in their color choices?
ABBREVIATION
KEY:
DBAE: NYS Standards for the Arts:
AH = art history
Std. 1 = creating, participating in art
AC = art criticism
Std. 2 = knowing art materials and processes
AE = aesthetics
Std. 3 = responding to works of art/artists
AP = art production
Std. 4 = knowing cultural dimensions of art
Needs
Assessment Areas for Developing Skills and Abilities:
A/C =
academic/cognitive M/P =
motor/perceptual E
= emotional
C =
communicative status W/S =
work/study habits S =
social
Pre-V
= prevocational skills L = living skills