Weaves of Gold

1. Research weaving. Learn about its importance in cultures throughout history. Find out how weaving continues to be an important industry.
2. With an adult supervisor, students collect fallen leaves from plants or trees. Gather several fallen sticks that are slightly longer than construction paper. Choose only those items that are safe to handle. Wash hands.
3. Use Crayola® Washable Markers to divide construction paper into four sections. Color each section.
4. Cover your art area with newspaper. Brush the underside of a leaf using Crayola Premier™ Gold Tempera Paint and a paint brush. Press the painted side down on one section of the paper. Lift the leaf. Repeat with leaf prints in all four sections. Paint several sticks with gold paint. Dry.
5. With Crayola Scissors, cut several strips in the printed construction paper. Cut to within a thumb's width of one edge of the paper. Do not cut strips all the way through.
6. Cover your art area with recycled newspaper. Decorate the weaving, bow, and wreath border using Crayola Slick Stix. The bright colors go so smoothly! Add holiday designs or realistic wreath elements such as holly berries and pine cones.
7. Turn over the weaving. Run masking tape across the open end of the strips to secure them. Turn weaving to its front. Glue another gold stick to each end with Crayola School Glue. Dry.
8. Attach a hanger of raffia, ribbon, or yarn to the top of your weaving.

LA: Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grade level text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

LA: Read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grade level text complexity band independently and proficiently.

LA: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade level topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

LA: Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate.

MATH: Convert like measurement units within a given measurement system.

SS: Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.

SS: Describe the unique features of one's nuclear and extended families.

SS: Identify and use various sources for reconstructing the past, such as documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, and others.

VA: Intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of experiences and ideas.

VA: Select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of ideas.

VA: Describe and place a variety of art objects in historical and cultural contexts.

VA: Describe ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines are taught in the school are interrelated with the visual arts.

Possible classroom resources include: Weaving a California Tradition: A Native American Basketmaker by Linda Yamane; Songs from the Loom: A Navajo Girl Learns to Weave (We Are Still Here) by Monty Roessel; The Goat in the Rug by Charles L. Blood

Invite a local weaver to visit with the class or organize a field trip to a local museum to view a weaving exhibit. Prior to either event, students compose questions for the experience. Afterwards, students post learning to a class blog.

Challenge students to create wall hangings using cloth. Before cutting the cloth, have students design the background using Crayola Fabric Crayons. Students then cut fabric strips and weave sticks into a pattern. After the art project is complete, students write a summary paragraph about their choice of original designs and how weaving with cloth differed from weaving with construction paper.

Encourage students to investigate cultures well-known for their weaving, such as the Navajo Tribe, Scottish weavers, etc. Organize research into an electronic format for presentation to classmates.