l e s s o n p l a n s - f o r e v e r y o n e t o u s e a n d s h a r e
My lesson plans posted here were created while teaching art in the public school system and non-profit arts organizations in the USA. (feel free to edit or adjust for your own school or organization). Scroll down for some great movie links. Full movie and free on youtube.
Research question : HOW ARE ANCIENT CULTURES RELEVANT TO YOUR LIFE TODAY?
Some ancient culture questions and topics to present to students:
Who are we? Are we so different?
Encounters in the Ancient World
Ancient Communications (symbols, writing, art, music, design)
Ancient Religion / Mythology / Storytelling
The GOAL is to have students and teachers understand the lasting impact Ancient Cultures have in their lives.
THESE QUESTIONS ARE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TO INSPIRE RESEARCH, DISCUSSION, LESSONS ETC...
Research sub-questions :
Why have some ancient cultures survived and others have not?
What happens when a modern culture encounters an ancient culture?
What types of architectural, mathematical, artistic, musical innovations did ancient cultures create : Which are still in use today?
How did ancient cultures understand their world?
What types of mythological strands are common to multiple (ancient) cultures?
How are they similar to what people believe today?
Some ancient culture questions and topics to present to students:
Who are we? Are we so different?
Encounters in the Ancient World
Ancient Communications (symbols, writing, art, music, design)
Ancient Religion / Mythology / Storytelling
The GOAL is to have students and teachers understand the lasting impact Ancient Cultures have in their lives.
THESE QUESTIONS ARE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TO INSPIRE RESEARCH, DISCUSSION, LESSONS ETC...
Research sub-questions :
Why have some ancient cultures survived and others have not?
What happens when a modern culture encounters an ancient culture?
What types of architectural, mathematical, artistic, musical innovations did ancient cultures create : Which are still in use today?
How did ancient cultures understand their world?
What types of mythological strands are common to multiple (ancient) cultures?
How are they similar to what people believe today?
Quipus or khipus (sometimes called talking knots) were recording devices used in the Inca Empire and its predecessor societies in the Andean region. A quipu usually consisted of colored, spun, and plied thread or strings from llama or alpaca hair. It could also be made of cotton cords. The cords contained numeric and other values encoded by knots in a base ten positional system. Khipus might have just a few or up to 2,000 cords. Quipu is the Spanish spelling and the most common spelling in English. Khipu (pronounced [ˈkʰipu]) is the word for "knot" in Cusco Quechua (the native Inca language); the kh is an aspirated k. In most Quechua varieties, the term is kipu.
Objective : To produce a large scale 'contemporary' cotton Khipu that tells a family history (in numbers) of each student and staff member at our school. Students and staff will work in separate groups to create a 'section' of a large scale Khipu. Once each group has completed their section, they will be connected by each group to the next groups Khipu. The entire piece will be displayed as a permanent work of art at the school. We have created our own special meanings for the knots in this khipu project.
Method : One knot will account for one individual, living or deceased. Students/staff will use their memory to write all the family members - living and deceased, (mother, father, aunts, uncles, extended family included - 1st, 2nd cousins, great grand parents, great-great grand etc) they know of. Knots will be tied at very specific measurements on two separate long strings that are each tied in a larks knot over a 'header' string. (See diagrams below) If a family member means more to you, then the knot will be made larger. This is done by knotting over the same knot a few times. A demonstration will be given at the beginning of this project so that everyone is clear on how to proceed. We are not doing the knots in the exact same way as ancient times, because we are creating a 'contemporary' khipu, and are making our own modifications.
Materials : Cotton yarn, paper, pencils, rulers, tape.
Time : Approximately 75 minutes total. This includes demonstration, handing out supplies, family members documented on paper, creation of Khipu in groups and completion of Khipu connecting sections together.
Product : The 2011 Khipu will represent the entire school 'community' and will document each individuals family history as well. . The Khipu will be green thread to represent the school colors.
Objective : To produce a large scale 'contemporary' cotton Khipu that tells a family history (in numbers) of each student and staff member at our school. Students and staff will work in separate groups to create a 'section' of a large scale Khipu. Once each group has completed their section, they will be connected by each group to the next groups Khipu. The entire piece will be displayed as a permanent work of art at the school. We have created our own special meanings for the knots in this khipu project.
Method : One knot will account for one individual, living or deceased. Students/staff will use their memory to write all the family members - living and deceased, (mother, father, aunts, uncles, extended family included - 1st, 2nd cousins, great grand parents, great-great grand etc) they know of. Knots will be tied at very specific measurements on two separate long strings that are each tied in a larks knot over a 'header' string. (See diagrams below) If a family member means more to you, then the knot will be made larger. This is done by knotting over the same knot a few times. A demonstration will be given at the beginning of this project so that everyone is clear on how to proceed. We are not doing the knots in the exact same way as ancient times, because we are creating a 'contemporary' khipu, and are making our own modifications.
Materials : Cotton yarn, paper, pencils, rulers, tape.
Time : Approximately 75 minutes total. This includes demonstration, handing out supplies, family members documented on paper, creation of Khipu in groups and completion of Khipu connecting sections together.
Product : The 2011 Khipu will represent the entire school 'community' and will document each individuals family history as well. . The Khipu will be green thread to represent the school colors.
Aboriginal Dot Paintings and Dreamtime Stories
Dot paintings of the Australian Aboriginal desert peoples are often called sand paintings. This reference stems from their genesis in ground paintings that are created by clans as they move from place to place in the desert. The clan gathers around a central site, which is cleared so that "paintings" can be created using seeds, flowers, sand, stones, feathers, and other natural substances. The clan elders sing their way through the painting process, imparting tribal knowledge to younger members of the clan. The various symbols are explained and interpreted as lessons in the clan's history and heritage, its creation story, and the location of sacred sites, food sources, and water holes.Today, these designs are painted on art board and canvas for sale to the outside world. While the precise meanings of the designs are usually unclear to outsiders, they have deep cultural significance to clan members. Details usually are not revealed to anyone outside the clan. Even then, only males who 'graduate' to high rank in the clan learn the full meaning of the designs.
Dreamtime stories tell of the great spirits and totems during creation, in animal and human form they moulded the barren and featureless earth. The Rainbow Serpent came from beneath the ground and created huge ridges, mountains and gorges as it pushed upward. The Rainbow Serpent is known as Ngalyod by the Gunwinggu and Borlung by the Miali . He is a serpent of immense proportions which inhabits deep permanent waterholes
THERE ARE MANY DREAMTIME STORIES. HERE IS ONE. In the Dreamtime all earth lay sleeping. Nothing moved. Nothing grew. One day the Rainbow Serpent awoke from her slumber and came out from under the ground. She travelled far and wide and eventually grew tired and curled up and slept. She left marks of her sleeping body and her winding tracks. Then she returned to the place where she had first appeared, and called to the frogs, “Come out!”
The frogs came out slow because their bellies were heavy with water, which they had stored in their sleep. The Rainbow serpent tickled their stomachs and when the frogs laughed, water ran all over the earth to fill the tracks of the Rainbow serpents’ wanderings. This is how lakes and rivers were formed.
With water, grass and trees sprang up. Also all animals awoke and followed the rainbow serpent across the land. They were happy on earth and each lived and gathered food with his own tribe. Some animals live in rocks, others on the plains and others in trees and in the air.
The Rainbow Serpent made laws that they all were to obey, but some became quarrelsome and made trouble. The Rainbow Serpent said,” Those who keep my laws will be rewarded; I shall give them human form. Those who break my laws will be punished and turned to stone, never to walk the earth again.
The lawbreakers became stone and turned to mountains and hills, but those who kept the laws were turned into human form. The Rainbow Serpent gave each of them their own totem of the animal, bird or reptile from whence they came. The tribes knew themselves by their totems. Kangaroo, emu, carpet snake, and many, many more. So no one would starve, the Rainbow Serpent ruled that no man should eat of his totem, but only of other totems. This way there was food for everyone.
Objective : To create a large scale dot painting, representing the aboriginal creation myth of the rainbow serpent.
Method : Students will be seated on the ground and provided with a piece of cardboard that has a design on it with areas assigned for certain colors. This is like painting by numbers, except it is easier because you wont have to figure out what 'number' goes to what particular 'color'. Because the colors will be written in the area you are to place the dots. IN THAT COLOR. You must stick to the color that is written for the area, otherwise it will make the finished large scale artwork irregular. And we want it to be consistent in the design.The design all students will create is a lot of dots with acrylic paint using small sticks. The technique will be demonstrated by a staff member. This is a time consuming and detail oriented project. Please pay close attention to what you are doing. As long as everyone does this correctly, as explained, all the pieces will come together to make a magnificent large scale work of art
Materials : cardboard, acrylic paint, sticks, paper towels.
Time : Middle School - 70 minutes / High School - 70 minutes
Product : Large scale aboriginal creation myth dot painting
Dreamtime stories tell of the great spirits and totems during creation, in animal and human form they moulded the barren and featureless earth. The Rainbow Serpent came from beneath the ground and created huge ridges, mountains and gorges as it pushed upward. The Rainbow Serpent is known as Ngalyod by the Gunwinggu and Borlung by the Miali . He is a serpent of immense proportions which inhabits deep permanent waterholes
THERE ARE MANY DREAMTIME STORIES. HERE IS ONE. In the Dreamtime all earth lay sleeping. Nothing moved. Nothing grew. One day the Rainbow Serpent awoke from her slumber and came out from under the ground. She travelled far and wide and eventually grew tired and curled up and slept. She left marks of her sleeping body and her winding tracks. Then she returned to the place where she had first appeared, and called to the frogs, “Come out!”
The frogs came out slow because their bellies were heavy with water, which they had stored in their sleep. The Rainbow serpent tickled their stomachs and when the frogs laughed, water ran all over the earth to fill the tracks of the Rainbow serpents’ wanderings. This is how lakes and rivers were formed.
With water, grass and trees sprang up. Also all animals awoke and followed the rainbow serpent across the land. They were happy on earth and each lived and gathered food with his own tribe. Some animals live in rocks, others on the plains and others in trees and in the air.
The Rainbow Serpent made laws that they all were to obey, but some became quarrelsome and made trouble. The Rainbow Serpent said,” Those who keep my laws will be rewarded; I shall give them human form. Those who break my laws will be punished and turned to stone, never to walk the earth again.
The lawbreakers became stone and turned to mountains and hills, but those who kept the laws were turned into human form. The Rainbow Serpent gave each of them their own totem of the animal, bird or reptile from whence they came. The tribes knew themselves by their totems. Kangaroo, emu, carpet snake, and many, many more. So no one would starve, the Rainbow Serpent ruled that no man should eat of his totem, but only of other totems. This way there was food for everyone.
Objective : To create a large scale dot painting, representing the aboriginal creation myth of the rainbow serpent.
Method : Students will be seated on the ground and provided with a piece of cardboard that has a design on it with areas assigned for certain colors. This is like painting by numbers, except it is easier because you wont have to figure out what 'number' goes to what particular 'color'. Because the colors will be written in the area you are to place the dots. IN THAT COLOR. You must stick to the color that is written for the area, otherwise it will make the finished large scale artwork irregular. And we want it to be consistent in the design.The design all students will create is a lot of dots with acrylic paint using small sticks. The technique will be demonstrated by a staff member. This is a time consuming and detail oriented project. Please pay close attention to what you are doing. As long as everyone does this correctly, as explained, all the pieces will come together to make a magnificent large scale work of art
Materials : cardboard, acrylic paint, sticks, paper towels.
Time : Middle School - 70 minutes / High School - 70 minutes
Product : Large scale aboriginal creation myth dot painting
Movies you may not know about, but should .....
THE LAST WAVE - Directed by PETER WEIR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfJ1c-6FFX4
WAR DANCE - Written and Directed by SEAN FINE and ANDREA NIX FINE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UATS5K9IZT0
THE LAST WAVE - Directed by PETER WEIR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfJ1c-6FFX4
WAR DANCE - Written and Directed by SEAN FINE and ANDREA NIX FINE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UATS5K9IZT0