Teacher:
Leith Phillips, Easton
High School
(contact Leith)
Arts Discipline: Visual Arts
Grade Level: High School
Team: D
Topic: Africa & Its Influence
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here to view the lesson plans
of other Team D members.
Unit Overview
Essential
Understandings:
-
African culture encompasses many rituals and traditions that are
pervasive in their society.
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Traditions are based on the concept of repetition over time.
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Repetition is apparent in African art, music, theater, and dance.
-
African culture has influenced western society with the concept
of repetition in western art, music, theater, and dance.
Learner Outcomes and Expectations:
-
Students will identify the presence of repetition in art, music,
theater, and dance.
-
Students
will demonstrate an understanding of the influence of African
culture on western culture.
-
Students will create visual art, music, stories, and dance
that reflect African rituals and traditions.
Essential Questions:
-
What is the role of rituals/traditions in African society?
-
What influence has rituals/traditions of African arts had
on Western society?
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How does repetition demonstrate this influence?
-
What makes rituals/traditions timeless?
Assessment:
-
Students should be able to explain the influence of African
art forms on western culture.
-
Students should be able to state the role of repetition
in various art forms, and to distinguish examples of repetition
in their own surroundings.
-
Students should be able to create art/music/dance/theater
that is based on African rituals and traditions, and demonstrates
an understanding of its context.
Rationale
This unit will
enable students to understand the role of the arts in the TRADITIONS
AND RITUALS in African society and culture. they will see and
hear that repetition plays an important role in society. Students
will understand that even though Africa is a vast continent, it is possible
to focus on one area to explain the traditions of the people without
generalizing about the entire continent.
Students
will explore the interrelationships of the Arts in Africa and
how they have influenced western cultures. They will see
that the role of the visual arts, music and story telling are
timeless in understanding Africa and its influence.
Visual
Arts Lesson Plan: Ghanian Adinkra Cloth
Level
for the lesson 3-12 (3-4 DAYS)
Objectives:
1. Locate
Ghana on a map of Africa.
2. Describe
some of the features of Ghana culture.
3. Explain
importance of Adinkra symbols and cloth to the people of West
Africa.
4. Design
and print an Adinkra Cloth.
Materials:
1. Maps of
Africa
2. Construction
paper/Fabric (9"x12")
3. One potato
for every two students/ Sponges may be used for smaller children
4. Sharp
Knife
5. Pencils
6. Felt markers
7. Tempera
Paint
8. Paint
brushes
9. Cups to
hold water for painting
10. Paper
plates for paint
Cue Set:
Give the
students some background information about Adinkra Cloth. Explain
how the Ashanti people of Ghana once used Adinkra cloths exclusively
for royalty but in recent years that has changed.
Best Shot:
1. Share
some traditional examples
2. Share
some non-traditional
3. Tell students
they will design their own Adinkra cloth
4.Pass out
construction paper/cloth and half of a potato/sponge to each
student.
Guided
Practice:
Students
will begin planning and designing their own cloth under the
guidance of the teacher. (Rough sketches and minor details should
be complete at this stage by the students.)
Independent
Practice:
1. Students
will choose a color to print on
2. Divide
paper/Fabric into 3" squares
3. One line
divides sections, draw stitches with markers to give appearance
fabric sewn
together.
4. Design
stamps, use two traditional and create two stamps of your own.
(Design drawn
on potato will print in the reverse)
5. Make sure
edges of carving are smooth
6. Paint
the potato with tempera paint then press it onto the paper/cloth,
making your
print. Continue stamping the design in a symmetrical format.
Assessment:
Students
should print clear symmetrical designs representative of Adinkra
symbols. They should explain how their prints are reflective
of traditional
Ghana culture
and the land. (Written or Oral)
Background:
It is not
exactly sure how adinkra cloth came to be. One version starts
in the nineteenth century. There was a war between two kings.
Adinkra, King of Gyaman, attempted to copy the designs of the
sacred Golden Stool. The Golden Stool was the unifying force
of the Asante Nation. This sacrilegious attempt angered the
Asantehene, the Ashanti King Nana Osei Bonsue-Panyin.
In the war,
Akinkera was defeated and killed. The cloth that King Akinkera
wore in battle was taken by the Asante as a trophy. With the
cloth, the Asante brought with them the art of stamping cloth.
Link to
Western World:
Adinkra symbols
have lately been used for many business logos. Look closely
at African rocade cloth; Adinkra are the woven design. However,
with most of us being unfamiliar with the meaning of the symbols
we do not understand the messages.
To read anyone's
t-shirt is to know where she's coming from. The t-shirt might
say, "Just Do It" " Mother of Civilization!" Whatever it says,
her
t-shirt conveys her message to the world. Adinkra cloth and
symbols do the same thing.