Interdisciplinary Lesson Title: Bookbinding with Collage Silhouettes, Inspired by Islamic Designs, Stories from Arabian Nights, and Shadow Puppetry

Name: Liaa Walter (Visiting Artist), with Kimberly Ross (Director)

Discipline: Visual Arts (Walter) and Language Arts and Social Studies (Ross)

School: Capitol Hill Day School, Washington, D.C. (Walter) and Henson Valley Montessori School, Prince George’s County, MD (Ross)

Grade Level/Content Focus: Grades 7-12 / Literature, Social Studies, Visual Arts

Time Required for Lesson: 60 minutes (5 class periods)

Specific Objectives:
Students will be able to:

• gain a visual perspective of the Arabic and Islamic world through storytelling, brainstorming, and illustration;
• review the basic art elements and principles of repetition in patterns;
• create a finished product of a book with a decorative cover, combining the skill of bookbinding with the skill of Islamic design, as well as literature interpretation.

Vocabulary/Concepts:
• repetitive pattern
• Islamic and Arabic designs
• decoration or adornment

Materials/Resources:

Texts:

Burton, Richard. The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. London, 1885-1888.
(For both student and teacher use)

Alisa Golden. Unique Handmade Books. Sterling, 2003.
(For teacher use; bookbinding techniques can be altered for different age groups)

Wilson, Eva. Islamic Designs for Artists and Craftspeople. Dover Publications, 1988.
(For teacher use, optional)

Web Resources:

Websites about Arabian and Islamic bookbinding:
• http://www.byegm.gov.tr/yayinlarimiz/newspot/2001/nov-dec/n10.htm
• http://www.sff.net/people/Brook.West/bind/bindit.html

Other Materials:

For students:
• worksheet with simple step-by-step bookbinding instructions
• tag board
• large needle
• cross-stitch or needlepoint floss (in different colors)
• needle tool
• paper

Lesson Abstract:
With the Director, the students will discuss the stories from Arabian Nights in Language Arts and Social Studies class. After the introduction to the stories, the students will brainstorm visual ideas about the scenery of Arabian Nights. They will briefly discuss clothing, artifacts, geography, and in general get an overall sense of what should be included in their illustrations. With the Visiting Artist, students will then complete preliminary drawings of their illustrations. The drawings will be a general sketch, mostly silhouettes of the images to prepare for cut paper. Next, they will look over Islamic/Arabic designs that will border or frame their drawings. After practicing repeating designs and a layout of the cover of the book, the Visiting Artist will demonstrate how to bind a book in the traditional sense (with a needle and thread). Students will create and bind the book, complete with cover. Students will now transfer the design for the cover of the book.

Lesson Components:

Motivation/Warm-Up/Discussion:
• The Director will talk to the students about some of the stories from Arabian Nights (covered in Language Arts class).
• Students will share their favorite stories from the book with the class.
• The Director will then talk to the students about what types of sceneries the students can imagine from the descriptions in the stories (genies, lamps, desert landscapes, flying carpets, etc.).

Modeling/Discussion:
• The Visiting Artist will introduce some images of Islamic/Arabic art. Students will have an active discussion about their brainstorms. Were they accurate? What do they see in the pictures?
• The Visiting Artist will introduce the main idea of the lesson, showing the students examples of Islamic/Arabic handmade books, pointing out the adornment and decorations of the repeating patterns.
• The Visiting Artist will show some examples of a finished classroom project book so that the students have a clear understanding of the goal.

Independent Practice:
• Students will decide which part of which story they would like to appear on the cover of their books. They should write the name of the story and a short description of the scene on their papers before they start drawing. (The Visiting Artist should remind the students that there is little detail needed for this initial drawing because they will be translating it to shadow or silhouette.)

Guided Practice:
• After students complete their first draft, the Visiting Artist will show examples of Islamic/Arabic designs for the borders of their books.
• The students will practice drawing some pre-made designs, then will practice making designs of their own.

Independent Practice:
• When the students have had enough practice time, they will create a final drawing which will combine the border and the image in the center.

Modeling/Independent Practice:
• The Visiting Artist will demonstrate how to cut and create the paper for the cover of the book.
• The students will use hard paper to glue onto, preferably tag board. Using black construction paper, scissors and/or exacto knives (depending on the appropriate level), students will transfer their drawings onto the black paper either by redrawing with white pencil or coating the back of the paper with chalk and tracing over the lines (which works much like carbon paper). It is suggested that the students leave a 1½-inch border to frame the image.
• Students will then cut and paste their images onto the white paper.
• Finally, the Visiting Artist will demonstrate how to bind the book, threading a needle through holes on the book to bind the pieces together.
• Students will combine the cover with some blank sheets of white paper to create the book. (The bookbinding can be done in many different ways, depending on the skill level in the class. For more difficult methods, see Unique Handmade Books by Alisa Golden.)

Assessment/Closure:
• Classroom critique, sharing, and rubric.