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I have been looking forward to this group of projects all year! Each spring, 1st grade teachers begin an IB unit called "We Are the World." The goal of the unit is for students to compare and contrast ways of life all over the world. Many of our students have not done much traveling, so this is a good way to show the kids that although there are many differences in the way people look, speak, dress, and live, we are all part of the same human race and we have A LOT in common! One of the things that different societies have in common is that they all make some form of art! In some cultures, the art tends to be functional, like weaving baskets for harvesting fruit, or making pottery to carry water. In other cultures, art may be used for celebrations or religious ceremonies. Some art is made to record legends or traditions. Many forms of art have been passed down for centuries, while others have developed in more recent times. In our art room, students will experience art-making traditions from a different culture each week for the duration of this IB unit. This year, students will explore art from six different societies- Japan, Egypt, South Africa, Italy, Jamaica, and Alaska. Week One: The Art of Japan- ShiboriShibori is a method of dying cloth that has been part of Japanese culture for thousands of years- since the 8th century! It involves wrapping cloth very tightly with string and then dipping the cloth into the dye. The string keeps some of the cloth from absorbing the color. (This concept is where tie-dye originated!) Japanese artisans wrap and tie the cloth very carefully to make a variety of intricate patterns. Here is a video of the process in action- We made our own version of shibori with paper towels, string, and blue watercolor paint. Step 1: Fold the paper towel in a fan-fold (pleated) style. Step 2: Roll up the folded towel into a spiral. (We pretended we were rolling sushi!) Step 3: Wrap a string tightly around the roll. The tighter the string, the more interesting the pattern will be! Step 4: Drip blue watercolor paint onto each end of the spiral. The trick is to get enough liquid to cover the surface, but not to use so much that all the white space disappears! Step 5: Carefully unroll the folded paper to reveal the pattern! The finished shibori cloths got a little card stapled to them- this is to help inform parents about the traditions behind the project, since students may not remember all the information by the time they get home! With the few extra minutes we had remaining, we enjoyed watching this video of children sharing some information about the Japanese culture. Some classes even had time to learn the names of the colors in Japanese! Next week: We'll be "visiting" Egypt!
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