Wonderful World of Weaving!

I know, it has been awhile but I wanted to share my weaving demonstration videos that I have posted on Youtube.

I have been posting a lot of the art room photos on Instagram, so if you follow me there ( makeamark_artroom)  you can see all of the amazing art photos there.

OJO DE DIOS WEAVING - 2ND grade

STRAW LOOM WEAVING - 3RD grade

CD LOOM WEAVING - 4TH grade

Straw Loom Weavings by 3rd Grade

The 3rd grade artists went bananas for this method of weaving! They learned how to warp up 4 large drinking straws and weave cuffs, bracelets, bookmarks, and scarves! The method of "drinking" the yarn with a small sip to pull the yarn through the straws made all the kids giggle. Who doesn't love a little silliness in the art process?!

Each artist was instructed to create at least one complete weaving but most made 2 or more! This is a really easy and inexpensive way to weave. It is perfect for long car trips, waiting rooms, or just relaxing at home or outside. Here is how we did it.

Step 1: Students were to wrap tape around the 4 warp strings (yarn) tails to each straw after they "sipped" the string through.

Step 2: Tie an over hand knot with all 4 strings at the bottom below the straw.

Step 3: Cut the first weft and begin weaving the long tail back and forth or over under with the dominate hand while holding the straw loom with the non dominate hand.

Step 4: When the weft is almost done, cut a new weft and repeat the weaving process until the entire straw loom is woven

Step 5: Pull the weaving downward to the bottom know, un-tape the straws, slide them off, and tie another over hand knot at the top of weaving to keep it from unraveling

Step 6: Trim the tails and excess warp string length and enjoy your weaving!

Here are some results!

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Dream Catcher Woven CDs in 4th Grade

The fourth grade artists have learned to weave in a radial pattern. They learned that weaving in a circle creates radial symmetry.

We began by learning about how to warp a round loom using recycled CDs. I shared my demonstration video from my Youtube Channel as I worked with the students in preparing to weave.

Once they had an odd number of warps. They got to weaving!

I instructed the students to beware of the "garden hose" mistake. This is when weavers accidentally miss a warp or have an even number of warps and the weaving pattern is the same row after row. The weave begins to look like a coiled up garden hose rather than a opposite tabby weave.

As the cd looms were finished, the artists embellished the outer CD edge with sharpie pattern designs and added beaded yarn tassels for the dream catcher effect.

I love how each one is different but show their understanding of the proper weaving technique.
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Ojos Weave in 2nd grade

The 2nd grade artists have been busy weaving Ojos de Dios (God's Eye). They are also known as the "Cat's Eye" weaving.

I began this lesson with a short presentation on the history of this type of weaving. The students learned that this cultural artform is a meditative process that produces a cultural symbol of protection. These weavings have been created by the ancient Pueblo and Mexican people.

Each student was given a cross shaped loom made from hot-glued popsicle sticks. I then demonstrated to the group how to measure and cut their weft from the "yarn buffet".

I then instructed the weavers to  number each stick 1-4 so that the students can keep track of their weaving pattern. I learned this technique from my favorite blogger Cassie Stephens.

I used my document camera to weave along with them. They learned the proper technique of wrapping the weft under over each stick and rotate to the next in a circular pattern. Their weft radiates out from the center in rows. They were to be careful to not flip their looms over while weaving but only turn it in a circle.

Here are some of the results!

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Woven Alligator Puppets in 1st grade

A student favorite! I originally found and adapted this project from my favorite art ed blogger's site, Cassie Stephens. She is my official art ed guru!

The first graders have worked hard in creating woven alligator puppets. I taught this lesson last year and a lot of my students demanded their chance to create one this year.

It begins with a lesson on texture. I have a little poem I teach the kids so they can remember the vocabulary word. It goes like this:

Texture (make a T with hands)
is how something feels (rubs hands)
it can be sharp (say OW! and pretend to touch something sharp)
it can be smoooooth (pretends to touch something smooth)
it can be sticky (pretends to touch something sticky with fingers)
like goo
EW! (pretends to fling goo from hands)

It is super fun.

I then show a visual presentation of alligators in the wild and a close up of their skin. I ask the students to describe the texture to me, they determine it to be bumpy and dry. They then talk to me about how they can recreate or "simulate" that texture in a drawing. I give them green construction paper and they draw their alligator texture with crayon.

We then review how to create a paper loom...we already did this with the Chinese Lantern project for the Lunar New Year. So they were familiar with the process.

Then they were supplied with pre-cut strips of weft in 2 values of green, light and dark. They were instructed to weave a light dark pattern with their paper loom.

The next class the students were shown how to create the puppet alligator head. They created the puppet mouth first out of pre-folded manila paper (check out Cassie's blog for amazing details in creating this device). They were then instructed how to add collage paper in producing the alligator head and attaching it to the puppet mouth.

They are mastering the pop-up collage technique.

The following class they glued their weavings to the puppet head to create the body, cut and glued arms, legs, and a tail. To finish they added additional textures on the body parts with crayons.

Look at those teeth! I love this level of engagement with detail.

Great patterns for texture!

They loved chomping their alligator puppets when they were finished. I was pleased to see their smiles and successes.

Thanks for stopping by!

"Only One You" - Paper Loom weaving in Kindergarten

Yes, kinders can weave! I began by slowly introducing the concept of weaving with centers and then instructed them in weaving with a paper loom. We read the book "Only One You" by Linda Kranz for visual inspiration.

 The students noticed the bright colors and patterns in the fish designs and then used them in their own drawings on construction paper. They outlined their designs in black marker and practiced their coloring technique with crayon.

The next class we practiced weaving on a big classroom paper loom. They were then instructed to cut out their fish, fold it in half  (taco shape), and cut 4 warps from the folded edge (taco bottom). Then they set to weaving pre-cut paper strips.

The final class they worked in centers again or as I like to call them, "creation stations". At one station, they glued their fish weavings onto blue construction paper and added bubbles with white crayons.

They sculpted fish forms out of modeling clay.

They practiced coloring pre-drawn fish drawings on large paper.

They practiced drawing fish designs on dry-erase boards.

They sculpted a fish with chenille sticks strung with beads and wrapped with yarn.

We had a lot of fun working in so many different modes of creation and I was pleased to see growth in so many skills.

Thanks for stopping by!