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| Weaving by Michaela |
First Graders learned how to weave with yarn on a handmade loom. This is a project that celebrates the art and culture of the Native Americans and teaches us a wonderful technique using patterns.
Our handmade looms were created out of the cardboard base from water bottle trays and we recycle these looms every year. Six slits are cut into both ends of the cardboard and yarn is strung from top to bottom creating the warp (or vertical) strings of the loom.
Next, students choose a color of yarn to weave with. We learned how to measure the yarn against a table edge by working in pairs with our friends. One student holds the end of the yarn against the end of the table and the other student unrolls the yarn to match the length of the table and cuts it off.
To weave with our colored yarns, we learned how to follow a pattern of "Over, Under, Over, Under, Over, Under." Not only is the process of weaving a pattern, but we can also create a pattern by alternating colors of yarn.
The completed weavings were then removed from the cardboard looms and they now hang from twigs that the students found outside and brought into school.
A special thank you to guest weavers, Dr. Danial and Mrs. Reddington, for helping out with one of our weaving lessons!
For example, when you look at a picture of a horse the regular way, your mind invariably takes over as you are drawing and you tend to draw what you remember how a horse looks, not focusing on the details in the picture in front of you. The image of the horse in your mind probably has an four thin legs as all horses do. But are you really seeing those legs as they appear in the picture, with all the angles and the lines?
