Wednesday, February 4, 2015

2nd Grade Kente Cloths















2nd Grade Kente Cloths

Students in 2nd grade studied fabric designs from all around the world. They learned about the different uses for fabrics and the patterns and designs created on fabrics. They looked at Navajo Weavings, Hmong Clothing, Mexican Blankets, Malawi Chitenjes and focused on Kente Cloths from Ghana. Kente cloth is a fabric made of woven cloth strips. Kente cloth is a royal and sacred cloth that was traditionally worn only by important people and was the called the cloth of kings. Over time the use of kente cloth became widespread and it is now worn for special occasions and events by people other than just kings. We read the book The Spider Weaver which was about the legend of the first kente cloth. Students created their own kente cloth by painting repeated designs and colors on a piece of white paper. Students turned the painting in into a loom by cutting lines in the paper so they could weave on it. They created the weaving using strips of colored paper they decorated. They finished by fringing the edges of the paper to make it look like fabric. Beautiful Kente Cloths 2nd Graders!

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