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LESSONS: Teacher Resources

INTEGRATED LESSONS IN SHINING CLOTH: Light-Reflecting Textiles and Dress.

TEACHERS' INFORMATION:

Unit Title: Integrated Lessons in SHINING CLOTH: Light-Reflecting Textiles and Dress

Grade Levels: 4th through 6th grades. Material can be adapted for other grades.

Length of Unit: Students can spend as little as two hours or up to two weeks on this unit.

Content areas: Social Studies and HIstory; Visual and Performing Arts

Integrations: English Language Arts; Math; Science; Social Studies and History; Visual and Performing Arts.

Prepared by Victoria Z. Rivers, Professor in Environmental Design
Walker Hall, One Shields Avenue
University of California, Davis, CA 95616

OBJECTIVES: (back to top)
1. Students will be introduced to light-reflecting textiles and articles of dress.

2. Students will investigate materials used to create and convey meaning in shimmering clothing and textiles. Students will recognize and discuss multiple purposes for creating works of art. Students explore the role of visual arts in culture and human history.

3. From readings, visual information and activities, students will be exposed to numerous ways textiles and dress encapsulate social values of diverse ethnicities and cultures through the appearances, meanings, and uses of textiles and dress. Increased awareness leads to increased valuing.

4. Students will use information from their investigations for lessons in social studies and history; English language arts; science; math; and visual and performing arts projects. Students will analyze information, scan for keywords, and recognize interrelations among concepts. Students will respond to visual artworks by discussing and writing about their own interpretations, ideas, attitudes, views, and interactions with artworks.

5. Students will utilize computer and internet technology to complete these lessons. They will identify sources of information and utilize effective strategies in locating information.

STRATEGIES: (back to top)
1. Through a visit to the Design Gallery from April 9 to May 5, 2000 and /or the Web site's Virtual Gallery, Meanings and Materials, Shining Adventures, and Glossary sections, and Integrated Lessons, students will explore visual content of shining textiles and dress.

2. The teacher will introduce this unit with a reading and discussion of the Meanings and Materials section. Students will explore the Virtual Gallery and complete the Shining Adventures Gallery Hunt exercise. Students will share their findings and discuss them with the class, or they can work in small groups.

3. Through the web site materials and internet links, students can solve lesson assignments as assigned, individually or in small groups.

4. Students can create hands-on projects individually or can create a performance with costumes and banners for the class or school.

ON-LINE RESOURCES: (back to top)
Resources with Textiles and Costume:

http://archaeology.parks.ca.gov/mc/ California State Parks: State Museum Resource Center

www.amnh.org/exhibitions The American Museum of Natural History, New York City

www.artic.edu/aic/programs/resources.html The Art Institute of Chicago, Textiles Gallery

www.asiasociety.org The Asia Society, New York

www.geocities.com/Paris/4440/costumering.html Links on costume

www.thinker.org The DeYoung Museum, San Francisco

www.fmch.ucla.edu/ The Fowler Museum of Cultural History, UCLA (click on Exhibitions, then Past, then " The Rainbow's Varied Hue" or "Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity")

www.costumegallery.com/pompadour A study of historic costumes and patterns

www.Metmuseum.org/collections Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

www.si.edu/nmafa/ The National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. (click on "Exhibitions", then "Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity" or "Hats Off! A Salute to African Headdresses")

www.mnh.si.edu/ The National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. (click on Exhibits on-line, then "Crossroads of Continents")

www.prm.ox.ac.uk/ The Pitt Rivers Museum of Anthropology, Oxford

www.sjquiltmuseum.org/ The San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles

www.textilemuseum.org/fsg/index.html The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C.

www.arts.ouc.bc.ca/fiar/hndbkhom.html A guide to writing and studying about visual culture from Okanagan University College

On-Line Resources related to Shining Cloth Materials:

Beetles: Cultural Entomology Digest articles and images on-line, information about insects, resources, links at : www.insects.org/

Article "Beetles in Textiles" by Victoria Z. Rivers at: www.insects.org/ced_index.html (click on Second Issue, February, 1994)

Insect information, links at: www.ent.iastate.edu/

Feathers: Types of feathers at: www.kaytee.com/discovery/feathers/types.html

Amazon Basin featherwork at : http://www.amnh.org/Exhibition/Expedition/Treasures/Amazon_Featherwork/amazon.html

Endangered bird species at: www.amnh.org/exhibitions/endangered/hawaii/hawaii.html

Gold: Gold mines at: www.ncgold/Cyberfair/mining.html or for the Empire Mine ÉCyberfair/empiremine.html

Image of gold in quartz at: juneau.ak.blm.gov/poster/goldqrtz.htm

Metals: History of metals with timeline at: neon.mems.cmu.edu/cramb/Processing/history.html

minerals for sale at: www.mamasminerals.com Minerals: Minerals listed by name at: mineral.galleries.com/minerals/htm (look for galena, gold, hematite, mica, obsidian, pyrite, silver)

Sequins: Haitian Vodou at: www.amnh.org/exhibitions/vodou/index.html

Shells: cowrie shells on view at: www.geocities.com/Eureka/Plaza/1821/seashells.html

world wide specimen for collectors at: users.erols.com/worldwide/ (then click on "Marine Shells", then to "Marine gastropods", then see "Conidae, Cypreidae, Marginellidae, Olividae", and back, then click on "Marine Bivalves". Also has links to other shell collecting information)

Silk: Silk history, teacher resources, science questions, and projects at: www.mediamessage.com/Kayton/Silkworm/history.htm

Vegetable Fibers: World-wide wheat weaving at: www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/4565

Iridescence: an interactive experiment to help explain interference (related to iridescence): www.exploratorium.edu/imap-expl/interf.conf?319,64

explains the nature of light, reflection, and refraction: www.kapili.com/physics4kids.light/index.html

EQUIPMENT: (back to top)
1. Access to on-line computers for virtual gallery, texts, interactive games, and research

2. Optional: visit to The Design Gallery "The Shining Cloth" exhibition at the University of California Davis from April 9 to May 5, 2000 or to another textiles exhibit at a gallery or museum.

ASSESSMENT: (back to top)

1. Students will successfully research, read, adapt, and perform as assigned, their interpretations and understandings of The Shining Cloth material.

2. Students will demonstrate understanding of shining cloth materials and meanings through visual and performing arts projects. They will discuss and explain their creative projects and relate them to artifacts in The Shining Cloth Virtual Gallery .

HOW TO REACH VICTORIA Z. RIVERS: (back to top)
Professor, Design Program
Department of Environmental Design, Walker Hall
One Shields Ave.
University of California
Davis, CA 95616 USA

e-mail: vzrivers@ucdavis.edu
voice mail: 530/752-0805