Lessn Plan: A Bird s Tale Bird and Crnstalk Rug Asn Yellwhair, United States 1983 Overview After lking at the Bird and Crnstalk Rug, students will make a design fr a class rug and write a letter t ne f the bluebirds pictured in Yellwhair s piece. Age Grup Elementary (grades K-5) Standards 21 st Century Learning Skills Addressed: Critical Thinking and Reasning Infrmatin Literacy Cllabratin Self-Directin Inventin 2009 Clrad Academic Standards Primary Area Addressed: Language Arts Oral Expressin and Listening Reading fr All Purpses Writing and Cmpsitin Research and Reasning Additinal 2009 Clrad Academic Standards Addressed: Visual Arts Observe and Learn t Cmprehend Relate and Cnnect t Transfer Length f Lessn Tw t three 45-minute lessns (may adapt as needed) Ratinale Asn Yellwhair s Bird and Crnstalk Rug is infused with symblic meaning that can pen children s imaginatins, enabling richer interactins with the bject, the artist, the Navaj traditin, and their wn traditins. Additinally, by bserving the wrld arund them, students can expand the scpe f pssibilities fr their art, writing, and creativity. Objectives
Students will be able t: describe hw Asn Yellwhair relied n many members f her cmmunity in the making f her rug; list at least tw ways the rug reflects traditinal Navaj weaving and at least tw ways Asn Yellwhair has infused her wn individuality int the rug; bserve details in the rug and describe hw they are similar t r different frm ther wrks f art they ve seen; bserve r reflect n the natural wrld arund them and identify at least ne animal, ne plant, ne shape, and ne sund in that setting; and chse vcabulary and writing devices that cmmunicate their ideas clearly and pwerfully fr ther readers and listeners. Materials The ability t g n a nature walk utside, if yu can add a third day fr the lessn. Otherwise, after Day 1 ask students t bserve and think abut animals, plants, shapes, and sunds in nature arund their hme r n trips they ve taken. Tw 8 x 3 strips f butcher paper taped tgether and taped t the flr, a wall, r large table (ne fr every 20 25 students) Clred markers (ideally ne bx f eight markers fr every three students) One cpy f the writing activity and writing critique questins fr each student Student jurnals/lined paper and pencils, r cmputers with printers, fr students t write their letters One cpy f Letter frm a Bluebird t read t the class and ne cpy fr each student (if pssible) Abut the Art sheet n Asn Yellwhair s Bird and Crnstalk Rug (fund at the end f the lessn plan) r student access t this part f Creativity Resurce nline One clr cpy f the rug enlarged fr the class, r the ability t prject the image in clr n a wall r screen (ideal) Lessn Day 1: Letter frm a Bluebird 1. Tell the students that yu fund a letter n yur desk that was addressed t their class, building their anticipatin. Read the letter t them. 2. Prject the image f the rug nt a screen/wall (r distribute black and white phtcpies and pass arund the clr phtcpy). Ask them which bird they think wrte the letter. 3. Have students brainstrm in grups abut the images n the rug t answer the fllwing questins. Let them knw they dn t need t wrry abut being right r wrng, and t try and answer the questins frm their explratin f the rug: Which bluebird d they think sent the letter? Where d they think the artist fund her inspiratin fr the clr f the leaves and stalks? (Yellwhair s inspiratin came frm a Wrigley s spearmint gum wrapper.) What are all the clrs the artist used fr the birds? The flwers? D they think the birds have any special meaning fr the artist? (Accrding t Yellwhair, her birds express a psitive and happy utlk n life. ) What d they ntice abut the backgrund clr? Why d they think the shades f grey are different? (Wl came frm multiple batches causing the different clratin.)
D the gemetric shapes arund the edges have any special meaning? (The shapes are part f Yellwhair s family traditin, as is the large size.) 4. Lead a large-grup discussin abut the questins. Share the factual answers yu have, but remember t encurage the students ideas. Ask them hw it cmpares t ther wrks f art. Days 2 & 3: Cmmunity Rug & Letter t a Bluebird 1. Warm-up: Have the students write a few sentences abut a sunset they remember seeing with the gal f helping smene picture what they saw. 2. Display r pass arund the picture f Asn Yellwhair s rug. Have students relcate the bluebird they identified as the letter writer n Day 1. 3. Thinking abut the letter frm the bluebird, have students write dwn answers t the fllwing questins: What natural elements and sunds did the bluebird talk abut in the letter? Hw did Asn Yellwhair prbably learn t weave? What rle did Asn Yellwhair s family play in making the rug? 4. Students will make a class rug t simulate, in a small way, an entire cmmunity wrking t help create an bject. Have students brainstrm with a partner abut different animals, plants, shapes, and sunds they have experienced in their wn neighbrhds r n trips they may have taken. Then, fr the rug: Each student shuld select ne animal, ne plant, ne shape, and ne sund. In their jurnals, r n scratch paper, have students create a pattern that incrprates the animal, plant, shape, and sund. Each bject shuld have sme symblic meaning. After students finish their drawings, have them share their wrk. Lead a discussin abut cmpsitin and reference Yellwhair s carefully cmpsed piece. As a class, decide which students will be respnsible fr different parts f the cmpsitin (e.g. brder, center, sides, etc.). Ensure that there is enugh rm fr all students t reprduce their drawings n the rug. Have students draw their images f the rug and then take a tur f the rug when they have finished. Each student shuld be prepared t share ne image and its symblic meaning with the class. 5. As students finish their drawings, have them begin the fllwing writing activity: Imagine yu are writing a letter t the bluebird n Asn Yellwhair s rug. In this letter yu are ging t share with the bluebird three things yu ve learned t d frm yur family. It might be hw t celebrate a certain hliday, hw t ck r bake a type f fd, hw t plant a garden, r lts f ther types f things. T make yur writing mre pwerful, use wrds that help the bluebird hear and see, and maybe even smell and taste, what yu ve experienced. 6. When the letters are finished, have the students get int grups f three t read their letters. The listeners shuld be able t share the fllwing with the readers (these questins can be written n the bard, r phtcpied nt half-sheets f paper fr students t fill ut): describing? What traditin was the writer describing? What part f the letter helped yu hear, see, smell, r taste what the writer was What were three wrds used by the writer that yu really liked? What is ne way the letter culd be mre descriptive? Dancing with CyteThe Meaning and Design f WrdsA Blast With BubblesBefre and AfterHw Wuld Yu Describe It?Buquet f Flwers in a Vase: Blending Observatin and ImaginatinThree Yung Girls: Say It with FlwersDish with Eight Buddhist Emblems: Mre than a
Dllar s Wrth f MeaningPresented by creativity.denverartmuseum.rg
Abut the Art
Bird and Crnstalk Rug by Asn Yellwhair, United States, 1983
Wh Made It?
Asn Yellwhair is an accmplished weaver wh lives n the Navaj Natin, an area that cvers ver 27,000 square miles f land, extending int Utah, New Mexic, and Arizna. In 2002, she was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award frm the Arizna State Museum at the University f Arizna. Yellwhair began weaving banded gemetric designs and mved t pictrial rugs in the 1950s, eventually settling n her present style in the 1970s. She describes weaving as very hard wrk: Yu perspire a lt. A man might wrk hard chpping wd, his shirt hanging ut r maybe n shirt at all. It s the same with weaving very hard wrk. Yellwhair has shared her skill with her family, teaching mst f her daughters t weave when they were children, and cntinuing a traditin that has been passed dwn frm ne generatin t the next.
What Inspired It?
This type f Navaj weaving is referred t as a pictrial rug. Althugh these rugs became cmmn in the late 1800s, they were nt sld as art until the 1900s. They are nw sld t turists, cllectrs, and museums. Yellwhair s Bird and Crnstalk Rug is part f the DAM s Glria Rss Cllectin a cllectin f Navaj rugs frm the late 1900s.
The histry f Navaj weaving is ne f change and cnstant innvatin. Navajs learned lm weaving smetime in the 1600s frm neighbring Puebl peples. The art frm was further enhanced by the intrductin f sheep by the Spanish. Trade, turism, and the art market have been an inspiratin and influence fr artists, and have made a majr impact n Navaj weaving.
Fr mre resurces related t this artwrk, check ut the "Find Out Mre" sectin fr this bject n Creativity Resurce nline. Things t Lk Fr Bird and Crnstalk Rug by Asn Yellwhair, United States, 1983 Rug Design This rug fllws the unique Yellwhair family style, which is characterized by a large hrizntal frmat, simple brders, and several rws f plants and birds running perpendicular t the weaving directin. Plant Stalks Unidentified plant stalks are arranged in hrizntal bands acrss the width f the rug. They are adrned with red, white, range, and beige flwers. Accrding t her daughter, Yellwhair based the stylized plants n Wrigley s Spearmint Chewing Gum wrappers.
Birds Althugh birds are significant in traditinal Navaj religin, Yellwhair says her birds carry n specific sacred meaning, but express a psitive and happy utlk n life. Brder The brder is made up f a gemetric pattern that is repeated all the way arund the edge f the rug, framing the picture in the center. Grey Backgrund Ntice the uneven clratin f the grey backgrund. The wl used t make this rug wuld have cme frm multiple batches.
Presented by creativity.denverartmuseum.rg
Bird and Crnstalk Rug
Asn Yellwhair, United States
1983
The Glria F. Rss Cllectin f Cntemprary Navaj Weaving f the Denver Art Museum, 1984.4
Phtgraph Denver Art Museum 2009. All Rights Reserved.
This image is intended fr classrm use nly and may nt be reprduced fr ther reasns withut the permissin f the Denver Art Museum.
This piece may nt currently be n display at the museum.