Spring 2018 ARTE Lesson Plan Format 1.19.

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Title of Learning Segment: Adinkra Papers Grade: 5

Prior Knowledge:
- How to use scissors
- How to use glue
- How to use stamps
- How to use acrylic paint
- How to create a pattern

Central Focus:
- Creating art that reflects our identity as it teaches us about the cultures around us.

Learning Segment Overview Four lessons (45 minutes)

Lesson 1 (Day 1):
- Introduce lesson overall along with “The History of Adinkra Cloths” PowerPoint. Ask questions
to encourage thinking ahead on final project. Have students decide colors and vegetables
they will use in order to prepare materials. Teach students how to weave paper and have
materials available for students to practice weaving the paper.
Lesson 2 (Day 2):
- Practice weaving one more time and begin making final Adinkra papers. Have students focus
on cutting, weaving, and gluing papers together.
Lesson 3 (Days 3-4):
- Continue working on final Adinkra papers by focusing on stamping. Make sure students have
completed their Adinkra papers by the end of the fourth day.
Lesson 4 (Day 5):
- Have students present final Adinkra papers and conduct a class critique.
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Standard Learning Objective Assessment

NVAS: - SWBAT experiment with multiple Diagnostic: TW instruct, support,

- VA:Cr2.1.5a art-making techniques and and observe students practicing
Experiment and approaches through practice and paper weaving.
develop skills in application.
multiple art- - SWBAT analyze cultural Formative: TW instruct, support,
making associations through visual and observe students making their
techniques and imagery. final weavings and prints. TW
approaches observe, support, and ask
through practice. questions periodically throughout
- VA:Re7.2.5a the Learning Segment.
Identify and - Questions For Students:
analyze cultural - What colors do you choose for
associations your paper weaving? Why did
suggested by you choose those colors?
visual imagery. - What vegetable, or vegetables,
do you want to use for your
SCVAS: stamps?
- VA.C NH.6.1 - I can relate artistic techniques - What stamp shapes will you use
I can combine and processes from other on your weaving?
and use artistic cultures to my personal artwork. - Do those shapes mean
techniques and - I can apply given criteria to something to you? If so, what?
processes from create artwork. - Will you use black or white
multiple cultures acrylic paint? Is there a reason
and time periods. why you choose that specific
- VA.P IM.3 color, or colors?
I can use given - Are you going to arrange your
criteria to stamps in a specific pattern?
complete my Why?
artwork.
Summative: Students will create a
woven paper piece, complete with
acrylic stamped shapes. They will
then engage in a critique where
they present their final piece to the
class and discuss their creative
process.

Academic Language
1. Language Function:
- Demand: The students will create a paper weaving that they will then stamp symbols on as a
reflection of their identity.
- Function: The students will create a paper weaving using basic weaving techniques and will
respond to questions asked periodically throughout the project in order to choose and reflect
the symbols they use and why they use them to represent themselves.
2. Vocabulary:
- Culture: (n) the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or
social group.
- Identity: (n) The distinguishing character or personality of an individual.
- Weave: (v) to form (cloth) by interlacing strands (as of yarn).
- Stamp: (n) a distinctive character, indication, or mark; a lasting imprint.
- Symbol: (n) Something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship,
association, convention, or accidental resemblance
- Definitions from merriam-webster.com.
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3. Discourse OR Syntax: This lesson aids in developing students’ illustrative and creative
discourse.
4. Practice: Students will practice using language function by responding to questions asked
periodically throughout the Learning Segment

Key Materials:
- “The History of Adinkra Cloths” PowerPoint
- Examples of Adinkra Cloths (for student reference)
- Teacher-made exemplar
- Multi-color construction paper (9” X 12”)
- Multi-color construction paper strips (1” X 9”)
- Scissors
- X-Acto Knives
- Glue
- Various vegetables (i.e. bell pepper, potatoes, and carrots)
- Vegetables should be pre-cut, including some in the form of shapes, like stars or circles
- White and black acrylic paint

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks (Procedures & Timelines)

Lesson 1 of 4 (Day 1)
- Introduce lesson overall along with “The History of Adinkra Cloths” PowerPoint.
- Ask questions to encourage thinking ahead on final project. For example:
- What stamps or shapes do you think you will use? Why?
- Do you think you will use pre-cut vegetable stamps or do you think you just use the
natural shapes created by the vegetables?
- Do you want to just use one vegetable or more than one?
- Will you use just black paint, just white paint, or a combination of both? Why?
- Will you create a pattern? Or will you just use one shape?
- Do the shapes you choose have meaning?
- Decide colors and vegetables students will use in order to prepare materials.
- Teach students how to weave the paper.
- Have materials available for students to practice weaving the paper.

Lesson 2 of 4 (Day 2)
- Practice weaving one more time before students begin working on final projects.
- Allow time for questions before moving on.
- Begin making final Adinkra papers.
- Have students focus on cutting, weaving, and gluing papers together to form their Adinkra
paper.
- Their papers should be cut with seven slits, each an inch apart.
- They will weave in pre-cut strips of paper (1” X 9”). Once they have woven these together,
they will glue down the pieces hanging off of the paper to make it secure.
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Lesson 3 of 4 (Day 3 and 4)

-Continue working on final Adinkra papers.
-Make sure papers are glued and woven before moving on to stamping.
-Have pre-cut vegetable stamps and vegetables for students to use.
-Have black and white acrylic paint
available for students to use with their
stamps.
-Encourage students to stamp in patterns
similar to the actual Adinkra cloths. Have
examples from the PowerPoint available
for students to reference.
-Make sure students have completed their
Adinkra papers by the end of the fourth
day.

Lesson 4 of 4 (Day 5)
- Have students present final Adinkra papers.
- Conduct a class critique.

Accommodations:
• Representation: I will use a PowerPoint to introduce
the lesson and I will supply the materials for the project.
• Engagement: Students will cut and “weave” their own paper Adinkra cloths and will utilize
vegetable stamps they help design in order to create a unique print that represents them.
• Expression: Students will engage in a critique held at the end of the project, and will then
have their projects displayed in the hallway.
• Individual student with special needs: Students with special needs will be aided in all steps
of this project. If necessary, their woven Adinkra paper can be pre-made. Their aid, the
teacher, or a peer will help complete the glueing and stamping process of this project.

Resources (for the lesson plan):

“Adinkra Fabric Painting of Ghana: Lesson Art Project.” Kid World Citizen, 28 Jan. 2018,
kidworldcitizen.org/adinkra-fabric-printing-from-ghana/.

Bantuma School Girls Club. “Adinkra.” AkomaKids, 6 July 2014, akomasfghanacollaboration.

wordpress.com/2014/07/06/adinkra/.

“Kumasi with Anna – Adinkra.” Steve & Suzanne - Serving In Ghana, 20 May 2013,
servinginghana.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/kumasi-with-anna-adinkra/.

“PBS Kids' Africa.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wonders/Kids/cloth/

cloth.htm.

Artifacts:
- “The History of Adinkra Cloths” PowerPoint
- Adinkra Cloth Examples
- Teacher example of completed Adinkra paper
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Research

Native to the Ashanti region of modern-day Ghana, the Asante people are part of the

larger Akan, an extensive group of related peoples with similar languages and cultures (“Ashanti

People”). They are located in central and southern Ghana, where they extend into the eastern part

of the Ivory Coast (Perani and Smith, 103). These people are characterized by social

stratification, centralized political structures, and full-time art specialists (Perani and Smith,

103). The art specialists there produce objects such as the Asante kente Cloth, the Asante Royal

Stool, and Akua’ba Figures. Each of these objects have their own meanings and uses, whether it

be for the use of kings or mothers aiming to have healthy and happy babies. Similar to these

objects, the Asante people are also known for their creation of the adinkra cloth, a form of textile

imprinted with dyed symbols to represent particular values and ideals upheld by their people.

The earliest known adinkra cloth is dated from 1817, and consists of twenty-four hand

woven strips of cotton cloth, with each strip being about 3 inches wide and woven on the same

horizontal treadle loom as the Asante kente cloth (Ross). The strips are sewn together “selvage to

selvage” meaning they are sewn along the finished edges of the fabric (Ross). These sewn pieces

create a toga style outfit for men, with one shoulder exposed and the other covered, and a two-

piece outfit for women, with the bottom as a skirt and the top as either a shawl or an upper

wrapper (Ross).

Adinkra means “saying goodbye,” which is fitting for this Asante cloth formerly worn for

mourning Asante royalty and showcasing symbols that represent qualities of the deceased (Perani

and Smith, 114). It is believed that, once one dies, their spirit travels to the ancestral world, and

when one picks out specific symbols to wear on the adinkra, they are sending a message to the

departed that is taken into the ancestral world with them (Bantuma School Girls Club). Today,

the cloth is worn more often for various festive occasions, and, in addition to the traditional
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mourning colors of red, russet, and black, the cloths now sport colors such as green, purple, and

yellow (Perani and Smith, 115). These cloths are decorated using stamps that represent motifs

and have symbolic meanings. These symbols each have a name and a meaning that is based on

universal human values, such as family and integrity, with their names deriving from the

language of the Asante people known as Twi (“Adinkra Fabric Painting of Ghana: Lesson Art

Project.”). Many of these geometric symbols are hundreds of years old, and may have been

introduced to the Asante people through trade with North Africa (Perani and Smith, 115).

According to scholars Judith Perani and Fred T. Smith in their book titled The Visual Arts of

Africa: Gender, Power, and Life Cycle Rituals, “every adinkra cloth combines individual motifs

to create the message that the wearer wishes to communicate” (115). These messages and motifs

may communicate that one is intelligent and adaptable, or beautiful and devoted to God, among

many other things. Another example of these motifs and symbols are worn by Asante chiefs or

kings and promote leadership and thinking ahead (“Adinkra Fabric Painting of Ghana: Lesson

Art Project.”). This can be seen in the motif called adinkrahene, meaning “king of adinkra,”

which takes the form of three concentric circles (Perani and Smith, 115). Perani and Smith

describe this motif as a reference to the chief or king who introduced the use of the stamps, and

that it symbolizes “authority, firmness, greatness, and prudence” (115).

The process of creating an adinkra cloth is ancient, having been passed down from one

generation to the next while still using the traditional materials harvested from two separate trees

(“Kumasi with Anna – Adinkra.”). The cloth is colored in a multi-step process that utilizes the

roots from the Kuntunkuni tree, which is native to Northern Ghana (“Kumasi with Anna –

Adinkra.”). The dye used for the symbols is created using the bark of the Badie tree (“Kumasi

with Anna – Adinkra.”). The bark is separated, boiled, pounded and strained until it becomes a

thick syrup that the Asante people refer to as medicine, or adinkra aduru (“Kumasi with Anna –
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Adinkra.”). In order to create the unique symbols and designs of the adinkra cloth, the Asante

people use dried Calabash gourds. After they are dried, the gourds are drawn on with a pencil

and compass to create the design. Following this, the Calabash is then carved and a Raffia palm

leaf is cut to create a handle, with recycled cloth wrapped around it to hold both the handle and

the stamp in place (Bantuma School Girls Club). Upon completion of this process, the cloth,

stamps, and dyes are ready to be used to create a unique work of textile art.

The Asante people are known for, and credited with creating, many beautiful and

powerful works of art, like the Asante kente cloth and golden topped ceremonial swords. Each

work that they create gives a new and different insight into the culture they so proudly represent,

seen especially through the adinkra cloth. This textile has stood the test of time and has been

passed down through many generations, changing color, shape, and symbol, all while

maintaining its vital role in Asante culture.

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Resources

“Adinkra Fabric Painting of Ghana: Lesson Art Project.” Kid World Citizen, 28 Jan. 2018,

kidworldcitizen.org/adinkra-fabric-printing-from-ghana/.

“Ashanti People.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Apr. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Ashanti_people.

Bantuma School Girls Club. “Adinkra.” AkomaKids, 6 July 2014, akomasfghanacollaboration.

wordpress.com/2014/07/06/adinkra/.

“Kumasi with Anna – Adinkra.” Steve & Suzanne - Serving In Ghana, 20 May 2013,

servinginghana.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/kumasi-with-anna-adinkra/.

Perani, Judith, and Fred T. Smith. The Visual Arts of Africa: Gender, Power, and Life Cycle

Rituals. Prentice Hall, 1998.

Ross, Doran H. “Adinkra Cloth.” LoveToKnow, LoveToKnow Corp, fashion-

history.lovetoknow.com/fabrics-fibers/adinkra-cloth.