Paper Weaving: Beyond the Checkerboard Part 1

 Paper is a great medium to use when introducing weaving. It's a good way to practice over, under, over, under and the in-process projects don't take up much space. The product, however, can sometimes end up a little plain. Paper weaving had never been a big hit with my students before we started using choice based art and showing some different options for pushing the projects beyond the checkerboard. The artwork in this post was created by 2nd and 3rd grade students.

I will be writing a few posts about ways my students have enjoyed expanding their paper weaving projects. The method in this post is cutting skinnier strips of paper which are stacked when weaving the weft. This is so simple and so fun! I precut 1 inch thick strips that students use for the weft. If the students want to stack, they simply take a regular strip and cut it down the middle to yield two skinnier strips. The edges aren't perfectly straight but we don't mind- I actually love the look of it not being perfect. I figure if something is going to be handmade, it might as well look handmade!

Some students want the strips to be even skinnier to make more patterns so they just cut them smaller.

 A few students have even tried creating new patterns. Instead of just using an AB pattern, they might try ABB, like the student below. Over, under, under, over, under, under.

I think that having really nice construction paper, in addition to the new techniques, has helped make paper weaving so popular. I only order Pacon Tru-Ray construction paper and lately my favorite "packs" to order are warm colors, cool colors, and brights. This gives you a lot more variety than traditional assortments.

My Favorite Construction Paper

I remember when I first ordered Tru-Ray sulphite construction paper- what a huge difference over the cheaper stuff that fades after a week in the hallway! I've ordered Pacon ever since but this was the first year I noticed the warm and cool variety packs. I think this is how I'll order construction paper from now on. I always order black separately since it seems to get used faster but I really like how these have a wider spectrum of color than ordering the same number of sheets in a regular variety pack. My students were especially pumped about the variety of pinks.

4th Grade Dimensional Paper Pictures

This project was an experiment with my 4th grade students... Not in that we were doing a new lesson (we were,) but in how we worked on problem solving.  I am sometimes too quick to just give students an answer when I should be challenging them to come up with their own solutions.  I also purposefully did not make a finished example because I wanted the students to make their own choices instead of the same choices I made.  Sooo, I explained the assignment (make a picture of a still life or landscape out of construction paper that is three dimensional) and showed the students a few techniques like tearing, curling, crumbling, folding, to create texture and dimension.  I reminded the students that they might have to make tabs to attach the paper and let them get started.  When a student asked me a question, I didn't answer it right away.  I tried to ask them questions to guide them to a solution or encouraged them to ask classmates that looked successful what techniques they were using.  

Honestly, this freaked out a lot of my students.  I think if I work harder on questioning the whole school year instead of just trying it out at the end, it would go more smoothly.  But hey, this blog isn't just about success stories, I'm trying to include my learning as I go.

This was a two class period project.  At the end of the second class period, I had a student say, "Hey, this looks kind of cool at the end!"  I guess that's why it's good to have a finished example, so the students can see where they are headed.  I just get so frustrated when students copy my work because they think it is THE right way to do it.  Even if I take the example down after I show it, I still have students with apparently photographic memories that copy it.  And if I catch them in time, I make them change something so it's different than mine.  Unfortunately, I don't always see it until they are mostly done!

I also touched on foreground, middle ground, and background to create space but it didn't click with most of the students.  Something else I need to do a better job of next year!

This student incorporated mini origami birds which I love!

Mondrian-Inspired Paper Pictures

I got the idea for this project from Sheila Wilkins, Sunset Hill Elementary School.  I saw the Mondrian Boogie Woogie project in their Artsonia gallery (check it out, they have a lot of great ideas!)  You can read more about Piet Mondrian here: http://www.pietmondrian.org//

This was a Kindergarten project.  First, I showed the students a PowerPoint about Mondrian.  We described, analyzed, interpreted, and judged the artwork.  We focused on the elements used to make the composition: lines, shapes, primary colors.  There was a lot of great Art vocabulary in this project:

Line- Horizontal, Vertical

Shape- Square, Rectangle, Geometric

Color- Primary, Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, White

Abstract

Composition

I threw in a few parodies of Mondrian's paintings to get the students more excited and showed them the artwork made by the SHE students.  On the second day, I put pre-cut construction paper (primary colored squares and rectangles and long black strips for lines) at each table and showed the students how to practice arranging the shapes to make a composition and glue them in place.  I explained to the students that we were using the same elements as Mondrian but making unique pictures with them.  I learned that it worked better to tell the students to start with one shape of each color and THEN they could add more.  I also made sure that some of the white paper showed and checked the practice compositions before giving the students a glue stick.  Some students still ended up with like 5 layers of paper but they enjoyed the project and I was really pleased with the bold results.

This is a spider :)

This was created by a 3rd grade student, much more intricate.