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Weave a Wreath
Activity, Grades 1-3, Winter, Language Arts, Math, Art, Crayola
Description
Weave a long-lasting evergreen wreath! This colorful decoration makes a wonderful, colorful gift. A simple adaptation can turn this activity into a cross-curricular plan by encouraging students to investigate the wreath's role in the Scandinavian celebration of St. Lucia.
Supplies Needed
Construction Paper
Colored Pencils
Glue Sticks
Pointed Tip Scissors
Posterboard (dark & light green)
Recycled Material
Ruler
Twistables Slick Stix
Standards
LA: Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grade level text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
LA: Read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grade level text complexity band independently and proficiently.
LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade level topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
LA: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships.
MATH: Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects.
VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.
VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.
Instructions
1
Create an attractive indoor decoration for your home or classroom. It can be any size and color you like! Here are some ideas to add color and creativity to any holiday.
2
Fold a square of poster board (e.g. dark green) in half to form a rectangle. Draw a line down the side of the rectangle about an inch (2.5 cm) from the open edge with Crayolaยฎ Colored Pencils. Mark off one-inch lengths along that line and along the center fold using a ruler. Rather than make these marks directly across from each other, place them at a slight angle. This way your weaving will have an interesting angle.
3
With scissors, cut through the fold at each mark, across, and up to the marks on the line at the edge (do not cut through the edge). Open the poster board. Your slits should be slightly V-shaped inside a border around the edges. Erase any pencil marks.
4
Cut one-inch wide strips that are the same length as the poster board (from Step 2) from a contrasting color (e.g. light green) of poster board. Weave these strips under and over the slits you cut. Alternately start each strip over or under. When the whole piece is filled with weaving, secure the ends with a Crayola Glue Stick.
5
Cut construction paper a bit larger than your weaving. Fold it in half. Sketch half of a round wreath (close to the edges) and a big bow or other ornament. Cut out around the edges and the bow to form a border for your weaving. Open the border.
6
Cover your art area with recycled newspaper. Decorate the weaving, bow, and wreath border using Crayola Slick Stix. The bright colors go so smoothly! Add holiday designs or realistic wreath elements such as holly berries and pine cones.
7
Glue the cutout over the weaving (fold resting on fold). The bow will pop out to give your wreath even more dimension!
Adaptations
Possible classroom resources include: Lucia, Saint of Light by Katherine Bolger Hyde; Lucia Morning in Sweden by Ewa Rydaker; Saint Lucia (Cultures of the World) by Tamra Orr
Encourage students to investigate the Scandinavian celebration of St. Lucia and the role that wreaths play in that holiday. Students may choose to map the Scandinavian countries, including their borders, capital cities, major landforms, etc. Compare and contrast the cultures in each of these countries.
Challenge students to experiment with various colors for their weavings. What colors would be used for a spring wreath? What symbols would be included? Think about summer and fall wreaths as well. Experiment with various types of bows, or leaving the bow off the art piece altogether.
