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Arts-Based Lesson Plans
Simulated Bark Paintings
Adapted from Art from Many Hands:
Multicultural Art Projects, Jo Miles Schuman, 1981
Amate paper made by the Otomi Indians in Mexico is purchased by the people of
Ameyaltepec, Xalitla and other villages and used for making highly decorative
paintings. They usually depict flowers, birds, animals or scenes of
village life and are painted in bright colors. Sometimes the paintings
include geometric borders. The background is never painted.
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Materials
- Hot iron
- Brown paper bags or brown wrapping paper
- Wax paper
- Sharpie markers
- Acrylic paint, brushes, palettes, water cups, paper towels
Instructions
- Cut a rectangle with rounded corners from brown wrapping paper or a
paper bag.
- Draw the design lightly on the prepared brown paper with a
pencil.
- Use the Sharpie marker over the pencil to outline the design.
- Crumple it thoroughly in your hands and then iron it out between wax
paper.
- Use acrylic paint in bright colors. Do not paint the
background. The brown paper simulates the look of bark and should be
left to show. If you have trouble getting the paint to stick to the wax
surface, stir in a drop of liquid soap or detergent.
Ideas from Teachers for Practical Use in the Classroom
Music
Both drumming and rain sticks are used in different cultures that we
like to explore in my class. The bark paintings are an excellent way to
decorate our drums, rain sticks and other student-made percussion
instruments. The students can include symbols and colors from different
cultures, and they can use music notation on their bark paintings. This
would be a much more enriching way to decorate our instruments rather than
just gluing tissue paper to them. (Standard 8 - understanding
relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts,
Standard 9 - understanding music in relation to history and culture, Standard
2 performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of
music, Standard 3 - improvising melodies, variations and accompaniments)
Idaho History
One of my favorite things to do when studying westward expansions from Lewis
and Clark to the early pioneers is to read a Dear America series book entitled
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie
Campbell, 1847. This book follows a wagon train through Idaho and is
written in the form of a journal and is actually taken from the many
historical journals that have been recorded. So all of the events in the
book did happen, however, they happened to various people over several time
periods. I would like students to create a journal using the crumpled
paper bags covered with the waxed paper. They can decorate them with any
assortment of materials that fit the student's topic. Based on what the
students learn during Idaho History, I would like them to write a journal of
someone traveling along the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, a description of a
trial that may have taken place in one of the gold camps, or some adventures
of mountain men in Idaho. Explain that in addition to writing,
authentically labeled drawings must be included in the journal depicting the
characteristics of a specific plan, animal, wagon schooner, wagon train or any
other experience that would pertain to their specific journal. (Idaho
Standard, 699.01 a - demonstrate the use of the writing process through
publishing; 699.01 b - legibly write in a variety of formats to record,
generate, and reflect upon ideas; 702.02/711.02 a - demonstrate understanding
of significant relationships, ideas and cultures which various media represent
711.02 b - compare effectiveness of media presentations; 416.01/432.01 (a,b,c,
and d) - understand the role of expansion and exploration in the development
of the United States)
Social Studies
As a culminating activity at the end of our Native American Unit, we have the
kids make a large Plain Indian village. The students make teepees from
paper. I will now use the bark bags for the teepee material. (They
use modeling clay to make the rest of the items from the village.) (Idaho Standard, Social Studies 213.09 - identify Native American tribes and
discuss their cultures; 213.10 - recognize that Native Americans were
inhabitants of North America before colonization)
Language Arts
The students would cut out a piece of brown paper sack. Discuss what
important things happened in the story. Students would then draw the
main idea on their paper sack. They would then trace the picture with a
permanent marker and wrinkle the paper sack. The teacher would iron on
the waxed paper to create the "bark" effect. The students
would paint their paper sack picture. Be sure to allow time for everyone
to share their bark paintings. (Idaho Standard 680.01, Instructional
Objective - Reading Comprehension Strategies 107.23 - identify the main idea)
The "rest of the story" bark bag project has numerous applications
to the high school classroom. A teacher could choose any story and
either not read the ending, or have students draw what should happen
next. This allows students to use their creativity and would also lend
itself to having the students write the rest of the story as well. They
now have an illustration from which to work, and this may inspire them much
more than a simple writing assignment. This could be tied into The
Odyssey, or an alternative ending to Romeo and Juliet.
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