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Key Elements

• Recognize Kente cloth as an African ceremonial cloth, hand woven in strips on a loom
• Define pattern as lines, colors, and shapes that repeat or alternate
• Make a paper weaving using a Kente cloth design

Materials/Resources

• rulers or 2" cardboard strips
• scissors
• glue sticks
• 12" x 18" construction paper (variety of colors)
• 2" strips of colored construction or fadeless paper
• 1/2" strips of colored construction or fadeless paper
• strip of Kente cloth (optional)
• Kente reproductions and/or posters
• Video: Kente Cloth Weaving Demonstration
• Ofori-Ansa, Kwaku (1993) Poster: Kente Is More Than A Cloth
• Meyer, Louise (1998). How Children Learn to Weave

Evaluation Criteria

• identify Kente as African ceremonial cloth//describe where and when Kente is worn and by whom
• describe how.Kente cloth is made
• create a paper weaving with a Kente cloth design which includes:
  • symbolic colors
  • pattern created by repeating and altemating lines and colors
  • a cut paper stylized symbol of personal or class identification

Terminology

• Kente
• pattern
• warp
• weft
• loom
• strip
• weaving
• symbol
• stylized

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