In the Kindergarten through 2nd grade classes, students discussed the history of Good Luck beads in Ancient Greek culture. They looked at pictures of different types and identified what types of materials were used to make them, such as wood, seeds, metal, animal bones, and glass. Students used Crayola Model Magic to create 10 beads. Then they used a plastic sewing needle and string to create their necklace. The following class, once the beads were dry, students painted them using watercolor paints. The following pictures are from the K/1st grade class wearing their finished necklaces!
The 3rd through 6th grade classes studied a different aspect of Ancient Greek culture: Greek Vases. They discussed three different types: amphora, krater, and kylix. They observed how Greek vases were either black background with red images or red background with black images as well as how they typically told a story. They discussed the patterns used on the vases as well.
After discussing symmetry, students chose which vase shape they wanted to make and cut this shape out of brown construction paper. In pencil they designed their vases with patterns and/or a Greek story. The designs were then traced with black Sharpie marker, paying attention to the ratio of black vs. brown. The final step was to glue the vase onto a teal background.
Take a look at the finished Greek vases the 5th/6th grade class created. Beautiful!
