African Masks 6th grade

As part of a Global Unit, my 6th graders studied African Masks from different tribes, regions and cultures.  We learned about the animals and what each feature and characteristic represents.  We watched videos that showed how they were used and the actual size of some of them.

I made a worksheet that students had to complete and then from there, they got to design their own mask using the characteristics.  One really helpful website can be found here.

On the worksheet, students looked at masks from 5 different tribes.  We answered some basic questions and then students created 3 different sketches of what their masks could look like.  Once they were happy with one, we reviewed clay vocab and examples and we started building!

Students were really engaged and had a lot of fun with this!  The only bad part was that some students made some parts of their masks too thin or some details of their masks too thin, even though we learn about the ideal thickness.  In class, I tell them they need the thickness of their pinkie,  not too thin, not too thick.  And some didn't score and slip, but what are you going to do?!

Next time, I want students to write about their masks and the characteristics they chose.  I want to add a writing piece to each artwork so students have a chance to reflect and really think about their artwork.  Plus it gives me a chance to add to our writing program review and help with all those misspelled words!

Here are some of our African Masks: