A Legend…A Mask
Crystal Nielsen
Grade
6
Subject:
Language Arts
Topic:
Past and Present Communications
Descriptive Sentence
First Nations tribes have always used storytelling, totems and masks to keep their stories and history
alive. This lesson is a discovery of symbolism, story writing, and mask making. Students will explore
many ways to represent a written word through different forms of visual presentation.
Curricular Outcome or Expectation
Please see the lesson plan preview for the expectations/outcomes for your province.
Materials
Syllabics Table – 1 per student
Cue Cards – 12 for your symbols game
Legend Writing Format – 1 per student
Legend – written and drawn by each student
Colouring crayons or pencils
Pencil
Eraser
Scissors
White glue
Heavy white bristol board 22” x 30” approx. – 1 per student
Painting centre - covered area, water base paints, brushes, cloths and whatever else you need to paint.
Recyclable cardboard such as file folders, cereal boxes, toothpaste boxes, toilet paper rolls etc.
Gathered items to add to masks such as beads, feathers, grasses, twigs, moss, faux fur, fabric scraps,
ribbons, buttons, foils, tissue papers, etc.
Samples of Legends
Samples of Masks (pictures or actual masks).
Space Requirements
Classroom
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Artist’s Notes
For this lesson plan, I have made a mask to represent a popular told legend. There are many versions
that tell of a crow stealing light for a darkened village. The purpose of the legend is to answer the
question of why some lands have darkness all day and night. This is a natural occurrence in the northern
climes.
There are seven balls of light, locked in a box in the home of the chief in a far away village. Since he is a
trickster, the crow disguises himself, and uses his wise ways to take one of the balls and deliver some
rays of light to the villagers who live in darkness. He only brings enough to give them light for half of the
day. A balance is achieved in establishing night and day.
Why is the crow used in many legends? A dark winged creature delivering the daylight…. Hmmm I can
see the mask now, can you? I have designed and created a mask that visually represents this legend.
Please note that Symbolism, Legends and Masks are treated separately in each section of the lesson.
Complete Description of Lesson
Getting Ready
Symbolism
• Symbols are everywhere in our lives. Initiate a discussion and be asking questions such as: What is
a symbol? What is a logo? What are pictographs? Can pictures tell a story if there are no words?
• With your students, explore symbols from yesterday and today. Ask the students if they use
symbols in Mathematics, Science, or Music. Does Astrology use symbolism? Where else are
symbols used?
•
Draw some symbols on cue cards and play a guessing game with the students. Group the students
then have them choose a symbol card. Give each group a few minutes to discuss the symbol then
ask each group to tell the story of their chosen symbol. Choose symbols from today and yesterday
such as the peace symbol, popular restaurant symbol, infinity symbol, skull and crossbones. What
else?
Legends
A legend looks at worldly questions and answers through the art of storytelling.
•
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Winter was a time for telling stories. The Ojibway people believed that the animal spirits left for
warmer areas with the first snowfall. It was safe to tell stories about them because they couldn’t
hear. A legend is a story handed down to us from the past, and which has been accepted as the
truth for many people. The Elders of our First Nations taught social and moral lessons to their
young through the art of storytelling.
Discuss with your students, the impact of legends in the many cultures of our world. Legends,
myths, story telling, and gossiping … hmmm, any past and present similarities?
Masks
A Mask expresses self and culture through the art of revealing and concealing.
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•
•
Since the earliest moments of mankind, people have been making and wearing masks. Masks are
found in cultures throughout the history of the world. Explore the functions and the aesthetics of
the masks from yesterday and today. Why are masks worn?
Some cultures mask the face with paint. Red and black are the predominant colors in native face
painting. Think about where else would you find masks being worn? List the reasons for making
and wearing masks.
Develop
Symbolism
• Discuss. Are there any cultures that use pictures or symbols as a way to tell stories, as a way to
communicate? Before our First Nations people had a scripted language, picture making was a way
to tell legends, beliefs and dreams. They used pictures to show hunting, family and tribal history.
There are three Native American Language families. See if you can discover what they are.
• There are Seven Nations of First Peoples in North America. I have based my delivery of this lesson
on the Ojibway People in my area of Northwestern Ontario. There are a lot of pictographs in our
area.
• In a cave located on the shores of Lake Superior, there is a pictograph on the wall of the cave
warning any travellers of a Seiche. The pictograph includes a hand, a man and a circle. One
interpretation of this is a warning that it is dangerous to camp here because of a seiche. A seiche is
a phenomenon, a rise and fall of the surface of the lake without warning, so one must keep their
paddle close at hand. Are there any local pictographs where you live? Investigate and share with
your students.
Legends
• If you explore legends from other lands, are there any similar stories? Many legends reflect the
humour, tragedy, success, failure and natural phenomena encountered in daily living.
• Discuss the visual importance of legends in pictograph style. Legends usually use a question and
answer format. ( See the “Legend Rocks” Lesson Plan) Excite the students’ imaginations with
questions such as: Why do frogs hop? Why do chipmunks have stripes? What answers can they
come up with?
Masks
• In North America, the Northwest Coast Native people and the Iroquois people are well known for
mask making. The Eastern Iroquois have a belief in the “False Face Society”. Explore this and other
cultural reasons “behind the mask”.
• View and compare the features, colours, patterns and materials used in constructing masks. Does
habitat affect the materials used? The adornment of masks depended on the natural resources at
hand. Materials have ranged from animal furs, seeds, precious stones and feathers.
• What materials can your students use from their environment to decorate a mask? If the legend is
about an animal, a way to visually represent the legend on the mask would be to attach a piece of
fur. Encourage your students to think of different ways to decorate their legend mask.
• Ask the students to use a combination of 2 and 3 dimensional adornments. What ways can the
students attach items? How about weaving branches, gluing tissue paper pieces in a mosaic style,
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•
sewing fabrics, beads and buttons, painting symbols and patterns? Together, make a list of ways
to adorn the masks.
Take the students outside to gather natural and man made objects. Bring goodies from home or
ask at other venues for donations. Have the students put all their materials together in the one
place.
Application
Symbolism
• The Ojibway have a symbol scripted language. Honouring those who lived in rhythm with nature,
Reverend James Evans scripted a syllabic system for the Cree and Ojibway peoples. He created the
language using variations of two naturally occurring geometric shapes in nature, the circle and the
triangle. This helped the communication between the fur hunters and the fur buyers.
• Give each student a copy of the Syllabics Table and a piece of 8” x 11” white paper. Ask the
students to write their name in English and Ojibway at the top of the page. This paper will be used
for their legend writing format. You can research more information about the translation in a book
by Bruce Sealey, titled “Key to the Cree Syllabic System”.
• Ask the students to design a symbol that represents them. For example, I like painting and my
symbol would be a paintbrush.
Legends
• Share some legends with your students. Find ones that are illustrated with pictures or symbols.
• Now it is their turn to create a legend. Using the question and answer format, have students create
a legend with symbols or pictures. The students can use their “name” papers to write and illustrate
their legends. Fold the 8” x 11” paper in half vertically. On the left of the fold, have students
design and draw the symbols or pictures to accompany the written legend on the right of the fold.
Masks
• Have the students review their legends, words and pictures. Using the back of their legend page,
the students can now begin to design their mask. A rough sketch is great. It will enhance the
creative design and planning process.
Please take a moment to review
the “Tracing & Cutting Shapes”
Slide
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Ask the students to start with a basic geometric shape. Next consider the size, the eyes, ears,
nose, and mouth areas. Each student will use their piece of white bristol board to create their
mask. Draw out the design. Usually the eye holes are situated six inches down from the top of
most masks. Use a thumb space between the eyes. With scissors, what will they cut away from the
2 dimensional mask? With glue, what will they add to build their mask up to 3 dimensional
proportions? They can use the cut away bristol board and the recycled cardboard for the paper
sculpting.
Leave the mask for a while.
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Review decorating the masks with your students. Can they incorporate any of their legend symbols
or pictures onto the front of the mask? Be sure they are comfortable with their choices and that
they understand the transference process between written word and adornment. Help the students
to recognize that the mask decoration takes their legend and rewrites it visually and artistically.
Please take a moment to review
the “Assembling & Painting” Slide
•
View the visuals of the mask I have constructed to accompany this lesson. Notice that I have used
black paint to represent the black crow. I have also made colourful feathers from tissue paper and
a brushed on glue and water mixture. The other feathers, beads, buttons, pipe cleaners are also
successful in visually representing my legend. Let the students explore different methods of
attaching.
Please take a moment to review
the “Creating Three Dimensional
Adornments (Feathers)” Slide
Please take a moment to review
the “Attaching Adornments” Slide
Please take a moment to review
the “A Mask & a Legend” Slide
Closure
• Have the students orally present their legends to their class mates and younger grades. Document
their legends and masks and display the results on our Student Portfolio file.
• In a lesson such as “A Legend A Mask”, students are given the opportunity to explore other
cultures, the use of symbolism and other ways to communicate. Now they can add there own
ingredients to create “A Legend, A Mask”.
Please take a moment to review
the “Reflection” Video
•
Learning is forever, for always. The discoveries of our world, our environment, the balance,
harmony and respect of nature, begins with us. An artist discovers holistically and shares
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intuitively. With “Learning Through the Arts”, the child is a vital ingredient in their own education.
I wish for every child to discover themselves through drawing, painting, singing, playing, dancing,
acting…. Hmmm creative learning, I like that!
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