Monday, November 2, 2009

Navajo Wedding Basket-Trays


Because the students were learning about Native Americans, we decided to make drawings of a Navajo Wedding Basket-Tray.

The basket is meant to be placed with the ring opening facing east. This allows the the rising sun's rays to come into the couple's marriage union and fill their lives with brightness and beauty. The triangles represent sacred mountains which symbolize time to restore one's mind.
The students' were excited to learn how to make even triangles without the use of rulers or other mathematical tools. Keep in mind that we used the term, "even enough", for this project. Perfectly-even was not our goal.
Kids also enjoyed learning about the differences in the philosophical opinions of the Navajo and the Europeans when it came to raiding camps.

All of this information and more, is available on a PDF downloadable lesson.
It also includes a student handout with more information about the Navajo tribe.
For more pictures and details, visit here.










Big thanks to the students in Ms. Brossette's class at Flamson Middle School.

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