Costume as Material Culture: Building Cultural Bridges for Communication, Understanding and Appreciation

The 4th, 5th, and 6th grade Small Learning Community at Sharswood began their studies with these questions: How do we communicate our culture and identity via "costume" or clothing and body ornament? What might we learn about ourselves through the study of other cultural artifacts and practices? Subsequently, each class -- with the help of an artist-in-residence -- created a unique approach to understanding culture through the study of costume. These projects both fulfilled and complemented the Social Studies, Language Arts and Multi-disciplinary project goals for the session.

• Swedish Story Quilt: Hand sewn appliqué (Fourth, Fifth, Sixth Learning Support)
• Costume Cultures (Fourth Grade)
• Freedom Fighters for the Environment: Darlana Clean, Willie Wastecleaner, Recanna Reuse, and Environment Man (Fifth Grade)
• Wearable Culture: Personally designed t-shirts with hand beading (Fifth & Sixth Grades)
• Our "Selves" in Colors: Personally designed, printed and painted cloths (Sixth Grade)