Stephen Girard’s Maasai Art and Writing Project

At Stephen Girard Elementary School, the students in Mr. Dan Lewis’s second-grade classroom completed a Maasai art project this year, which was inspired by their relationship with Njoguini Primary in Kenya.
The students’ curiosity was piqued through a social studies reading lesson about the culture of the Maasai. There are families of Maasai and Samburu in the lands surrounding Njoguini, and some of our sister-school students are from these cultures.

Mr. Lewis suggested an art lesson to celebrate the culture of these semi-nomadic tribes and we decided upon a shield and collar art project. The lesson was successful in generating focused writing and beautiful art. The lesson and resources used are outlined below.

Background Building:
1) Background reading on Kenya and rural lifestyles.
2) Sharing pictures of Maasai shields and necklace collars from the Internet
3) Highlighted vocabulary: traditional, remote, culture, and ancestors
4) Photo discussion of tribal people.
Questions:
a. What does it mean to be semi-nomadic?
b. How do nomadic people display wealth?

Procedure:
1. Students practice drawing Maasai symbols to design a shield or a ceremonial collar.
2. They add color by choosing color that connects to symbols that are meaningful to them personally.
3. Final copy of design proof
4. Cut shields and collars from poster board (teacher assisted)
5. Draw and design using: pencils, Sharpies, colored markers, water-color paint, crayons, and glitter glue.
6. Punch holes around the outside and bind with twine.
7. Write an explanation of how the shield was designed and what it represents to them including an explanation of the symbols.

Website Resources:
a. http://www.oocities.org/teacherkab/countries/kenya.htm
b. http://blog.africaimports.com/wordpress/2009/05/massai-shields-and-their-place-in-african-life/
c. askenya.org/pdf/bmg-symbolism.pdf
d. http://zunal.com/teacherspage.php?w=90096
e. www.seattleartmuseum.org/Learn/schoolteacher/pdf/…/Kukuta.pd
f. http://handquilting.blogspot.com/2009/11/african-bantu-symbols-for-use-in.html