4th Grade Dream Catchers

Here is a lesson that I have done several years in a row and it has always been successful. When I came to my school 4 years ago, there was lots of yarn and CD's left by the previous art teacher. I had done it with sixth graders, and decided to try with fourth graders. The prep for the lesson does take some time though.

Materials Needed
-Multiple colors of yarn
-Plastic Needles
-Scissors
-Beads (if you want)
-hot glue gun
-feathers

History of Dream Catchers
 I talk about the significance of Dream Catchers within the Native American Culture. I talk about how they are  traditionally they are often hung over cradles as protection.^[2] It originates in Ojibwe culture as the "spider web". Native Americans believe that the night air is filled with dreams, both good and bad. I also talk about Radial Balance, and how students are creating radial balance because they start weaving from the center on out. I also go over the process in which weaving is done. The CD serves as the "loom" for our dream catcher. 

In order to start this lesson, I prep the CD's looms for students. I take a big ball of yarn (any color) and weave around the loom 13 times. It needs to be uneven for the weaving process to work.

When starting to weave, I tell students to cut a piece of yarn, at about an arm's length. I call them up by table and then they choose the color they want. Some years already pre-cut the yarn for students so they can just begin immediately (It depends on what works best for you). They must tie the end of the piece of yarn to the actual loom in order for it to stay on. Then, they thread the needle. They put the yarn through the eye of the needle, and tie a knot.

The next step is start weaving around the CD. Students are weave over and under each "spoke" of the loom. I tell students to keep going around until they run out of yarn. Then they do the same process again. Students who catch on quickly can put beads on their looms. They take 1 bead at a time, and put it through the needle and continue to weave. I tell students to put beads on every other "spoke" so their weavings don't become " bead city. This process takes about 2 class periods to complete (60 mins).

Attaching the feathers
  At the end of this process, I let the students add feathers onto their dreamcatchers. I tell them they can use 6-8. They place the feathers under the yarn (edges of the CD) and then come to me so I can hot glue their feathers on.