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Economics and Geography Lessons

Abuela's Weave


MCPS Status of Book as of 4/4/96:
Approved as Library Book for Grades 1-5


Title: Abuela's Weave, by Omar S. Casteneda (Lee & Low Books, Inc., New York, NY, 1993)

Lesson Developed by Barbara S. Yingling

Literature Annotation: In this story, a young Guatemalan girl and her grandmother grow closer as they weave some special creations and then make a trip to the market in hopes of selling them.

Grade Level: 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes. The "Thoughtful Application" activity may be extended over several weeks.

Economic Concepts: Production, Scarcity, Supply and Demand

Geography Themes: Place, Movement (Cultural Transmission)

MSPAP Outcomes and Indicators:

Economic Outcome: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the historical development and the current status of economic principles, institutions,, and processes needed to be effective citizens, consumers, and workers in American society.

Indicator:

Geography Outcome: Students will demonstrate an understanding of geographic concepts and processes as needed to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distribution of human activities.

Indicators:

Objectives: Students will be able to:

Vocabulary: tapestry, loom, tradition, family compound, mass production, artisan, Guatemala, quetzal bird

Materials:

Teacher Background: Cultural transmission is the spread of ideas, traditions, and skills from one person to another, often from one generation to the next. In this story, the cultural tradition of weaving is being passed on from the grandmother to the granddaughter.

Scarcity occurs when wants exceed resources. In the story, there are fewer hand-made tapestries and clothing items compared to the number of people who want them.

Lesson Development:

Review/Motivation: Hold up the two items that represent something hand-made and something mass produced. Introduce the words artisan and mass production. Explain that the difference is in the production of the product. Tell the students they will be doing an activity now that will help them to understand the difference.

Activities:

  1. Divide the class into groups of 4 students. Half of the groups will be artisans. The other half of the groups will represent manufacturers using an assembly line, mass-production technique. Explain that in the artisan groups, each individual will draw and color a picture of a person. He/she may decorate it in any way he/she chooses. Explain that in the mass-production groups, the first person will draw and color a head. Then the paper will be passed to the next person who will add the trunk of the body. The next "worker" will add the arms and hands. The fourth "worker" will add the legs and feet. This process is repeated 3 more times with each of the workers adding the same body parts each time in the same style and color. The four finished products should reflect a standardized product. Distribute 4 sheets of paper and crayons or markers and have the groups complete their assignment.

  2. Discuss the following questions:
    • Which finished product feels more like your own work? (The artisans usually feel more ownership of their final products.)
    • Which finished products show more variety? (The artisans' products show more variety because each artist has a distinct style.)
    • What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of each way of producing this product? (The assembly line product is more standardized, usually less expensive to manufacture, produced faster because each worker becomes an expert on assembling one part. The artisan's product offers the individual style of the artisan.)

  3. Locate Guatemala on a map and tell the students you will be reading a book about a grandmother and her granddaughter who live in Guatemala and produce goods to sell at the marketplace. Ask the students to listen for clues as to which type of production is used by the grandmother and granddaughter. Read the story.

  4. Discuss what products were produced in the story. How were the products produced? (The products made by Abuela and her granddaughter are hand-made tapestries and clothing items. At the marketplace, mass-produced items are also for sale.) Ask why the hand-made goods were so successful at the marketplace. (This is a good place in the lesson to explain that the limited quantity of the hand-made items, relative to the number of people who wanted them, made them scarce. People were willing to pay a higher price for them than for mass-produced items because the hand-made items were more scarce.)

  5. Point out that in many cases, an artisan's skills are learned from watching and working with someone who has been using the skill for a long time. In this story, the grandmother transmitted her skills to her granddaughter. Ask students what skills they have learned by watching their parents, grandparents or others? (Accept any answers that demonstrate a skill learned in this manner.)

  6. Explain that cultural traditions and ideas are also transmitted from one person to another. In the story, the grandmother used ideas and traditions from her Guatemalan background to decorate her products. With the children, make a list of all the traditions mentioned in the story or included in the illustrations that reflect the culture of Guatemala. (Females weave tapestries on a back strap loom set up outside the home; males raise farm crops of corn, beans, and coffee; people believe in witches; people live in a "compound", or community of thatched-roof homes, and share a communal fire; females wear "huipil" blouses with red, blue and green threads in the rectangular collar; Esperanzo tells of love of the quetzel birds that once flew in the great forest of Guatemala; people carry straw baskets on their heads; at the Fiesta de Pueblos in Guate, people set up market stalls to sell goods; stories are shared about heroines and heroes from the history of the people and the sacred book of the Maya.)

  7. Brainstorm ways other than the ones in the story in which traditions and ideas are communicated and preserved.

Conclusion/Closure: Review the economic concepts of scarcity, production, supply and demand. Use these terms throughout the year in discussions of classroom supplies, time, and space.

Thoughtful Application:

  1. For this activity, the students will need time to interview parents, grandparents, other relatives and/or neighbors to learn about traditions and customs in their own families or communities. Allowing a week to two weeks for this process will give richer results. Distribute the nterview sheet and explain that it is an extended homework assignment. The results of the interview sheet will help the students decide how to incorporate their own cultural traditions and customs into a product they will each produce.

  2. Say:
    'The grandmother in the story transmitted the traditions and customs of her culture by weaving them into designs on her tapestry and clothing items. You will be using the information you collect to create your own cultural "Tapestry" with designs that show your cultural background.'
    (Show them the piece of fabric.)

  3. After the students have collected their information, have them use the fabric crayons to make designs that show how their family or people they know share holidays, special foods, special clothing, or vacation traditions. Hand the completed tapestries around the classroom and invite family members or other classes to visit to share cultural heritages.

Extension:

  1. Read The Keeping Quilt to explore other examples of family traditions being transmitted.

  2. Ask an art teacher to introduce weaving techniques to the children.

  3. Create a class assembly line product to sell at a school fair. For example, they can create school spirit buttons as follows: Create or have the students create a design related to a tradition at your school. Copy the design repeatedly on the school copier. Assign each student to do a job on the assembly line: color a part of the design, cut out the designs, assemble the button, operate the button maker and package the finished products. The students can help generate the list of tasks or jobs which must be completed on the assembly line. A practice run will help identify possible bottlenecks on the assembly line. They can create individualized posters (as artisans) to help advertise their product.

See the MCPS Multicultural Book Database for more teaching ideas using the book Abuela's Weave

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Last updated on March 10, 1997
Maintained by John L. Day
<jday@umd5.umd.edu>