Islamic Art - Tessellating Patterns, Literacy and Practical.

This is a suite of two lessons which should be taught over two hours. Included is one whole powerpoint with instructions and starters, plus three worksheets. These lessons are suitable for years 8 & 9, to develop their practical skills in the formal element pattern, and to delve into other cultures of art.

Lesson one:
Starter: students look at an image and discuss whether it is a form of Islamic art. The teacher can then discuss the key elements of Islamic Art:
- non representative
- geometric
- tessellating

Literacy based task: Students learn keywords and discuss ‘Arabesque’ and how geometry is used within Islamic Art. Students discuss the meaning of the words, and look at examples to contextualise their understanding.

Practical task: Students complete two simple geometric shapes using light pencil marks to learn more about ‘guidelines’ and how to use them. Their shapes are practised and they are shown how they could be tessellated.

Students develop these ideas by using the 8 and 6-pointed star templates and add designs to them.

Lesson two:
Starter: Revisit last lesson and use keywords to produce a sentence to describe what they learnt about Islamic Art last lesson.

Practical task: Students begin by creating their template - these can be prepared in advance on separate paper using a pair of compasses and a protractor. Students then use their understanding from previous lesson to produce a series of stars. These can be simplified or embellished with arabesque designs. Students use colour crayons to highlight certain shapes within the design.

Extension/Stretch and challenge: Students can add patterns and textures to shapes within their designs.