Discover & Learn

Shaker Song, Shaker Life

Topic: How music and dance reflect what is important in one's culture

Disciplines: Music, Social Studies and Language Arts

Grade Levels: 3-5

Description: Shaker melodies, lyrics, and dance steps were inspired and often considered heavenly gifts. The Shakers sang and danced during their Sunday services, and their song and dance reflected their daily lives and most heartfelt beliefs. This lesson teaches how the Shakers incorporated everyday experiences into their songs and dances, and encourages students to create their own songs and dances to reflect what is most important in their lives.

Kit Inventory:

• Complete lesson plan
• Two laminated pictures of Shakers dancing
• Laminated picture of a willow trees
• Laminated picture of yoked horses
• Book: The Shaker Gift of Song
• CD: The Shaker Gift of Song
• Lyric song sheet for "I Will Bow and Be Simple"

The Shakers and Children

Topic: The lives and experiences of children who lived at Canterbury Shaker Village

Disciplines: Social Studies and Language Arts

Grade Levels: 3-5 and 6-8

Description: This lesson teaches students about life with the Shakers through the experience of Alberta Kirkpatrick, the last child who lived at Canterbury Shaker Village. The lesson is built around an interview with Ms. Kirkpatrick, who is now in her 80s, that was videotaped for the village. In it she talks about how she came to Canterbury and her childhood memories of the Shaker sisters. The interview is touching and accessible to adults and children. Students are given the opportunity to correspond with Alberta, who currently lives in Pennsylvania.

Kit Inventory:

• Complete lesson plan
• DVD of Alberta Kirkpatrick Interview
• "Dear Alberta" stationery sheets
• Laminated historic photographs of children at Canterbury Shaker Village
• Book: Kids at Work, by Russell Freedman

Lessons in Stewardship: The Shakers and Why They Are Important

Topic: An introduction to the history and culture of the Shakers

Discipline: Social Studies and Language Arts

Grade Level: 3-5 and 6-8 (can be adapted for older students)

Description: A traditional opening talk written by Shaker scholar Darryl Thompson, this lesson is the perfect introduction to the Shakers, even for relatively young students. A CD of fascinating historic photos keyed to the text are provided in the kit.

Lessons in Stewardship Kit Inventory:

• Complete lesson plan
• Text keyed to CD
• Photo CD
• Book: The Shaker Family Album, by David Starbuck and Scott Swank

Sheep to Yarn

Topic: Fiber identification, preparation and spinning

Disciplines: Fiber Arts and History

Grade Levels: K-2, 3-5 (Modifications can be made for older students).

Description: Humans have been making fabric out of various plant and animal fibers for thousands of years. The first fiber cloth was probably made out of twisted plant stalks. The wool of animals such as sheep, goats, and llamas provided another source of fiber. This hands-on lesson teaches students how animal fibers are made to produce textiles.

Kit Inventory:

• Complete lesson plan
• Fiber sample ring (wool, alpaca, cotton, flax and silk)
• Laminated card: Carding
• Laminated card: Spinning
• Six CD drop spindles
• Six spinning hooks
• One pair of hand cards
• Wool for spinning
• Unwashed wool for smelling & feeling
• 3 books: Charlie Needs a Cloak by Tomie DiPaola, The Goat in the Rug by Charles Blood, and Unraveling Fibers by Patricia Keeler
• Handout: "Introduction to Spinning" by Interweave Press
• Handout: "Low Tech, High Satisfaction" by Interweave Press

Creating Cloth

Topic: Felting and Weaving

Disciplines: Visual Arts

Grade Levels: K-2 and 3-5

Description: This hands-on lesson involves students in creating cloth from natural and other fibers through the processes of felting and weaving, and teaches them about the various methods historically used to make cloth.

Creating Cloth Kit Inventory:

• Complete lesson plan
• Cloth material sample ring (wool, cotton, linen, silk)
• Cloth structures sample ring (plain weave, twill weave, jacquard weave, knit, felt)
• 3 laminated cards: Weave/Knit Structures, Different Kinds of Looms and Wool Fiber Magnified
• One magnifying glass
• Six wooden block looms
• Six shuttles
• Bag of yarn for weaving
• Wool for felting
• Book: Weaving Without a Loom by Veronica Burningham

Colors from Nature

Topic: Dyeing with natural substances

Disciplines: Visual Arts

Grade Levels: K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 (This lesson works particularly well for grades 3-5, and has modifications for younger or older students).

Description: People have been dyeing clothing and other textiles for thousands of years. Historically, dyes were created from natural substances: plants, insects, animals, and minerals. This hands-on lesson teaches students how fibers are colored with natural substances and what some of the most popular dyes were in historic New England.

Kit Inventory:

• Complete lesson plan
• Natural dye sample ring with six colors
• Book: Wild Color by Jenny Dean

Plant Journals

Topic: Recording the natural world through drawing

Disciplines: Botany, Visual Art, and Social Studies

Grade Levels: 3-5 and 6-8 (adaptations can be made for older students)

Description: Science, art, and history combine as students learn to observe, record, and appreciate the natural world around them. Students create plant journals as the Shaker Sister Cora Helena Sarle did, learning about their natural surroundings while learning about Shaker history and culture.

Kit Inventory:

• Complete lesson plan
• Laminated card: photo of Sister Cora Helena Sarle
• Laminated pages from Sister Sarle's plant notebooks
• Plant journal sample
• Journal page sample
• Art supplies
• Book: A Shaker Sister's Drawings