Lesson Overview:
Students will create a costume for the emperor to wear. After examining costume books and paintings of famous monarchs, students will sketch out their costume designs. They will study fabric samples and discuss colors. Students will then use figure silhouettes, wallpaper samples, and small found materials to create their final costume model. A fashion show of the class's final products will be presented.
Length of Lesson:
One 45-minute class period
Notes:
This lesson is particularly suitable for students in grades 3-4.
Instructional Objectives:
Students will:
- examine famous monarch portraits and costume books to create a costume design for the emperor.
- examine fabric samples and discuss what color will work best to create a royal costume.
- sketch the costume.
- create the final costume using a silhouette figure and found materials.
- present a fashion show of their final products.
Instructional Plan:
Warm Up
Discuss with the class the fact that in the opera and story of The Emperor’s New Clothes, the Emperor clothes frequently receives clothes and delights at spending money and time to look good. Do any students know people like that? Have students write a short response to the question: If you were the emperor, what colors and fabrics do you think you would wear that tell others that you are wealthy and love clothes?
Introductory Activity
Each member of the class will create a costume design for the emperor’s clothes. Explain that students must do research before they create a product. You may split the class into thirds to do these activities and, after ten to fifteen minutes, switch to another activity. Rotate until all activities are completed. Give students index cards for making notes or sketches.
Paintings: Display portraits of European monarchs from the 16th-19th centuries, using online resources, downloaded reproductions, or reproductions found in books. (See the Sources section for some suggestions.) Encourage students to examine the clothing and styles of the time. They should note favorite colors, materials, or accessories worn by the monarch.
Costume Books: Costume designers look at paintings, photographs, advertisements, drawings, and authentic pieces of clothing to create costumes for shows. The director chooses the time period and setting. Students will research information about the time and setting. The Emperor’s New Clothes is set in Western Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries. Have students go through several costume design books to get ideas for the costume they will create. Remind them to keep the costume accurate for its time period and location. (Remember to preview the costume books carefully for inappropriate drawings).
Fabric: Attach small swatches of fabric to index cards. Label the cards as to type. Have students feel the material and decide what they think would make the best fabrics for their costumes. Fabric samples should include silk, brocade, velvet, wool, satin, taffeta, lace, and linen.
Guided Practice
Give each student several pieces of plain white paper on which to create ideas for the emperor's clothes. Encourage students to borrow ideas from the paintings and costume books. Discourage direct copies of the portraits or costumes and copies of other students' work. Remind the students that this emperor loves variety. Students should work in pencil first, and add color with crayons, pencils, pastels, or chalk later. Have students add notes about the fabrics their costumes will be made of.
Independent Practice
Give students plain manila figure silhouettes to take their sketches one step further, for a small mock-up of the costume. Provide an array of materials such as crepe paper, wall paper samples, colorful feathers, beads, paper lace, and glitter for students to use on their models. Also, have colored pencils, colored chalk, and pastels, available for use. Encourage students to try to reproduce their sketches, and use materials that are most similar to those appearing in the sketch.
Closure
Have students present a fashion show with the final costume models. They should describe the fabric and colors used, and where the emperor could wear this clothing. Display the costumed figures and their matching sketches on a bulletin board.
Assessment:
Use the Assessment Rubric to evaluate students learning and completion of final project.
Sources:
Print:
- Cumming, Valerie. A Visual History of Costume: The Seventeenth Century. Drama Book Publishers, 1984.
- Foster, Vanda. A Visual History of Costumes: The Nineteenth Century. Drama Book Publishers, 1984.
- Greenhowe, Jean. Costumes for Nursery Tale Characters. Plays, Inc., 1975.
- Haley, Gail E. Costumes for Plays and Playing. Methuen, Inc., 1978.
- Harrison, Kathryn and Valerie Kohn. Easy to Make Costumes. Sterling/Tamos, 1992.
- Maze, Stephanie, Catherine O'Neill Grace and Alexandria Littlehales. I Want To Be a Fashion Designer. Harcourt Brace & Company, 1999.
- Nunn, Joan. Fashion in Costume, 1200–2000. New Amsterdam Books; 2000.
- Owen, Cheryl. My Costume Book. Little, Brown, and Company, 1993.
- Parish, Peggy and Lynn Swear. Costumes to Make. The Macmillan Company, 1970.
- Ribeiro, Aileen. A Visual History of Costumes: The Eighteenth Century. Drama Book Publishers; 1983.
- Wilkes, Angela and Jane Bull. Dazzling Disguises and Clever Costumes. DK Publishing, 1996.
Authors:
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Mary Beth Bauernschub, Teacher
Kingsford Elementary School
Mitchellville, MD
