Book of Kells-Inspired Illuminated Letters: Krueger's 5th Grade Class

Around St. Patrick's Day in March, I wanted to teach students about the beautiful decorative lettering in the famous Book of Kells. In this ancient book, some of the letters are beautifully decorated, and today we call them "Illuminated Letters". The illuminated letters in the Book of Kells include figures of humans, animals, and mythical beasts together with Celtic knots and patterns in bright colors.

Students created their own illuminated letter, and use the first letter of their first name. I encouraged students to illustrate their letters with things that they like and with complex patterns too. Some students had a hard time thinking of a theme to use, and when that happened I encouraged them to think of things that start with that same letter. For example, my name is "Christina", so I made a design that had cats on it. Some students also just liked the complex designs in the old illuminated letters and wanted to make their own patterns.