Rationale
The story quilt project will be used to both introduce the unit and offer the opportunity for students to demonstrate learning using art. Our students respond positively to hands-on art projects, where they can express themselves creatively.
Objectives
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Students will design five quilt squares during the unit. The first square will depict their past, present, and future aspirations. They will design four other squares, each of which will depict one character from each of the stories in the unit.
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Students will make two oral presentations: one telling their own story, depicted on their quilt square. Then they will choose one square they have designed for a character from a story and explain how it represents that character.
The quilt, which will be a collective work in progress, will be displayed throughout the unit and will be completed at the end of the unit.
Note: The quilt may be made from construction paper or by gluing fabrics to paper. You will need sufficient art supplies for each student in the class.
Activity 1
Introduce the film,
How to Make an American Quilt
, to provide an engaging context from which they will become part of the quilting tradition. You may want to discuss the importance of quilting as an art form and vehicle for preserving family history. As examples of the art and for inspiration, you may introduce books featuring story quilts. One such book, “Dancing at the Louvre: Faith Ringgold’s French Collection and Other Story Quilts,” is an excellent collection that will provide a context within which students may connect their work on the class quilt with this important art form and tradition. At this point, students will then design a quilt square that depicts their past, present, and future aspirations. When they are finished, each student will explain this or her square to the class, thus beginning the unit by telling his or her own story.
Activities 2-5
Students will design a quilt square representing one character from each story they read during the unit. Using evidence from the text, they will decide what aspects of the individual’s character and/or events the character they wish to portray. At the conclusion of the unit, students will choose one of the quilt squares they have made and then explain to the class what the square represents.
