Quiltingboard Forums - A School Unit about Quilting

This particular assignment could be a small part of a unit study on quilts (something for the whole family), and there are endless possibilities. Whatever you do, don't think this is only for girls. As an art teacher at a public school for several years, I found that male students loved quilting and other crafts as much as female students.

Think of doing a cross-curriculum study:
•History: family tree, quilting, related topics
•Math: measurement, angles, shapes. precise fit
•English/Language Arts: composition, organization
•Art: method of display, color combinations, crafts
•Music: tunes related to the unifying thread

QUILT OF LIFE

Trait(s): Ideas, Organization

Grade Level(s): Middle, High school

Time: One week or more (in and out of class work)

Supplies:

· Writing materials, access to art materials--paper, paint, etc.

· computers for word processing and graphics

Lesson Description: Quilt of Life

This lesson was designed to add a writing component to a math/art enrichment class, where students worked with tessellations, quilt history and design, and sewing an actual quilt block.

1. Students are asked to think about the important events and people that shaped the course and nature of their lives. They need to select seven to ten to make up the "quilt" and the story it will tell, and to discover the "common thread" that connects these people and events. This thread could be a relationship with a person, a love of horses, a sport, geography, etc.

2. Once these life-shaping experiences have been narrowed and selected, students will decide the format or method to present their "quilt of life." These "quilt stories" could be told entirely with words, pictures--drawings, photos--multimedia presentation, poetry, song, an actual quilt, etc. The emphasis is on the story being told and the common thread that runs through it.

3. There should probably be some sort of sharing involved--the final products beg to be shared--but with a strong sensitivity to the personal nature of the stories being told.