Learning Activity

Classroom Quilt

Subject Area

Arts Education
Mathematics
Social Studies

Grade(s)

4

Overview

Students will watch a video on the history of the quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama. After watching the video and discussing the lifestyle of the citizens of Gee's Bend, the students will create a classroom quilt that reflects their personalities and lifestyles. The class will have to use factor pairs to decide the best way to assemble the quilt. 

This activity was created as a result of the Arts COS Resource Development Summit.

Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 4 - Visual Arts

AE17.VA.4.14

Create works of art that reflect community and/or cultural traditions.

Unpacked Content

UP:AE17.VA.4.14

Vocabulary

  • Constructed environment
  • Cultural traditions
  • Digital format
  • Engagement
  • Tertiary color
  • Preservation
  • Proportion
  • Principles of design
    • Unity
  • Shade
  • Style
  • Tints & shades

Essential Questions

EU: Through artmaking, people make meaning by investigating and developing awareness of perceptions, knowledge, and experiences.
EQ: How does engaging in creating art enrich people's lives? How does making art attune people to their surroundings? How do people contribute to awareness and understanding of their lives and the lives of their communities through artmaking?

Skills Examples

  • Create a quilt square in the style of the Gee's Bend Quilters.
  • State what materials or processes you prefer and why.
  • Discuss how art and design serves multiple functions such as to inform, entertain, invest, persuade, ritualize or assist in everyday tasks.
  • Observe and discuss the statue of Vulcan in Birmingham and talk about its relationship to history of the city.
  • Investigate differences in cultural style, genres, and context through historical time periods.
  • Discuss how art reflects the interests, accomplishments and conflicts of culture and society over time.
  • Use details and descriptive language to identify universal themes, subject matter and ideas expressed across arts disciplines.
  • Identify and describe how artists have depicted Alabama history.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences.
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 4

SS10.4.6

Describe cultural, economic, and political aspects of the lifestyles of early nineteenth-century farmers, plantation owners, slaves, and townspeople.

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.4.6

Vocabulary

  • plantation
  • Yeoman
  • townspeople
  • inequity
  • agriculture
  • fertile

Knowledge

Students know:
  • During this time, most families in Alabama did not own slaves; most slaves were owned by Plantation Owners.
  • Most of Alabama's families made a living through agriculture.
  • The Black Belt and fertile river valleys were major areas of agricultural production.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Compare and contrast cultural, economic, and political aspects of the lifestyles of early nineteenth-century farmers, plantation owners, slaves, and townspeople.
  • Describe major areas of agricultural production in Alabama, including the Black Belt and fertile river valleys.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There were cultural, political, and economic inequities in Alabama in the early 19th Century between slaves, Yeoman farmers, and Plantation owners.
Mathematics (2019) Grade(s): 4

MA19.4.4

For whole numbers in the range 1 to 100, find all factor pairs, identifying a number as a multiple of each of its factors.

Unpacked Content

UP:MA19.4.4

Vocabulary

  • Multiple
  • Factor
  • Prime
  • Composite
  • Whole number
  • Factor pair

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Factor pairs include two numbers that when multiplied result in a particular product.
  • Multiples are the result of multiplying two whole numbers.
  • How to identify a prime or composite number.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Find all factor pairs of a given number.
  • Identify a number as a multiple of each of its factors.
  • Determine whether a number is prime or composite.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • A whole number is a multiple of each of its factors.
  • Numbers can be classified as prime, composite, or neither, based on their properties and characteristics.

Phase

During/Explore/Explain
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

I can describe the lifestyles of early nineteenth-century citizens of Gee's Bend, Alabama. 

I can create a quilt square that reflects my personality and lifestyle. 

I can use factor pairs to assemble a quilt.

 

Activity Details

The teacher will display the video on the quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama (15 minutes). After watching the video, discuss with the class the lifestyles of the citizens of Gee's Bend during the early nineteenth century. Here are some questions that can be used to lead the class discussion:

What were the lives of the citizens of Gee's Bend like?

What struggles did they face?

Why did they start making quilts?

What materials did they use to make their quilts?

How do the quilts reflect the lifestyles of the citizens of Gee's Bend?

Why do the citizens of Gee's Bend still make quilts today?

Tell the class that they will now make a classroom quilt to reflect their lifestyle today. Give each student a piece of letter-sized paper, scissors, glue, and a variety of colors of construction paper. The student will use the construction paper to create a quilt square that reflects their personality and lifestyle. They may cut the construction paper into any shape they choose, but they must completely cover the white letter-sized paper with the different pieces of construction paper. This is an individual piece of artwork that will be used to create a collaborative piece of artwork.  

Once the students have finished their quilt squares, lead a class discussion on how to assemble the quilt. The students must decide how to make a rectangle (array) using the individual quilt squares. Guide the class in discussing the total number of squares and how the squares could be arranged. The students should discuss the factor pairs of the total number of squares and choose the factor pair that would make the best arrangement of a quilt. Example: If a class has 24 students, a 4 X 6 would be the best arrangement. If a class has a total number of squares that do not create an arrangement suited for a quilt, then the class will need to problem solve a way to create the quilt. Example: If the class has 22 or 23 students, there is no arrangement suited for a quilt. Twenty-three is a prime number and an 11 X 2 is not suited for a quilt.  Therefore, the class will need to solve this problem by adding more quilt squares. The students should figure this out as a class without much prompting from the teacher.

Once the arrangement of the quilt has been decided, the class will display the quilt on a classroom wall making sure all squares touch to create the quilt. Allow the students to describe their individual artwork and explain how it reflects their personality and lifestyle.

Assessment Strategies

Assessment Strategies

The classroom discussion on the lifestyles of the citizens of Gee's Bend will be used as a formal assessment.

The students will create individual quilt squares.

The class will discuss how the quilt will be assembled using factor pairs.

Background and Preparation

Background / Preparation

The teacher will need access to the Internet and a way to display the video of the quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama. The students will need to be provided with a variety of colors of construction paper, scissors, glue, and white letter sized paper for the individual quilt squares. The teacher will need to prepare enough wall space to display the classroom quilt.

Digital Tools / Resources

Quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUO7GGoH5hc

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

scarver17
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