ARTSEDGE: Peace 1: The Quilt Story

This Lesson at a Glance:

Grade Band:

Integrated Subjects:
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Materials:

For the teacher:

		Vocabulary Cards
		Cue Cards
		Assessment Rubric

For the student:

Venn Diagram

Related WebLinks:

Targeted Standards:

The National Standards For Arts Education:

Theater (K-4)
Standard 1: Script writing by planning and recording improvisations based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history

Theater (K-4)
Standard 2: Acting by assuming roles and interacting in improvisations

Other National Standards:

Language Arts II (3-5) Standard 5: Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process

Language Arts II (3-5) Standard 6: Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of literary texts

Language Arts II (3-5) Standard 7: Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts

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Peace 1: The Quilt Story

Part of the Unit: Discovering Peace

Lesson Overview:

In this lesson, students learn and discuss vocabulary concerning peace. Using the book The Quilt Story as a starting point, students explore the places where they find peace—whether at school, with their family, or in their neighborhood, country or world. Students act out various parts of the book using pantomime skills. They build word recognition and understanding as they explore the concept of peace, and their own feelings about it.

Length of Lesson:

Three 45-minute periods

Notes:

This lesson is particularly suitable for ESL students in grades 3-4.

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

listen to The Quilt Story.
discuss the story and feelings of peace and comfort using new vocabulary.
discuss where and how they find peace.
act out scenes from the story.
compare their lives and favorite items with the lives and favorite items of the characters in the story.

Supplies:

Props from The Quilt Story (such as a quilt, needle and thread, tea pot, dolls, horse, trees to symbolize woods, rocking chair, stars with tails, etc.) for classroom display
Paper for artwork
Markers
Chart paper
Johnston Tony, and Tomie dePaola. The Quilt Story. New York: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 1985

Instructional Plan:

Teacher Preparation

Prior to the lesson, display props from The Quilt Story around the classroom (e.g. a quilt, needle and thread, tea pot, dolls, horse, trees to symbolize woods, rocking chair, stars with tails, etc.), placing the associated Vocabulary Cards alongside the items. You may also wish to display books about quilts and quilt images around the room. Invite the students to view these items before the start of class.

Using the accompanying Cue Cards handout, prepare a set of Cue Cards prior to the class by printing, copying and cutting out the cards as needed. These cue cards will list acting prompts related to the events in The Quilt Story.

Warm Up

Read The Quilt Story (or a book of your choosing) aloud. Ask them to predict the story's content from the "prop" clues positioned around the classroom. Introduce the story with a picture walk, eliciting vocabulary from the students.

(Note: A picture walk is a discussion strategy to activate prior knowledge before reading, build a framework for constructing meaning, and help set vocabulary. Quickly walk the students through the book using the pictures and illustrations to tell what the story is or what they will learn. Incorporate key vocabulary into what is said. Encourage students to make predictions. You may record vocabulary and predictions for later use.)

Read the story aloud. Have the students retell the story. Write key words on the board or chart paper, including: quilt, stitch, falling stars, wrapped, peaceful, tea-party, fun, pretend, gown, exciting, pretty, caring, helpful, kind, hide-and-seek, silly, comfort, safe, secure, protected, familiar, secure, cozy, and warm. These word—cues will help guide the students as they act out the story.

Acting out the Scenes

Introduce the Cue Cards (with the acting prompts) while students are still seated at their desks. Read the cards and display them. Explain to the class that they will use the cues and props to act out the story. Model for students how they might act out one of the cues. Be sure to add dialogue and portray the character's feelings as you act out the cue. Have students push their desks back and stand in a circle. As a group, the students will first act out the cues and add their own dialogue and feelings. Then they will individually pick cues and take turns acting out the first scenes of the story, using the appropriate props. The cue cards include the following prompts (more may be added if desired):

Act out a mother stitching a quilt.
Wrap the quilt around you and watch a falling star.
Have tea on the quilt with your dolls.
Pretend the quilt is a gown and ride your horse.
Play hide-and-seek with your sister.
Pretend to be sick and sneeze under the quilt.

Empathizing with the Characters

Ask students how they felt about the quilt and the story. List students' responses on chart paper, organizing the words into groups of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Lead a discussion on the story by asking the following questions:

What did the mother make for Abigail? Why was it so special? Has your parent or guardian ever made you some thing special?
How did the quilt make the little girl feel safe? How did you feel when you pretended to wrap the quilt around you?
Did the quilt make the little girl feel safe? What makes you feel safe?
Do you have a special item similar to Abigail's quilt? What is it? What do you like to do with it?
Was Abigail happy with the quilt?
What did she do with the quilt? Did you have fun pretending you had the quilt?
Where does Abigail play? Does she feel safe?
Where do you play? How do you feel there?
What was on the quilt? Were the symbols on the quilt happy symbols? Why?
What was the story about?
Was the story about peace? What is peace?
When do you feel peaceful? Where do you feel peaceful? With whom do you feel peaceful?

Instruct students to complete the Venn diagram handout to compare Abigail's quilt with a favorite item that makes them feel safe. This project can start as a class activity or the students can work in small groups.

Assessment:

Assess student work based on their level of participation in the acting activities, and on their oral responses to questions. See the accompanying Assessment Rubric.

Responses to the Venn diagram may also be assessed. (Check for understanding of the story, proper grammar, etc.)

Extensions:

Proceed to the next lesson, Writing and Illustrating a Diamante Poem.

Sources:

Print:

Anderson, Alex. Kids Start Quilting. Layfaette, CA: C and T Publishing, 2002.
Burger, Carol. Flower Children Quilt. Birmingham, Alabama: Oxmoor House, 2000.
Johnston Tony, and Tomie dePaola. The Quilt Story. New York: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 1985.
Polacco, Patrica. The Keeping Quilt. New York: Aladdin Paperworks, 1988.

Authors:

Susan M. Toerge, ESOL Specialist
Langley Park-McCormick Elementary
Hyattsville, MD