Elementary School Lesson Plan (Grade 5)
(Questions included if unit used with high school students)

Standard: Students will visualize and draw two-dimensional geometric figures with special attention to analyzing and reasoning informally about their properties (e.g. parallelism, perpendicularity)

Indicator of Achievement:

• identify two-dimensional shapes by name and attributes (square, rectangle, triangle, circle)
  
• illustrate elementary transformations (e.g. flips, slides, rotations) using pictorial models (e.g. quilts)

Standard: Students will learn new color and design elements

Indicator of Achievement: Students will:

• Using a monochromatic palate, select shades and tints for a selected hue; or select complimentary or analogous colors for their quilt design
  
• design quilt squares using basic geometric shapes, demonstrating repetition, balance, and proportion

Standard: Students will explain the aesthetic and utilitarian use of quilts in their community and that of the Amish

Materials:

• quilt examples (from the community, or on line Hopi Quilts www.kaet.asu.edu/quilts/pi.htm ABC Quilts www.abcquilts.org , examples of volunteer made quilts for at risk babies, also includes information about kids making quilts for kids. Hickory Hill Quilts www.hickoryhillquilts.com , a commercial site, but click on 19th Century Quilts for good examples)
  
• paper squares (large enough to hold quilt pattern)
  
• sample geometric shapes, circles, triangles, rectangles, squares
  
• paper, rulers, pencils, compass, tempera paint
  
• scissors and glue

Preparation: Discuss when art is useful, "functional." List examples on the board. Discuss quilts, quilt makers and uses. If there are quilters in the community have the students look at their work, interview them. Have them also consider quilts from other parts of the country and earlier periods. Show them examples of Amish quilts, ". . .the finest of American [quilts]. . .America's first major abstract art." (Robert Hughes, "American Visions," TIME, Special Issue, 1997) Compare examples of the Amish quilts with other non-representational art the students have studied.

Activity: Review the basic geometric shapes with the students: circle, square, rectangle, triangle. Have the students practice drawing the geometric shapes, using their rulers and compass.

Pass out the sample geometric shapes and have the students experiment with the shapes, turning them, flipping them, sliding them, to create a quilt design. When they have decided on a design, have them draw and then cut out the geometric shapes they will need. Have them select a white (or colored) square as the background and arrange their geometric shapes on the square.

Review the color wheel and help the students decide if they want monochromatic designs or designs with complementary or analogous colors. Have them paint the geometric shapes to create their unique design and then glue them to the paper quilt square.

Amish Bars Quilt	Amish Center Square Quilt
Amish Diamond in the Center Quilt	Amish Diamond in the Center Quilt

4-H Block	Carnival Block	Corn & Beans Block	County Fair Block	Ferris Wheel Block
Gardener's Prize Block	Grandmother's Prize Block	Pig's Tail Block	Souvenir Block	Turnstile Block

Assessment: Have student volunteers explain their choice of geometric shapes and colors to the class. Have the students write a short paper describing the geometric shapes and the color scheme that they used for their quilt square. Include the essay and the square in their portfolio.

(If this unit is used with older students the students can study the evolution of the quilt as an American art form. Issues to consider: What is the origin of the quilt? Why and how are quilts made? How do quilts vary across cultures? How does the quilt serve as historical record? How can the change in traditional roles of women be traced through the evolution of the quilt? How can visual and verbal images be compared? How can the quilt be used as a vehicle to convey messages or evoke feelings regarding specific social change?)