This multidisciplinary project teaches math and history concepts through quilt making and through works of children's literature that evoke themes of home and family. Designed for elementary school-aged children, this project culminates with a family story time and art exhibit.
This project opens with Rod Clement's "Counting on Frank," an entertaining story about a boy who has a passion for asking questions and making mathematical calculations and his pet dog. In the next activity, participants design quilts on paper and describe them to each other using mathematical terms. This leads to an examination of quilts as an art form and historical record, with each person creating his or her own paper or cloth quilt to illustrate a family event. The project culminates with an exhibition of the quilts and a family story hour, where parents learn strategies for supporting their young readers. The story suggested for this family event, Cynthia Rylant's "The Woman Who Named Things," features a faithful pet dog—just like the book from the first activity. By highlighting such strong bonds and emotional attachments, the stories and other materials represent the family connectedness that this project was designed to support.
Culled from various Thinkfinity resources, the project activities address a range of academic and youth development goals, and they appeal to different learning styles as well. For instance, incorporating math concepts into a hands-on art activity reinforces academic learning in an engaging way that is ideal for afterschool learning. Involving families in afterschool activities adds another important dimension to the learning experience, making it more meaningful and culturally relevant.
Project Duration
About two weeks (assuming multiple sessions per week)
What young people will learn and do:
- draw and describe designs using geometric and fractional terms
- study quilts as records of family history and create paper quilts that tell the story of family events
- build reading skills by discussing books with peers and family
Materials needed
- Computer with Internet access
- Paper and markers/crayons
- Desirable: Poster board, construction paper, glue, fabric, etc.
Career fields highlighted
- Visual arts, especially textiles
- Museums/library sciences
Academic standards addressed
- Principles and Standards for School Mathematics, Measurement 3-5: 1 - Understand that measurements are approximations and how differences in units affect precision; 2 - Develop strategies for estimating the perimeters, areas and volumes of irregular shapes. Geometry 3-5: 1 - Identify, compare and analyze attributes of two- and three-dimensional shapes and develop vocabulary to describe the attributes. Number & Operations 3-5: 1 - Develop understanding of fractions as parts of unit wholes, as parts of a collection, as locations on number lines and as divisions of whole numbers; and 2 - Recognize and generate equivalent forms of commonly used fractions, decimals and percents.
- National Standards for Arts Education - Visual Arts(K-4) 4 - Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures
- National Council for the Social Studies, Curriculum Standards 1 - Culture and cultural diversity; and 4 - Individual development and identity.