Southwest Children's Literature

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The Tortilla Quilt

In the classroom:

Introduction
Grade Level: 1st Grade
Subject: Language Arts and Art
Overview: After listening to The Tortilla Quilt, the class will make their own quilt.
Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is help the children make connections to the symbols on the quilt in the story to the quilt they will be making in class. This will build their background knowledge and support comprehension.

Outcomes
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. Color and cutout symbols from the story to create a class quilt.
2. Follow multiple step directions.
3. View the completed quilt, and respond to the class what makes it special.
4. Express their ideas and thoughts.

Standards
Art
Standard 1: Creating Art
Select and use subjects, themes and symbols in works of art. (AV1-F1)
PO 3. uses symbols in a work of art
Language Arts
Standard 1: Listening and Speaking
Students effectively listen and speak in situations that serve different purposes and involve a variety of audiences.
Give and follow multiple-step directions. (LS-F2)
Standard 4: Viewing and Presenting
Students use a variety of visual media and resources to gather, evaluate and synthesize information and to communicate with others.
Access, view and respond to visual forms such as computer programs, videos, artifacts, drawings, pictures and collages. (VP-F3)
ELL Standard
Express orally his or her own thinking and ideas. (ELL-L&S-1)

Resources
Teachers' special quilts
Sample of a piece for the class quilt

Materials
Fabric
Symbol copies
Markers
Pins

Process

Introductory Set
Bring a quilt that is sentimental and share why it is so important. Make a connection with the students that after the story we will be making a class quilt.


Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. Color and cutout symbols from the story to create a class quilt.
2. Follow multiple step directions.
3. View the completed quilt, and respond to the class what makes it special.
4. Express their ideas and thoughts.

Input:
Read The Tortilla Quilt by Jane Tenorio-Coscarelli to the students. Talk to the students about things that are special to them. Ask the students if they have ever made a quilt.

Modeling:
After reading the story, the teachers will demonstrate the steps for making their individual piece for the class quilt. (See below.)

Check for Understanding:
Review the steps they will be taking.
Steps:
1. Students will pick out symbols, which are represented in the story, from a choice of 4 patterns in the book.
2. They will color their pattern using different colors of markers.
3. When complete, they will pick a square on the class quilt and paste their piece on.
4. Students who finish early can look at the book or tell stories to their table partners about things that are special to them.

Guided Practice:
Walk around the classroom and answer any questions students have. Make sure they are staying on task and encourage them to get their project done. Talk to them about why they chose the symbol they are coloring.

Independent Practice:
For homework, send home a note to the parents about publishing their child's work on the Internet. Send home a recipe for Grandma Lupita's Flour Tortillas.

Closure:
The students will look at the finished quilt with all of the students pieces put together on the fabric. The finished product will show that all of the students met the objectives. Some of the questions that can be asked are: does anyone want to share why they chose their picture? Or, do you see a piece of the quilt that really stands out? To bridge to another activity we could do a unit on friendship and talk about how the quilt relates.

Assessment
The children will be assessed on if they followed the directions and completed their piece of the quilt. After the class is done, we will talk about what makes our quilt special.

Extension and Modifications
An extension of this activity would to really make a quilt. Everyone would bring in material and each person would be part of the quilt. Or, each student could make a quilt using the different pieces of material brought in. This would be a good bridge to friendship. It would be the class friendship quilt.

To modify this lesson for ELL students is to say the words that are labeled in the book in Spanish to help them understand the story better.

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