Grade Level (s): 6th & 7th grades
Subject (s): Health & Language Arts
Learner Outcomes: Each
student should be able to:
1. identify "The Quilt" or quilt pieces.
2. explain where the panels come from and how they are made.
3. explain the history of the quilt.
Duration Of Lesson: at least two hours
Materials: Mini lecture
Technology Tools/Courseware:
Computer with internet, Slide maker program (Power Point or
Presentations),
Paint program, digital camera
Teacher Notes: The
teacher should be aware that the students can become very emotionally attached
to a
quilt piece when they have information about the child
they are making the piece for.
Remember to check out all web sites before you give them to the students.
In reference to activity 4, the teacher may elect to have
students e-mail a copy of the report
to their English/Language Arts teacher.
Procedures:
Mini Lecture: The idea, of the "AIDS Memorial Quilt", was started
in November of 1985 by a
man named Cleve Jones.
The ever increasing number of people dying from AIDS
distressed him and he
wanted to do something that would get the attention of
people of America. Because
of his distress, Mr. Jones, who was involved in an
AIDS march at the time, asked
his fellow marchers to write on placards the names
of friends and loved ones who
had died from AIDS. At the end of the march,
they taped the placards to the walls
of the San Francisco Federal Building.
When he looked at the finished product
he thought that the wall looked like a
quilt and the idea was born. Today there are over 41,000
individual 3-by-6 foot
memorial panels. Each of these panels commemorates the life of someone
who has
died of AIDS. These panels have been sewn together by friends or
loved ones
who want them to be remembered.
Facts:
In 1986 Cleve Jones created the first panel for the Names Project AIDS
Memorial
Quilt. In June of 1987, he teamed up with some other people to formally
organize
the Names Project Foundation.
In October of 1987 the Names Project displayed the Quilt for the first
time on the
National Mall in Washington, D.C. It covered a space larger than
a football field
and included 1,920 panels.
Half a million people visited the Quilt that weekend.
The Quilt is the largest example of a community art project in the world.
The Quilt was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
"Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt" won the Academy Award as the best
feature length documentary film of 1989.
Since that time, the interest in the Quilt has grown and grown. Today
students all
over America are getting involved in this project.
Modifications:
If a computer is available, a slide show of the Quilt could be shown.
Make sure all special
education students have a regular education partner.
Enrichment Activities: 1.
In the computer lab, have students locate the web site that explains about
panels for display. http://www.aidsquilt.org
2. Have your students go to the net and find the answers to the following
questions:
1. How did the idea of the Quilt come about?
2. Who was primarily responsible for the idea?
3. Who made the first patch?
4. Where was the Quilt first displayed?
5. How many pieces are in the Quilt at this time?
6. Where is the Quilt stored?
7. Who can make a patch?
8. Who are the patches made for?
9. Can anyone make a piece?
10. How do you get to make a piece if you don't know anyone who has
died
from AIDS?
11. How can you get a portion of the Quilt displayed in your city
or school?
12. What is the Names Project?
13. How does it tie in with the Quilt?
3. Have your students design, with the aid of a computer, patches
and make a
paper quilt. Put these pieces together with
glue or tape and display it in the
room. Take the designs made from the computer and
make patches from
materials. You will have to give them a list of materials they would
need to buy.
Tell them how big the pieces should be. Tell them about the different
items that
they might want to put on their patch. The teacher
could contact an
organization on the web and get some names of children the same age as
those in the class that have died from AIDS. Get their ages, what
they are
interested in, what school they attended, etc.
4 Use the computer to obtain images of the Quilt and make a
slide presentation for
a class report or for a presentation for a group like
PTO or a civic group.
5. Use a digital camera to take pictures of the Quilt and write an
article for the
school newspaper on this subject. Using
computer technology students may be
asked to change style and size of font, color,
add clip art, and or print copies of
the article for additional credit.
Evaluation/Assessment:
| Internet Questions | 25% |
| Quilt Patch | 25% |
| Slide Presentation | 25% |
| Newspaper Article | 25% |
WV
Instructional Goals and Objectives: Health:
Personal Health & Wellness: 6.9, 6.11, 7.11
Computer & Technology: 6.36, 6.37
Relationships: 7.12, 7.14
Language Arts:
Writing: 6.53, 7.56
Spelling: 6.67, 6.68
Computer Technology: 6.154, 6.155, 6.160, 6.161, 7.164,
7.165
References: http://www.aidsquilt.org
www.cnn.com/US/9610/12/aids.activism/
www.rjrfabrics.com/update/71aids.html
scip.stanford.edu/community/bmag/sbsm624/sbsm62408b.htm
Created By: Nancy
Russell
Deborah Oxley
&nb>
Princeton Middle School
Date Created: June 9, 1999