Lesson #12 - Complementary Color Quilt

Objective

The student will use complementary colors with crayon resist technique to create two quilt squares to contribute to a class quilt. Children will understand

that the difference between light and dark areas is called contrast, and that quilts can show symbols that tell a person's life story, or tell about the experiences of a group of people.

Focus Elements - color, shape

Focus Principles - contrast, pattern

Standards

(AP) Artistic Perception - Identify the elements of visual art. (1.1, 1.3)

(CE) Creative Expression - Create original works of art. (2.4)

(HCC) Historical and Cultural Context - Understand the place of art in history and

multicultural studies. (3.1)

(AV) Aesthetic Valuing - Analyze one's own and others' artwork. (4.1, 4.2)

(CRA) Connections, Relations, Applications - Make connections among the art forms.

Integrate art into other curriculum areas. (5.2, 5.4)

Open Court Themes

Look Who’s Reading Things That Go

Keep TryingAnimals

Capt. Bill Pinkney’s JourneyBeing Afraid

Our Neighborhood at WorkGames

HomesMachines in our Garden

Folk tales

Concept

Complementary colors, those colors opposite from one another on the color wheel, create contrast. Quilts are blankets made of scraps of fabric sewn together with padding between two layers.

Resources

ADVENTURES IN ART: pg. 76-77

ART CONNECTIONS: pg. 86-97

ART EXPRESS: pg.104-105

PORTFOLIOS: pg. 111-112, & 114

Art Examples:

Crib Quilt, Mrs. Jacob Miller

Sample of a quilt, or other visuals of quilts

Vocabulary

complementary colors

contrast

pattern

quilt

squares

background

border

Materials

  • white drawing paper squares, 8"x 8" (2 per child)
  • crayons
  • watercolors
  • brushes
  • paper towels
  • color wheel
  • containers for water
  • oil pastels
  • tape
  • glue sticks or white glue
  • yarn

  • butcher paper (enough to back squares, 64"x40" minimum)

First Grade, lesson #12

DIRECTED LESSON

Get Set

Talk about quilts. Show real quilts, and pictures of quilts, if available. Explain that many quilts tell a story or celebrate an event. Years ago, cloth was hard to make, and to buy. People made their own clothing and saved the scraps to make blankets called quilts. Discuss the fact that individual squares are often made first, and then they are joined together to make a whole side. Children can share their own experiences with quilts.

Focus

Show Crib Quilt. Have students tell you that the design is organized in squares. Do they see the pattern of repeated lines that change direction? How many squares are in the quilt? The line around the outside is called a border.

Develop

Discuss the idea of complementary colors using the color wheel as a model. Complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel. They look bright next to each other; that is, they show contrast. Tell the children that they will use two complementary colors to make their quilt squares. Demonstrate using one color crayon or oil pastel with a watercolor wash over it of its complementary color. Reverse the two colors on the next square using the wash color in pastel or crayon with a wash of the complementary color over it. Have one-third of the class use red and green, another third use purple and yellow, and the remaining third use blue and orange.

Make sure designs are large, and dark enough to be seen easily. The class will combine the squares to create a pleasing pattern, resulting in a quilt out of paper. When the class is finished, they will arrange squares on butcher paper. (Make a 2" border all the way around the butcher paper before placing squares on it. ) There will be 5 squares one way and 8 squares the other way, making a total of 40 squares. When the squares are arranged as desired, they will be glued to the butcher paper with glue sticks or white glue.

Yarn pieces may be knotted and glued at the corners of individual squares to make the quilt look realistic. The border may be decorated if desired.

Evaluation

What story does our class quilt tell? What do we call the two colors each of you used to decorate your quilt squares? How did the use of complementary colors add to the quilt?

Summary

Who can tell us about complementary colors? Why do artists like using them? Why did people make quilts long ago?

Journal writing prompt

Which is your favorite pair of complementary colors? Why?

Extensions

  • MATH - Have children use graph paper to figure out how many squares the quilt will have. (Two per child times the # of children in the class.) How should the squares be arranged in order to create a pleasing design? What will be the final dimensions of the quilt?
  • READING
  • The Quilt Book
  • The Sun’s Asleep Behind The Hill
oStorm In The Night
oA Moon And One White Star
  • The Keeping Quilt
oThe Quilt
oEight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet
  • SCIENCE - Discuss the fact that there is no light or color in darkness. When it is dark, colors look dull, and when light increases, colors look brighter and clearer.
  • HIST/SOC SCI - Discuss the history of quilt-making in America and the custom of quilting "bees" where women socialized and sewed together.
  • WRITING - Children can develop stories and poems that focus on adjectives describing light- for example, sparkling, intense, glowing, radiating, faint.

Assessment

(AP) I can find patterns in a quilt.

(CE) I used complementary colors to make a pleasing design.

(HCC) I know that people made quilts long ago to use up their fabric scraps.

(AV) I can tell a story about our class quilt.

(AV) I know that artists can design things we can use, such as quilts.