Teacher Guide: Lesson 15.9

The Weekly Reader Connections feature on Kids' Place Houghton Mifflin Math provides your students with additional information about the topics that appear in the Curriculum Connection feature in their student books.

The article “Soulful Stitches” tells the story of four generations of African American women in Alabama who stitched together colorful quilts to pass the time—and to help keep their loved ones warm. The Gee's Bend women, most of them descended from slaves, never realized that their labors of love would one day be admired as a prized art form. Today, the fine-crafted work by 46 quilt makers from Gee's Bend is exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The exhibition includes old photographs of Gee's Bend and a 20-minute historical film.

Before they read the story, ask students if they know how quilts are made. Ask: What materials go into making quilts? Why might the quilts from Gee's Bend have historical value? Why do you think only women made quilts?

Notes Behind the News

• In Gee's Bend, Alabama, 42 percent of today's residents earn less than $10,000 a year.
• The 70 quilts exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art are among hundreds of Gee's Bend quilts collected during the past five years by William Arnett. The Atlanta collector has created a nonprofit foundation, the Tinwood Alliance, to own and conserve the quilts. He said he plans to sell some of the quilts to museums. Arnett said profits from the quilts would go back into the Gee's Bend community.
• Arnett's Tinwood Media has published two books on the Gee's Bend quilts. The Quilts of Gee's Bend and Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts tell the stories behind the quilts and the African American women who created the quilts.
• Quilt maker Loretta Pettway told The New York Times that she was sometimes inspired by the walls of her childhood home. “We didn't have no Sheetrock. We nailed torn boxes to the wall and then plastered them with newspapers and catalogs. I saw some quilts in those papers and liked how they were made. I couldn't make no pretty quilts, but it did me good to look at them.”
• The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s led to the Freedom Quilting Bee, organized by Francis X. Walter, an Episcopalian priest. He helped the women of Gee's Bend set up a cooperative so that they could make money by selling their quilts. The first 70 quilts were auctioned off for a total of $2,065. The money went toward such necessities as washing machines and indoor plumbing.
• In the 1970s, the Quilting Bee's work was produced in nearby Rehoboth, Alabama, and was sold through Bloomingdale's and other retailers. “The Bee was the first business black people in Wilcox County owned,” said Nettie Young, 85, an original Bee leader who learned to quilt at age 7. “It was the first time I knew I was special—the first job I had, excusing cotton picking.”

The Word Wise activity instructs students to create a word web in which they list terms related to one of the Word Wise words. You may want to provide a thesaurus to help students complete their word webs.

You may want to begin the Data Hunt activity with the question, “What kinds of fabrics make up your daily life?” Help students think about the fabrics they come into contact with every day, such as a blanket, a tablecloth, a bag, and clothing.

This activity gives students the opportunity to understand the concept of making a quilt by using many different shapes, colors, and textures to create a pattern. Students put together their designs by making a template that is then duplicated to make the quilt.