Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

I like many other teachers begin the year with the picture book Crhysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. In my class we make a classroom name quilt for our art project with this book. The students use their name to make a "Name Quilt Block" Each letter in their name has a specific design that they repeat for a pattern. Once each student's block is completed we glue them onto a colorful piece of paper, laminate and then connect into one large quilt with the title "A Patchwork of Friends" This has always been a fun, creative art project. Here are a few helpful hints to go with this project: 1. Give the students a piece of paper that already has their boxes you can choose how many you want depending on the size of letters you want for your quilt. 2. Demonstrate how large each letter should be. 3. Have the students, especially if they are younger write their letters in pencil before markers are given out to the class. 4. If a student has a repeating letter in their name have them make a different design for each specific letter. Meaning the name "Janeen" would have a pattern for the first 'n' and the second 'n' and the first 'e' and the second 'e' 5. Make sure they understand how to make the letters in their name wrap around from line to line.

In the end this makes a wonderful art project to have up for events like back to school night or parent teacher conferences.

Name Quilt - Chrysanthemum Art Project