Secrets of the Code

The Secret to Freedom - Examine a Quilt - Codes in Quilts - More Lessons.

The Secrets of the Code.

Preparation and Materials

Ideally, this lesson should take place over two weeks. Each day the teachers will read the story and/or self-selected poems from the suggested list provided for that Quilt Pattern Block. These readings can be used as inspiration to begin a Writer's Workshop. Students will read and complete each page of the Quilt Code Patterns (pages 7-15 ) as Homework. The Double Wedding Rings Block will be used as a homework assignment over the weekend, parents and students will search for a poem that relates in some way to the Block Design.

Knowing the locations of hundreds of doors like this one - behind which escaping slaves were welcome - was the key to a successful journey.

Teacher Discussion Questions

Goal to guide students to identify the pattern in the reading material from the following categories:ie what makes this poetic?

Word or Phrase Repetition
Rhyme
Rhythm
Sequence Repetition
Context/Situation Repetition

Day 1: Monkey Wrench
Mad Summer Night's Dream By Ruth Brown ISBN 0-525-46010-1
Freedom Like Sunlight: praise songs for Black Americans By J. Patrick Lewis ISBN 1-568-46163-1

Day 2: Wagon Wheel
The Ox Cart Man By Donald Hall ISBN 0-140504419
Pieces: A Year in Poems and Quilts By Anna Grossnickle Hines ISBN 0-688-16963-5

Day 3: Bear's Paw Trail
Brown Bear, brown bear, what do you see? By Bill Martin ISBN 0-805017445
Bear In Mind: a Book of Bear Poems By Bobbye S. Goldstein ISBN 0-670-81907-7

Day 4: Crossroads
"Gospel Train" - Traditional Hymn from No More! Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance By Doreen Rappaport ISBN 0-7636-0984-6
Music ands Drum: Voices of war and peace, hope and dreams By Laura Robb ISBN 0-399-22024-0

Day 5: Log Cabin
A House Is a House For Me By Mary Ann Hoberman ISBN 0-941-07833-7
A Light in the Attic By Shel Silverstein ISBN 0-060-256737

Day 6: Shoofly
There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly traditional children's song, By Hy Murdock ASIN 0721412661
The Little Buggers: Insects & Spider Poems By J. Patrick Lewis ISBN 0-803-71770-9

Day 8: Double Wedding Rings
It Looks Like Spilt Milk By George G. Shaw ISBN 069400491X
Homework: Poetry Presentation

Day 9: Bow Ties
The Very Hungry Caterpillar By Eric Carle ISBN 0399208534
Marguerite, Go Wash your Feet By Wallace Tripp ISBN 0-395-35392-0

Day 10: Flying Geese
Wings on the Wind: bird poems By Kate Kiesler ISBN 0-618-13333-X
Make Way for Ducklings By Robert McCloskey ISBN 0140564349

Day 11: Drunkards Path
Make A Joyful Sound: poems for children by African American Poets By Cornelius Van Wright (illustrator) ISBN 1-562-88000-4
Something Big Has Been Here By Jack Prelutsky ISBN 0-688-06434-5

Day 12: Star
Draw Me a Star By Eric Carle ISBN 0-399-21877-7
Still as A Star: A book of Nighttime Poems By Lee Bennett Hopkins ISBN 0-316-37272-2

on to Create a Story Pattern

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