Gathering Blue

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“The Singer’s Robe”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of the gap between Kira’s present experiences of her community and her dreams for its future by creating their own versions of the Singer’s robe.

Kira believes that she can use her threading skills to help create a better future for her community. In this activity, you will show that you understand both the problems with her community and Kira’s perspective on how that community needs to change, by creating your own version of the Singer’s robe.

Gather Ideas

• Get some ideas about how embroidered pictures can be used to tell a story: Check out this site from the Bayeux Museum. This museum is dedicated to the world’s most famous example of embroidered storytelling, the 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry.
• Find evidence from Gathering Blue about what kinds of pictures are already on the Singer’s robe.
• Find evidence from Gathering Blue about Kira’s perspective on her community’s present and future.

Create Your Robe

• You can create your robe in whatever medium you like. For example, you might draw it by hand or on a computer, paint it, create a collage, or even create a textile.