Author Study: Faith Ringgold

This engaging lesson teaches students about the famous author Faith Ringgold. Students will explore two pieces of literature, comparing and contrasting story elements, then write opinion pieces to illustrate which book they liked best.

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This engaging reading and writing lesson plan teaches students about the artist and author Faith Ringgold. First, students take a deep dive into two pieces of literature written by this phenomenal author. Next, they hone fiction comprehension skills as they compare and contrast each book's story elements. Finally, children have a chance to think critically and practice opinion writing as they write about which book they liked best.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to write simple opinion pieces, using evidence from the text to support their opinions.
Students will be able to compare and contrast story elements from two fictional texts.

Introduction

(8 minutes)

Gather the students together in a circle.
Explain to the students that today, they will learn about Faith Ringgold. Elaborate that Faith Ringgold is a painter, writer, speaker, mixed media sculptor, and artist. She is also the author of many loved children's books.
Pass out a sticky note to each student and play the "Who I Am: Faith Ringgold" video. Pause the video when you learn an interesting fact, and model recording that fact, using pictures and words, on the large piece of chart paper. Explain to students that as they watch the video, they should record something interesting they learned using words and pictures on the sticky note you provided.
Encourage students to share what they learned from the video and instruct them to place their sticky notes on the chart.

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