​rethink.

I'Lesson overview:

This final lesson will be viewed as a combination of everything the students have learned, while including their prior knowledge and the transformation of their ideas. Faith Ringgold is an artist that introduces the American Flag projects, and how she represents the American Flag in different ways. We will show students the artworks of Faith Ringgold for a model of what they will be doing. The American Flag is supposed to be a representation of freedom, but students will contradict this idea with stereotypes and new ideas that they have learned from the unit. By representing these ideas in the form of the American flag, it showcases the main ideas we have been focusing on of stereotypes, myths, and the Underground Railroad.

 

Materials:

• red, white and blue paper

• Computers

• Newspaper articles

• glue

• scissors

• colored pencils, markers

• Flag Story Quilt by Faith Ringgold

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instruction:

1. Teacher will introduce Faith Ringgold by teaching the students the main characteristics and ideas of the artist

2. Teacher will show students Faith Ringgold’s artwork and explain the techniques she has used in creating this representation of what is supposed to be “freedom.”

3. Teacher will bring back the chart of the original stereotypes the students thought of and the myths they saw in Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt.

4. From the examples shown from Faith Ringgold and the ideas the class has compiled about the Underground Railroad, students will create their own American Flag.

5. The white stripes of the American Flag will show what the students originally thought about the Underground Railroad and their specific stereotypes involved. Students will have the opportunity to use the computer and research different newspaper articles that show these different stereotypes. They can cut and paste these clippings into the white stripes in whatever way they want.

6. The red strips of the American Flag will represent what the students have learned from the unit and the ideas that contradict what they initially thought. They may use any type of art to represent their new ideas (images, text, objects, etc).

7. The blue rectangle will be a map of the Underground Railroad. Students may research what this map looks like, and create their own with whatever materials they want.

8. The white “stars” on the blue rectangle will show faces of the people that suffered during this era. Students have the option to print out faces of real people who suffered, or even create their own image of who they think might have suffered.

9. After we have created our American Flag, the class will discuss their change of ideas from the beginning of the unit and the end, and focus on the idea of misconceptions and stereotypes and how they can evolve into true ideas.

10. Students will have the opportunity to tell the class their contribution to the American Flag and discuss the stereotypes they wrote down and some of the new ideas that evolved as the unit progressed.

11. We will hang the American Flag in the classroom as a constant reminder of the ideas we have learned and the main idea of being aware of false misconceptions. It can also serve as a reminder to the children about always being open to new ideas and be willing to expand their knowledge on all topics.

 

Standards:

1.5.4.B: Develop content: Gather, organize, and select the most effective information appropriate for the topic, task, and audience. Write one or more paragraphs that connect to one central idea

1.5.4.A: Write with a clear focus, identifying topic, task, and audience.