Introduction
This curriculum unit introduces Faith Ringgold’s art and children’s books to my Kindergarten students through a new lens for me. I have always been drawn to her artwork while sharing her stories with my students over the years. Now with the opportunity to dive deeply into her life, her work, and understand more about the messages and stories she tells, this unit serves as a rich author study, grounded in a “universal themes” approach as opposed to the formulaic Black History Month format. Through Ringgold’s work, my students will see the ways that her books and art teach us all about Black resilience, creativity, and survival. Ringgold gives us a view of history that reaches out to young students through bright and colorful pictures with a playfulness about them as they uncover strong and serious issues around growing up African American.
I teach in a self-contained classroom at Edgewood Magnet School in New Haven. I find the neighborhood/magnet setting a rewarding environment, with students coming to school each day from a variety of home circumstances and with differences in academic levels. As a result of these variables, the children have differing levels of background knowledge and life experiences. The classroom is a mixture of varied ethnicities, economic strata and social and emotional strengths and weaknesses. The use of collaboration allows all students at all levels to learn in an inherently differentiated environment, learning new concepts and experiences through hands-on practices. Throughout the school year, the Kindergarten curriculum centers heavily on social development, which is certainly appropriate for five- and six-year old children. Our school mission and vision statements focus on equity and inclusion, acknowledging and including everyone in our learning environment. This unit will be in direct alignment with my responsibility to design curriculum that helps our students learn social and community responsibility.
I had the good fortune to spend my childhood in many cities across the country and attend public schools wherever we lived. From Washington D.C. to St. Louis, Missouri to Orange County, Los Angeles, and places in between, I was enrolled in ten schools over thirteen years of education. So many teachers, new friends all the time, a different neighborhood and home every year or two was what I thought was a normal existence. I was used to “not really unpacking” because I would just be putting everything in boxes again very soon. In my child’s mind, this was how everyone lived. Obviously, I eventually discovered and understood that, generally, people stay put, at least for more than a couple of years. Two sets of experiences were very formative. I loved my teachers everywhere I went and although I did not appreciate that I was experiencing diversity among my teachers then, I certainly do now. Second, I met so many other children who came from families and homes much different than my own and I made short but strong friendships despite being the perennial “new girl at school.” I knew at a young age that I wanted to become a teacher. I wanted to create an environment that makes my students have the open, positive experiences I know can allow for understanding and caring. My life of bouncing across the country created the experiences grounded in diversity that guided my strong desire to become that person.
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