Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 5 Part 2 TAR BEACH #FaithRinggold #arttherapy #upontheroof #NewYork

Week 5 Part 2 FAITH RINGGOLD

I can fly- yes, fly. Me, Cassie Louise Lightfoot, only eight years old and in the third grade, and I can fly. That means I am free to go wherever I want for the rest of my life.

Listen to Ruby Dee read to Faith Ringgold‘s TAR BEACH and see Faith’s incredible illustrations on Reading Rainbow. Also watch the entire episode to learn about the George Washington Bridge and life on rooftops:

What are the lessons you draw from this delightful piece of art? What words come to mind? Fill a page with those words.

I love this lesson plan on Scholastic on Tar Beach:

Ask the children if they believe Cassie really could fly over the city. Tell the children that when Cassie says she can fly, the author is making use of figurative language. Have children look on a map to locate New York City, Harlem and the George Washington Bridge. If possible, show the class photographs of these places. Inform the class that the author is writing about the rooftop of a neighboring apartment building she sees from the roof of her Harlem apartment. (When the author was a child, her family often spent hot summer nights up on the roofthe adults played cards and the children stayed up late, lying on mattresses.)

What would it feel like to fly?

Grid out a quilt on your page.