This unit was created by educators in Denver, part of the 2022 cohort of The 1619 Project Education Network. It is designed for facilitation across approximately six 45-minute class periods.
Objectives
Overarching objective:
Students will learn about untold stories of Black artists to inspire the creation of art about their own untold stories. Students will connect with the themes of head, heart and hands from Born on the Water and create story quilts (inspired by Faith Ringgold), to illustrate their own story.
Students will be able to:
- Identify Black quilt artists (historical and contemporary artists: the quilters of Gee’s Bend; Faith Ringgold)
- “Read” artworks by Faith Ringgold, using Project Zero’s “See/Think/Wonder” protocol for looking at art
- Make connections between the Born on the Water themes of head, heart and hands and stories from their own lives
- Create their own story quilts to tell personal stories about using their head, heart or hands
- Add their story quilt to a collaborative class quilt
Skills: Students will learn:
- How to “Read works of art”: Close looking at the story quilts of Faith Ringgold
- Story collage skills: (drawing, painting, cutting, arranging and pasting)
- How to visually communicate a story (drawing and painting details that communicate a personal story about a theme from Born on the Water: head, heart, or hands)
Unit Overview
This unit takes place in the art room but builds on the classroom teacher’s unit in which students delve into the text, Born on the Water. The classroom teacher utilizes K-3 lesson plans in An Educator’s Guide to Born on the Water. In art class, students then revisit the first 18 pages of the book, and focus on the themes of head, heart and hands in telling their own untold stories. Students connect their own human experiences to the humanity so beautifully depicted in these pages of the book.
This unit, which highlights the story quilts of Faith Ringgold, builds on students’ prior knowledge of quilts by Black artists, following a previous unit about The Quilts of Gee’s Bend.
Essential question: How can we look to untold stories from Black history to inspire the creation of art about our own untold stories?
Scope and sequence:
Day 1: Introduce Faith Ringgold’s story quilts
Day 2: Read pages 1-18 of Born on the Water; draw draft of story idea about using head, heart or hands
Day 3: Draw final draft of story quilt
Day 4: Paint story quilt
Day 5: Add border to story quilt to communicate theme of head, heart or hands
Day 6: Share story quilts and put together collaborative class quilt
Performance Task
Performance Task #1: Planning draft
After re-reading pages 1-18 of Born on the Water,
Students will draw a rough draft to plan their story idea with the theme of head, heart or hands and all story elements (setting, characters, plot/action).
Performance Task #2: Story quilt final draft
Students will draw, paint and collage a story quilt (inspired by Faith Ringgold) to communicate their story about a time they used their head, heart or hands.
Performance Task #3: Collaborative class quilt
Each story quilt will be glued onto a large piece of butcher paper to create a collaborative class quilt.
A six-class session unit plan for teachers, including pacing, texts and resources for student projects, and performance tasks for the unit. Download below, or scroll down to read the complete unit plan.
This unit contains texts available exclusively in Born on the Water. Learn more about this book and how to access it here.
Facilitation Resources
1619 Books |
Born on the Water |
Teaching Materials |
Background knowledge - Art room: background quilts knowledge - The Quilts of Gee’s Bend: A Slideshow: National Endowment for the Arts - Classroom: 1619 Project curriculum for first grade - An Educator’s Guide: 1619 Project, Born on the Water PDF Slide deck for Untold Stories: First and Second Grade Story Quilts Family communication - Head, Heart, Hands Family Letter (to send home) Faith Ringgold - Faith Ringgold’s reading of Tar Beach - Image of Faith Ringgold in front of Tar Beach story quilt: Britannica - Image of Faith Ringgold’s Tar Beach story quilt: Philadelphia Museum of Art - Image of Faith Ringgold’s Church Picnic story quilt: High Museum of Art “See/Think/Wonder” protocol for “reading” works of art - See/Think/Wonder protocol: Project Zero Head, Heart, Hands story planning draft - Head, Heart, Hands, Story Drawing Planning Worksheet Display - Story quilt display signage |
Colorado Academic Standards: Visual Arts: Shared Stories
1.1: Investigate how visual art and design tell the many stories of people, places or things.
2.1: Question and respond to the stories told and the feelings expressed in works of visual art and design.
Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards:
Diversity Anchor Standard 8: Students will respectfully express curiosity about the history and lived experiences of others and will exchange ideas and beliefs in an open-minded way.
In this unit, students studied the story quilts of Faith Ringgold and read the 1619 book Born on the Water. They then took the time to "write" head, heart, hands stories of their own using paint and collaged paper squares. Students' work was combined to create one large, collaborative paper quilt. Below are images of the first and second graders' brainstorming worksheets and the final class project.
Brainstorming



Collaborative Story Quilt



