By Stacey Joy
Teacher, Baldwin Hills Elementary
As a culminating project for a brief author study on Faith Ringgold, my fifth grade students created a class book using Google Docs and Book Creator. The book contains text and visual art inspired by the author.
My students' first task was to research Faith Ringgold using their iPads. On Edmodo, they shared information about where Ringgold attended college, the degrees she earned, and the titles of her books. Students listened raptly as I read one of her books, Tar Beach, aloud. They discussed the experiences of Cassie, an eight-year-old girl in 1939 New York, who had the power to fly over the city and go places where segregation had prevented her from going. They looked closely at the illustrations to inspire similar "story quilts" -- images that tell stories -- about a place they wished they could fly over.
Next, the students browsed images of Ringgold's drawings on Google Images for further inspiration. They also explored places on Google Earth and wrote short passages about places over which they would like to fly. They saved their writing on Pages with other samples of their creative writing.
This phase of the learning experience reinforced and supported their writing and art because they could see the places they chose without ever leaving the classroom. Their technology tools allowed them to take a virtual field trip before they composed their passages and their illustrations. Being able to view images of Ringgold’s art also provided more inspiration for their own art. I asked my students to create the “flying person” for use in their drawings because I knew theirs would appeal to other classmates more than mine would.
I created a Google Doc to compile all of the passages for reviewing and editing. I invited my students to add their passages to the document. After that, they began painting and creating their story quilt pictures. Finally, my students used their iPads to capture and email me pictures of their story quilts, and I assembled their work using Book Creator. When I share the book with students, each one will have a copy to keep.
“Ms. Joy's integration of technology has assuredly had a positive impact on student learning,” says Dr. Leticia Johnson-Davis, my principal at Baldwin Hills Elementary School. “Not only is it relevant to students' interests and reflective of 21st century competencies, it also increases students' level of engagement and provides a means by which students have the freedom to inquire, collaborate, and express their understanding as they construct meaning to academically rigorous tasks.”
