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Lesson Plan Image

Picturing Persistence

"When Marian Sang" by Pam Munoz Ryan, a picture book that deals with following one's dreams and persisting in the face of harsh discouragement inspires upper elementary students to create picture books for their own persistent role model using Crayola Watercolor Pencils.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Water
  • White Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Read "When Marian Sang" by Pam Munoz Ryan aloud to the class. Talk about the challenges that Marion Anderson faced and how she kept striving to achieve her dream. Discuss the meaning of the word 'persistence' and solicit examples of it from the students' lives. Through research and gathering family suggestions, ask the students to develop a list of other people who are examples of persistence like Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer. Assign each student a name to continue learning about and to create a picture book of their findings.

  • Step 2

    Review what makes a good non-fiction picture book, pointing out the role of word and of illustrations. Look closely at the illustrations by Brian Selznick found in "When Marian Sang"; marvel at how he was able to illustrate an entire book and tell a valuable visual story in (mostly) three colors. Challenge students to do the same in their book using Crayola Watercolor Pencils.

  • Step 3

    Throughout Munoz Ryan's book, she intersperses quotes and song lyrics to back up her historical interpretations of Anderson's life. For a book on Ernest Shackleton's, students would use excerpts from his diary to support any illustrations.

  • Step 4

    Discuss how every aspect of their topic's life does not need to be covered in their picture book (In "When Marian Sang", the last page has a list of important dates in her whole life). Pick the life points that feature the theme of persistence.

  • Step 5

    Bind the illustrations and text together in a binder or hand-made book to share with the class.

Standards

LA: Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

VA: Students will investigate, plan and work through materials and ideas to make works of art and design.

VA: Students experience, analyze and interpret art and other aspects of the visual world.

LA: Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

LA: Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

LA: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

LA: Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.

SS: Identify and describe ways family, groups, and community influence the individual’s daily life and personal choices.

SS: Explore factors that contribute to one’s personal identity such as interests, capabilities, and perceptions.

SS: Analyze a particular event to identify reasons individuals might respond to it in different ways.

VA: Students will initiate making works of art and design by experimenting, imagining and identifying content.

Adaptations

Persistence is a valuable human characteristic. Continue to focus on important character traits by choosing a different one to explore together as a class each month. The cumulative projects may vary for each one encompassing drama, poetry, songwriting and verbal presentation.

Using the book edited by Mo Willems, "Show Me a Story! Why Picture Books Matter: Conversations with 21 of the World's Most Celebrated Illustrators", cherry pick ideas and concepts from these conversations to highlight from many illustrators whom the class is familiar with like Eric Carle and Maurice Sendak.

Start an in-depth exploration of the Antarctic adventure of Ernest Shackleton and his boat, The Endurance.