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English Language Arts  /  

Kindergarten  /  

Unit 4: Falling in Love with Authors and Illustrators

Falling in Love with Authors and Illustrators

Students explore the works of five award-winning authors and illustrators, Grace Lin, Yuyi Morales, John Parra, Monica Brown and Jerry Pinkney, learning about their lives and inspirations.

Summary

Text and Materials

Assessment

Unit Prep

Lesson Map

Standards

Unit Summary

As part of the upgrade to Fishtank Plus, this unit was revised in October 2020. Some texts, materials, and questions may have changed as part of the revision. If you are looking for the 2019 version of this unit, visit our archives.

In this unit, students explore and experience the works of five award-winning authors and illustrators; Grace Lin, Yuyi Morales, Monica Brown, and Jerry Pinkney.  Students learn about each author or illustrator’s life and his or her inspiration for becoming an author and/or illustrator. Students will think critically and make connections between the author or illustrator’s life and the stories he or she writes or illustrates, and how each author’s unique personality is reflected in the words or pictures. By studying a wide variety of authors and illustrators, it is our hope that the foundations will be set for a lifelong interest in reading and books. Author studies help students develop a deeper attachment to books while also noticing and identifying the many different ways in which authors write.  It is also our hope that students will use the authors in this unit as writing mentors, mimicking the author’s style while also building confidence in their own writing and unique ideas. In future units and grades, students will read additional award-winning stories written or illustrated by the different authors and illustrators from the unit.

Reading this unit builds on the first three units and assumes that students are inquisitive consumers of text, asking and answering questions while listening to and enjoying a story.  Students will continue to work on retelling a story, including key details about setting, characters and major events. Students will also continue to be challenged to “read” the illustrations and think about how the illustrations help a reader better understand what is happening in the story. At the end of this unit, students should also be able to clearly articulate and define the role of the author and illustrator and why they are both important.

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Texts and Materials

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Core Materials

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Assessment

This assessment accompanies this unit and should be given on the suggested assessment day or after completing the unit.

Unit Prep

Essential Questions

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  • How does an author’s/illustrator’s own life shape what and how he/she writes about?
  • Where do authors and illustrators get their ideas for writing?

Writing Focus Areas

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Sentence-Level Focus Areas

  • Ask questions using “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” and “how.”
  • Use correct end punctuation.
  • Capitalize the first letter of a sentence.
  • Create simple sentences orally and in writing.

In this unit, students continue to work on crafting statements and questions orally and in writing. Students also begin to practice using correct end punctuation when writing statements or questions.

Vocabulary

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Text-based

attach challenge contagious contender courageous confident defeat fortune imagination immigrant jealous kite little lonely overcome patient proud prepare steady talent ugly

Related Teacher Tools:

Content Knowledge and Connections

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  • An author is a person who writes a story.
  • An illustrator is a person who illustrates, or draws the pictures, for a story.
  • A person can be both an author and an illustrator.
  • Authors use things they are passionate about in their own lives to influence what they write about.
  • Authors are often recognized for their outstanding writing or illustrations. Some awards that authors can receive:
    • The Pura Belpre Award is given to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience. 
    • The Coretta Scott King Book Award is given as a way to recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience.
    • The Caldecott Award is given to the illustrators of the most distinguished picture books.

Lesson Map

1

  • Kite Flying

    RL.K.2

    RL.K.6

    RL.K.7

    SL.K.1

Explain how the family works together to build a kite by using details and illustrations to retell key details and events in a text.

2

  • Dim Sum...

    RL.K.2

    RL.K.3

    RL.K.6

    RL.K.7

Describe dim sum and how the family feels about dim sum using details and illustrations to retell key details and events in the text.

3

  • Fortune Cookie

    RL.K.2

    RL.K.3

    RL.K.6

    RL.K.7

Explain how the family’s fortune cookie fortunes came true and why by using details and illustrations to retell key details and events in a text.

4

  • Ugly Vegetables

    RL.K.2

    RL.K.3

    RL.K.7

Explain why the little girl changes her mind about the ugly vegetables.

5

Writing

    W.K.1

    W.K.5

    W.K.7

    W.K.8

    SL.K.1

Write a letter to Grace Lin explaining which story is your favorite and why.

6

  • Dreamers

    RL.K.2

    RL.K.3

    RL.K.6

    RL.K.7

Explain what challenges Yuyi and her son faced and how they overcame them.

7

  • Niño Wrestles...

    RL.K.2

    RL.K.3

    RL.K.6

    RL.K.7

Describe Niño and what lesson he learns.

8

  • Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book

    RL.K.2

    RL.K.3

    RL.K.6

    RL.K.7

Explain how Grandma Beetle tricks Señor Calavera.

9

  • Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book

    RL.K.2

    RL.K.3

    RL.K.6

    RL.K.7

Explain Señor Calavera’s problem and how he solves it.

10

Writing

    W.K.1

    W.K.5

    W.K.7

    W.K.8

    SL.K.1

Write a letter to Yuyi Morales explaining which story is your favorite and why.

11

  • Tito Puente

    RI.K.2

    RI.K.3

    RI.K.6

    RI.K.7

    SL.K.1

Explain who Tito Puente is and why Tito Puente is famous.

12

  • My Name is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz

    RI.K.2

    RI.K.3

    RI.K.6

    RI.K.7

    SL.K.1

Explain why Celia Cruz was famous.

13

  • Pelé...

    RL.K.3

    RI.K.2

    RI.K.6

    RI.K.7

    SL.K.1

Describe why Pelé is famous.

14

  • My Name is Gabriela: The Life of Gabriela Mistral

    RI.K.2

    RI.K.3

    RI.K.6

    RI.K.7

    SL.K.1

Explain who Gabriela Mistral is and why she was famous.

15

Writing

    W.K.1

    W.K.5

    W.K.7

    W.K.8

    SL.K.1

Write a letter to Monica Brown explaining which story is your favorite and why.

16

  • Lion and...

    RL.K.2

    RL.K.3

    RL.K.7

    SL.K.1

Retell what happens in The Lion and the Mouse.

17

  • Tortoise and...

    RL.K.2

    RL.K.3

    RL.K.7

    SL.K.1

Retell what happens in the beginning, middle, and end of The Tortoise & The Hare.

18

  • Grasshopper and...

Retell what happens in The Grasshopper and the Ants.

19

Writing

    W.K.1

    W.K.5

    W.K.7

    W.K.8

    SL.K.1

Write a letter to Jerry Pinkney explaining which story is your favorite and why.

20

Assessment

Common Core Standards

Language Standards

  • L.K.1 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

  • L.K.1.f — Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities.

  • L.K.2 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

  • L.K.2.a — Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I.

  • L.K.2.b — Recognize and name end punctuation.

  • L.K.4 — Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on kindergarten reading and content.

  • L.K.5 — With guidance and support from adults, explore word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

  • L.K.6 — Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.

Reading Standards for Informational Text

  • RI.K.2 — With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

  • RI.K.3 — With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

  • RI.K.6 — Name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text.

  • RI.K.7 — With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

Reading Standards for Literature

  • RL.K.2 — With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.

  • RL.K.3 — With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

  • RL.K.5 — Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).

  • RL.K.6 — With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

  • RL.K.7 — With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

Speaking and Listening Standards

  • SL.K.1 — Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

  • SL.K.2 — Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.

  • SL.K.5 — Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.

  • SL.K.6 — Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

Writing Standards

  • W.K.1 — Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is…).

  • W.K.5 — With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

  • W.K.7 — Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).

  • W.K.8 — With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Spiral Standards

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RI.K.1

RI.K.10

RL.K.1

RL.K.10

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Unit 3

The Beauties of Fall

Next

Unit 5

The Beauties of Winter
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