Multicultural Illustrator Floyd CooperResource Packet

By Christine ColenbaughRLA 527: Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults

Dr. Susannah Richards

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

Biography

Bibliography and Websites

Awards and Reviews

Learning Activities

Grade 3: Coming Home: From the Life of Langston Hughes

Grade 3: Laura Charlotte

Grade 3: Grandpa’s Face

Grade 4: Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea

Grade 4: Mandela: From the Life of the South African Statesman (1996)

Grade 4: Cumbayah

Grade 5: Mississippi Morning

Grade 5: Jump! From the Life of Michael Jordan

Floyd CooperBiography

Floyd Cooper was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1956.  He began drawing at the age of three and often dreamed of moving to New York.  His dreams of moving were put on hold when he received a four year state scholarship to the University of Oklahoma.  In 1980 he graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and he began working for Hallmark Co. in Missouri.  His dream of moving to New York City came true in 1984.  Eventually, he was offered a manuscript to illustrate.  It was titled, Grandpa’s Face, written by Eloise Greenfield who was already an established writer.  From there, his career took off.

In 1994 Floyd Cooper published Coming Home: From the Life of Langston Hughes. This was his first book that he had written and illustrated.

Floyd Cooper moved out of New York and is now living in Easton, Pennsylvania with his wife and two sons.

Bibliography and Websites

Cooper, F. (n.d.). Home. Home. Retrieved October 1, 2011, from http://floydcooper.com

Cooper, F. (1994). Coming home: from the life of Langston Hughes. New York: Philomel Books.

Cooper, F. (1996). Mandela: from the life of the South African statesman. New York: Philomel

Books.

Cooper, F. (1998). Cumbayah. New York: Morrow Junior Books.

Cooper, F. (1998). Cumbayah. New York: Morrow Junior Books.

Cooper, F. (2004). Jump!: from the life of Michael Jordan. New York: Philomel Books.

Davidson, M., & Cooper, F. (1988). The story of Jackie Robinson, bravest man in baseball. New

York, New York: Dell Pub. Co..

Eaton, D., & Cooper, F. (1992). Petey. Columbus, OH: Silver Burdett & Ginn.

Galbraith, K. O., & Cooper, F. (1990). Laura Charlotte. New York: Philomel Books.

Greenfield, E., & Cooper, F. (1988). Grandpa's face. New York: Philomel Books.

Grimes, N., & Cooper, F. (1994). Meet Danitra Brown. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard.

Howard, E. F., & Cooper, F. (1989). Chita's Christmas tree. New York: Bradbury Press.

Merrill, J., & Cooper, F. (1992). The girl who loved caterpillars: a twelfth-century tale from

Japan. New York: Philomel Books.

Floyd, C. ( ), Something About the Author. 187, p. 24 – 30.

Thomas, J. C., & Cooper, F. (1993). Brown honey in broomwheat tea: poems. New York:

HarperCollins.

Williams, K. L., & Cooper, F. (1991). When Africa was home. New York: Orchard Books.

Zee, R., & Cooper, F. (2004). Mississippi morning. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books For

Young Readers. PA formatting by BibMe.org.

Awards

Floyd Cooper was the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner in 2009 for The Blacker the Berry and received the Coretta Scott

King Illustrator Honor Book Award three times!

         

He also won ther National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) for his illustrations in Grandpa’s

Face(written by Eloise Greenfield) in 1988

Notable Book selection, American Library Association (ALA), and National Council for the Social Studies NCSS/Children’s Book Council (CBC) Notable Children’s Book in the field of Social Studies designation, both for Grandpa’s Face by Eloise Greenfield; Parents’ Choice Award, Parents’ Choice Foundation, 1990, for Laura Charlotte by Kathryn Osebold Galbraith; Bank Street Child Study Children’s Book of the Year designation, 1993, for The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars by Jean Merrill, 1996, and for Be Good Eddie Lee by Virginia Fleming; Coretta Scott King Honor Book for Illustration, ALA, 1994, for Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea by Joyce Carol Thomas, 1995, for Meet Danitra Brown by Nikki Grimes, and 1999, for I Have Heard of a Land by Thomas; ALA Notable Book selection, Notable Trade Book in the Language Arts designation, Bank Street College Child Study Children’s Book of the Year designation, and NCSS/CBC Notable Children’s book in the Field of Social Studies designation, all 1996, all for Coming Home (Something About the Author, Volume 187, p. 24).

Coming Home: From the Life of Langston HughesWritten and Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

3rd Grade Activity

This activity is designed to allow children to reflect on the story of Langston Hughes to better understand the moral of the story. The teacher will read the story to the class. As a whole group, the children will discuss some of the key elements of the story. They will be encouraged to ask questions to help them better understand the text. The teacher will guide students to recognize cues from the illustrations to help identify the mood, and setting.

Students will then write their own version of Coming Home using details from their own lives, including illustrations to enhance the reader’s experience.

When the projects are completed, students will have the opportunity to share their stories with the class.

RL.3.2. Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

RL.3.7. Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).

REFERENCES Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home. (n.d.). Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home.

Retrieved October 10, 2011, from http://corestandards.org

Laura CharlotteWritten by Kathryn O. Galbraith, Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

3rd Grade Activity

As children read this book they will be reminded to pay attention to the characters in the story to better understand how their actions build the story. Students will write their own stories about a bedtime ritual, real or imagined using descriptive details and clear event sequences.

Next students will create PowerPoint presentations of their stories using clip art graphics, and images found online. Each slide will tell a part of the story. A partner will view their story and give a peer review to offer suggestions about where their story is missing information or is confusing, encouraging greater detail and organization of the story.

RL.3.3. Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

W.3.3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

o Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

o Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.

o Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.

o Provide a sense of closure.

REFERENCES Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home. (n.d.). Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home.

Retrieved October 10, 2011, from http://corestandards.org

Galbraith, K. O., & Cooper, F. (1990). Laura Charlotte. New York: Philomel Books.

Grandpa’s FaceWritten by Eloise Greenfield, Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

3rd Grade Activity

In this activity students will be encouraged to describe different facial expressions in words and through illustrations. This is intended to provide children with a foundation for writing using descriptive words to help readers visualize characters and accurately set the scene of their stories.

Once children have completed their descriptions and illustrations, they will write how each facial expression makes someone feel, along with several situations where the description and illustration they provided would enhance a story.

Finally, students will actively research the internet for images that portray the facial expressions, feelings and scenes where the facial expressions are appropriate.

RL.3.3. Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

REFERENCES Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home. (n.d.). Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home.

Retrieved October 10, 2011, from http://corestandards.org

Greenfield, E., & Cooper, F. (1988). Grandpa's face. New York: Philomel Books.

Brown Honey in Broomwheat TeaWritten by Joyce Carol Thomas, Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

4th Grade Activity

In this activity, student’s desks will be put together in groups of four. Table cloths will cover the desks to help turn the room into a coffee house type setting. Students will be assigned specific poems to practice ahead of time, and will read their poems in this “coffee house”. All of the students will come to class prepared to discuss the poem including the characters, setting, and specific details. Asking questions with specific details and actively participating in the discussion will help identify students’ areas of strength and weakness.

RL.4.1. Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

RL.4.3. Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).

REFERENCES Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home. (n.d.). Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home.

Retrieved October 10, 2011, from http://corestandards.org

Thomas, J. C., & Cooper, F. (1993). Brown honey in broomwheat tea: poems. New York: HarperCollins.

Mandela: From the Life of the South African StatesmanWritten and Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

4th Grade Activity

This activity allows students to research more information about Nelson Mandela online. Then they will complete the fact or fiction lesson found at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/nelson_mandela/files/lesson2_long_walk_to_freedom_fact_fiction_and_opinion.pdf. Below is the first page of the lesson.

RI.4.1. Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

Connecticut Social Studies Curriculum Framework Grades PK-12

SDE 2.2 - Interpret information from a variety of primary and secondary sources, including electronic media (e.g. maps, charts, graphs, images, artifacts,recordings and text).

REFERENCES Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home. (n.d.). Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home.

Retrieved October 10, 2011, from http://corestandards.org SDE: Social Studies. (n.d.). Connecticut State Department of Education. Retrieved October 10, 2011, from

http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2618&q=320898 Cooper, F. (1996). Mandela: from the life of the South African statesman. New York: Philomel Books.

CumbayahWritten and Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

4th Grade Activity

Although this book is recommended for children ages 3 to 8, this activity will be done with 4 th grader students to improve their ability to use words to express what they see and feel while viewing the images.

Students will participate in a whole class discussion about the differences between novels and poetry. The poems will be analyzed for their structure, and rhythm. Then they will read the book Cumbayah by Floyd Cooper.

Students will then write their own poems for the images in Cumbayah. Peer editors will assist in streamlining the poems. Prior to writing the final draft, the teacher will assist in final revisions.

Students will then type up their poems to be included in a class book of poems based on Floyd Cooper’s illustrations.

RL.4.5. Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.

W.4.5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.

REFERENCES Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home. (n.d.). Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home.

Retrieved October 10, 2011, from http://corestandards.org

Cooper, F. (1998). Cumbayah. New York: Morrow Junior Books.

Mississippi Morning

Written by Ruth Vander Zee, Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

5th Grade Activity

This activity begins with a whole class discussion to identify students’ prior knowledge regarding segregation, the Ku Klux Klan, and the lynching of black men in history. After this discussion, the teacher will read the book to the class.

Students will then rewrite the story twice using details from the story. One version will be from the view of a black man watching the story unfold, and the other will be from the view of a white man. The two versions will be tied together with the child’s opinion of the events that unfolded in the story, and in history.

RI.4.1. Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

Connecticut Social Studies Curriculum Framework Grades PK-12

SDE 3.2 – Analyze and evaluate human action in historical and/or contemporary contexts from alternative points of view.

REFERENCES Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home. (n.d.). Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home.

Retrieved October 10, 2011, from http://corestandards.org SDE: Social Studies. (n.d.). Connecticut State Department of Education. Retrieved October 10, 2011, from

http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2618&q=320898 Zee, R., & Cooper, F. (2004). Mississippi morning. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books For Young

Readers.

Jump! From the Life of Michael JordanWritten and Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

5th Grade Activity

After reading the story Jump! From the Life of Michael Jordan, students will imagine what it would be like to be famous for something they love to do. Using the book as an example of how to structure their story, students will write their experiences that make them famous. Their stories will also include how different their lives would be as a famous person.

Students would choose partners for peer editing to offer ideas and questions about how the stories could be improved. The teacher will assist students with revisions on an individual basis.

Students will bring in pictures of them doing their favorite things to include in a class published anthology.

W.5.3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

o Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

o Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.

W.4.5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.

REFERENCES Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home. (n.d.). Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home.

Retrieved October 10, 2011, from http://corestandards.org

Cooper, F. (2004). Jump!: from the life of Michael Jordan. New York: Philomel Books.