®Día! Family Book Club Lesson Plan 3; Ages 4-8

Activity Description/Information

Introduction As members enter, sort them into two groups based one some arbitrary characteristic, such as eye color or hair length. Tell one group to sit quietly while each member of the other group is invited to select a sticker or some other small token. When everyone has made their selection, ask the left-out group how it felt to sit and watch while the other group received a prize, and only because of something they could not control. Could this be how Dave and other slaves felt all the time?

Discussion Questions 1. It was against the law to teach a slave to read and write. Slave masters were afraid that a slave who could read and write would demand freedom. What are some things that reading and writing make a person able to do?

2. Someone taught Dave to read and write even though it was against the law. Are there times when it is okay to break the law? Why would someone break the law to teach a slave?

3. Dave worked hard to be one of the best potters in the world even though he didn’t get paid for his work. Why did he do this? What is something that you try hard to be good at? Why do you do this?

4. Dave was an old man when the Civil War ended and all the slaves were made free. How do you think he felt when he became a free man? If you were Dave, what would be the first thing you did when you heard you were free? Why?

5. What do you like or not like about the illustrations? How do the illustrations help to tell the story?

Family Activity Read the examples of Dave’s short poems in the section at the back of the book called “Dave: A Life.” Which poem do you like best? Why? Imagine that you are a potter and think about what it would be like to make a pot. Write your own short poem about pottery.

Book InformationDave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill

Pre-Club ActivitiesDistribute copies of the book. Ask families to read the book together and to begin to discuss the idea of slavery (as appropriate for their child’s age).

Club Activities

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®Día! Family Book Club Lesson Plan 3; Ages 4-8

Activity Description/Information

Small Group Activity In small groups, with groups cycling through craft stations:

1. Look at the pictures of Dave making pots. Draw a picture of yourself doing something that you like to do and think you’re good at, or something that you would like to be good at.

2. Make a small coil pot to take home. (See instructions below.)

3. Bryan Collier used both watercolor painting and collage to illustrate Dave the Potter. Make your own collage using scraps of construction paper, old magazines and newspapers, fabric scraps, etc. to illustrate something from Dave’s life or make a picture of one of his pots.

Full Group Activity Provide a light snack that members can nibble on while they display their pots, drawings, and collages, and share their poems.

Post Club Activities1. Search online for images of other pots made by Dave the Potter.

2. Visit a museum in your community that discusses slavery or tour virtual museum from a home or library computer.

3. Visit a museum or a local ceramics shop to learn more about making ceramic pots, or look for a video online showing how pots are still made using a wheel. Alternatively, invite a local potter to share the art of pottery with the book club.

Additional Resources for Club1. Coil pot instructions: http://artforkidshub.com/how-to-make-a-coil-pot/

This lesson plan was created by Jamie Holcomb, Masters Student, the School of Library at the University of Alabama. Work was edited by Jamie C. Naidoo, PhD, Associate Professor at the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies.