The overall goal of these lessons is to help students recognize and accept differences among each other and within the larger community and how their own unique family contributes to a richer society. As they begin to understand themselves more thoroughly, learning opportunities likely will open up to explore their own biases and prejudices. The series consists of the following four lessons.
My Family Rocks! [1]
Students explore the definition of family, learn about different kinds of family structures through a scavenger hunt and explore what makes their own families unique by creating and presenting a family portrait.
My Family Journey [2]
Students explore how their family’s ethnic and cultural journey contributes to their lives and to their community. The culminating activity asks students to interview an older family member or somebody important to the student, like a family friend to learn more.
My Family is the Same. My Family is Different. [3]
After students are introduced to the concepts of “same” and “different,” they read and answer questions about two different types of families and create a “same and different” graphic organizer that reflects similarities and differences between their family and a classmate’s family.
Stitching It Together [4]
Students synthesize everything they’ve learned throughout the series to create a quilt that tells the story of their families and how those families contribute to their overall classroom community.
Links:
[1] http://www.tolerance.org/activity/my-family-rocks
[2] http://www.tolerance.org/activity/my-family-journey
[3] http://www.tolerance.org/activity/every-family-same-every-family-different
[4] http://www.tolerance.org/activity/stitching-it-together