Activities will help students:
- Understand that families have different structures and compositions
- Read, write and talk about the idea that differences in family structures actually make for a richer community
- Reflect on what makes their own families special and the diversity of families in the community
- Create and reflect on a gallery of classroom family portraits
Objectives
Activities will help students:
- Understand that families have different structures and compositions
- Read, write and talk about the idea that differences in family structures actually make for a richer community
- Reflect on what makes their own families special and the diversity of families in the community
- Create and reflect on a gallery of classroom family portraits
Essential Questions
- What is a family?
- What makes some families different from others and in what ways is your own family unique?
- How does having different kinds of families make the world and our classroom community a richer place?
Glossary
family [fam-uh-lee, fam-lee]
(noun) a group of people going through the world together, often adults and the children they care for
extended family [ik-sten-did fam-uh-lee, fam-lee]
(noun) all of the relatives or people making up a family, whether or not they live together; often this includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.
adopt [uh-dopt]
(verb) to raise a child you did not give birth to
diversity [dih-vur-si-tee]
(noun) variety, differences
single parent [sing-guhl pair-uhnt, par-]
(noun) an adult raising a child without a partner
gay [gey]
(adjective) loving or choosing to spend your life with members of the same sex
lesbian [lez-bee-uhn]
(noun) a woman who loves or chooses to spend her life partnered with other women
Materials
- Picture books for perusal (choose from the list under Additional Resources or use any other picture book that gets at the idea of different kinds of families)
- Chart paper
- Post-it notes
- Construction paper
- Paints or oil pastels
Activities
- What is a family? What makes some families different from others? What would the world be like if all families were the same? How does the fact that all of us come from different families make our class a more interesting place? As a class, talk about one or more of these questions. (Note: Take notes on chart paper as students brainstorm answers to these questions.)
- On a post-it note, write one thing that you feel makes your own family special or different. Bring your post-it note to stick on a chart in the front of the class. (Note: Read aloud what students have written.) As a class, talk about what makes different families similar and different, and how it might feel when your family seems different from others.
- Pair up with a partner. Each of you should share one thing that you feel makes your own family different and special. Talk about how you think that difference makes you special and what you have to offer the class because of it. For example, if you feel your family is different because you live with your grandmother, you might share that you bring respect for senior citizens and traditions to your class community.
- On construction paper with paints, draw a portrait of your family. In your portrait, challenge yourself to show what makes your family different and special.
- When the portraits are done, hang them in the classroom to show a family gallery. Look at your classmates’ portraits and celebrate your gallery and the diverse, interesting backgrounds.
- Come back together and discuss the questions the lesson started with. Did seeing your classmates’ portraits change your understanding of families at all?
- At reading time, look at the picture books about different families. Be sure to think about these books in relation to your class discussions.
ELL Extension (Optional)
Talking about your family means you need to learn a lot of new words to describe the people who are important to you. With help from a teacher or buddy, create your own family book. Bring in photographs or draw pictures of all the people in your family. Attach each picture to a piece of paper and write the common noun describing this person (e.g., aunt, brother, etc). If you’re ready, you can also write one sentence describing this person and how they are related to you (e.g., My aunt is my father’s sister.).
Extension Assignment (Optional)
Talking about your family might inspire you to talk with your family. Choose one person in your family you’d like to know more about. Interview them about what they think of when they hear the word FAMILY and what family means to them. Share your discoveries with your classmates and discuss how different people define the word. Soon, you’ll be able to explain your own unique definition of family.
