FIRST GRADE THEMATIC UNIT---

FAMILIES

UNIT GOALSBACKGROUND INFORMATION

What is a family? A family is the people who love and care for you. They don’t necessarily have to be the people you live with. There are many different types of families. The nuclear family consists of a mother, a father, and children. A family made up of stepparents and/or stepchildren is called a blended family. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins make up an extended family. Sometimes some of these family members live together. The single-parent family includes one parent, either a mom or a dad, and the children. Other children live with their adoptive parents, rather than their birth parents. Every family is unique!Our families help take care of us by providing us with some basic needs. These needs include physical items such as shelter and clothing. Families also fulfill our emotional needs by giving us love, care and security. Families around the world have different traditions. Students may celebrate different holidays or the same holidays in different ways. These differences may come from their ethnic background, religious beliefs, or other personal reasons. It is important to make students aware of a variety of ways families celebrate in our world today. Make plans to research and teach about the different traditions that are specific to your students.Every family is different. As you teach this unit, be aware of these differences and the emotional ties to the subject. Be considerate of your individual students and their unique situations.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

LAUNCH ACTIVITY (All 1st Grade Classrooms)

FAMILIES

1A. FAMILY COLLAGE Materials: magazines, scissors, construction paper, glue, computer access to United Streaming websiteTime: 40 - 50 minutesView United Streaming video clip which discusses types of families and their similarities and differences.

http://www.unitedstreaming.com/search/assetDetail.cfm?guidAssetID=F63A639E-ECA9-4E3C-84AB-4EE5A70ACDEANote: View Segments 1, 2, & 3

Read What is a Family poem (attached) aloud to whole class. Draw a web on the chalkboard with the word family in the center. Have students brainstorm what a family is and who and/or what makes up a family. Write responses on a chart paper. (Ex: Some families are big. Some families are small. Families love. Families play.) Add and refer to this list throughout the unit. Have children share thoughts and ideas and complete the web.

Using magazines, have students cut 5 pictures out of what they think represent a family. Teacher monitors students' work and may ask individual children to explain the reason for their choice of picture. Each child will glue his/her pictures on to a whole class collage.

As students finish activity, each student will receive a copy of A Family (attached) little book that they can read, color and assemble. Students will read book and take home to share with his/her family.

1B. FAMILY TREESMaterials: book(s)- Families by Meredith Tax Family Tree by Pierre Coran Me and My Family Tree by Sweeneypaper with tree trunk on it, brown construction paper branches, scissors, glue, markers, pencilsTime: 30-40 minutesDiscuss family relationships with the children and how they can be shown with a chart called a family tree. Read the book Family Tree and/or Me and My Family Tree and refer back often to the family tree in the book as you read the story. Allow the students to make family trees using the materials the teacher has provided. Allow them to use names of their own family members.Home Connection: Each child will complete "My Family Tree" template (attached). At school, each child will cut/paste to add these family components to his/her family tree. Social Studies Text: TM pages 90-92

1C. MEET MY FAMILYMaterials: book(s) - The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant All Kinds of Families by Norma Simon paper, pencils, crayons, computer access to United Streaming websiteTime: 30 minutesView United Streaming video clip which shows children telling about their family memberslink: http://www.unitedstreaming.com/search/assetDetail.cfm?guidAssetID=347E9523-3CE7-49F3-BA31-6E0E57B69E2EAfter a brief discussion about the video, children draw pictures of their families and label each member by title (ex: mother, father). (Save for culminating "In the Bag" Activity) Additional Launch Activity (optional)MY FAMILY MOBILEMaterials: paper, crayons, scissors, hanger, paper punch, stringTime: 30-45 minutesChildren draw pictures of each family member. Cut out each one. Paper punch a hole in the top of each picture. Tie a string to this hole and attach to hanger. Display mobiles around the room.

1D. GUEST SPEAKER - SCHOOL COUNSELORMaterials: speaker and any materials they may need for their lessonTime: 20-30 minutesInvite the school counselor to speak to the children about different kinds of families. Ask him or her to discuss the differences and similarities among traditional, nuclear families, single parent families, foster families, step families, etc. Ask them to stress that families come in many shapes and sizes. Encourage children to ask questions and participate in the discussion.

1E. FAMILY TEAMWORK (Social Studies & Kid Writing Connections)Materials: Paper, pencilsPossible Read-Alouds to coincide with the lesson objectives: Flower Garden (from current Houghton Mifflin reading series and Social Studies Big Book) A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. WilliamsTime: 30 minutes (may need more than one 30 minute period)Review who makes up a family and the different roles these members can have. Each child chooses one family member from their previous drawing activity. Using the Kid Writing method, each child will describe that person and their role in the family. If time permits, share the writing with the class. (Save for culminating "In the Bag" Activity)Social Studies Text: 96-98 Skills: Initial Consonants Compare and Contrast Noting Details Parts of a Book (Table of Contents) Think About Words (T153) High Frequency Words: Making Words: T151a, baby, have, my, our, see, we, withWord Families: og, and, ose, ice

2.What Does A Family Need?(To be completed in approximately 1 week)Standards: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening 1.1.3.A, 1.1.3.B, 1.1.3.C, 1.1.3.D, 1.1.3.G, 1.1.3.H, 1.5.3.A, 1.5.3.F, 1.5.3.B,Families' Needs2A. NEEDS WORD WEBMaterials: noneTime: 20 minutes Remind children that people everywhere have needs. Write the words Needs in a circle in the center of the board. Together, name the four basic needs: food, shelter, clothing, and love. Take one need at a time and have the class add related words to the web.

2B. FAMILIES HELP MEET OUR NEEDS (Social Studies, Kid Writing and Art Connections)Materials: read aloud title(s): A House Is a House for Me by: Mary Ann Hoberman This House is Made of Mud by Ken Buchanan A Tibetan Family by Stephen Chicone A Nicaraguan Family by Michael Malone A Family in India by Tony Tigwell Patterns of houses ( Social Studies text TM page P3), pop-up book pattern on construction paper (attached), magazines, scissors, crayons and glue Time: 30-40 minutesDiscuss with the children that we depend on our families to meet our needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. Define needs as things we must have to be healthy and safe. Discuss some of the basic needs of families. Allow the children to make pop-up books of the needs their families provide them with. They can each use a pattern of a home (or make their own) and draw members of their family in the window for one side of the book. Then they can draw or cut out pictures of food, clothing, furniture, etc. and paste them as pop-outs on the bottom half of their book.

2C. Family NeedsMaterials: brown lunch bags Parent letter (attached)Review the four needs of a family (food, clothing, shelter and love) with the whole class. Tell students that they will have to find one example for each need at home, place in their own brown paper bag and bring back to school. Optional: Teacher can show and model his/her own bag made to represent each of the four needs.(Save for culminating "In the Bag" Activity) Social Studies Text: TM pages 73-76 Skills: Final Consonants Final Sound Recognition Categorize and Classify High Frequency Words: but, for, is, it, not, will, you Word Families: at, ear, it, ill,

3. Where Do Families Live?(To be completed in approximately 1 week)Standards: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening 1.1.3.A, 1.1.3.B, 1.1.3.C, 1.1.3.D, 1.1.3.G, 1.1.3.H, 1.5.3.A, 1.5.3.B, 1.5.3.FLocations

3A. HOMES AROUND THE WORLDMaterials: pictures of homes around the world, fiction and nonfiction books about shelters groups are researching, paper, pencilsTime: This activity would need to be done over several days-possibly a week (approx. 3-4 hours)Discuss with the students the different kinds of homes families can live in. Talk about a few different kinds of homes within our culture such as apartments, mobile homes, cabins, etc. Then discuss with children how homes vary around the world depending on the culture and climate of where people live and the available natural resources. Show some pictures of different homes around the world. Come up with a list of different homes around the world with the class. Allow the children to divide into small groups of about four or five and research a particular home such as Arctic shelters, adobe homes, log cabins, etc. by looking at different books in the classroom and school library. Have the children present their research in the form of a story: what would it be like for a child their age to live in this particular shelter?

3B. My HomeMaterials: picture of each student's home (or drawing of each student's home), paper, pencilTime: 30 minutes (may take more than one writing session)Each student will bring in a picture of their home or a house in which they previously lived. If this doesn't seem possible, have each student draw a picture of their home. Building off of the pictures, students will write about any of the given topics; information about their home, their favorite room in their home, what makes their home special or different, etc... (Save for culminating "In the Bag" Activity) Skills: Final Consonants Inferences: Drawing Conclusions High Frequency Words: am, came, he, me, said, too Word Families: ig, am,

4. Where Does Your Family Come From?(To be completed in approximately 1 week)Standards: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening 1.1.3.A, 1.1.3.B, 1.1.3.C, 1.1.3.D, 1.1.3.G, 1.1.3.H, 1.5.3.A, 1.1.3.B, 1.5.3.F

4A. FAMILIES AROUND THE WORLDMaterials: World map, globe, pictures of families throughout the worldTime: 20 minutesShow pictures of families throughout the world. Talk about what each family is doing. Ask students if their families do any of the same things. Use a globe or map to locate countries where these families live. Divide students into small groups and have them sort, then group their photos. (Ex: activity, place, family members shown.) Each group draws or writes how they sorted the photos. They might also want to write simple captions for each picture. Display photos on a "Family Groups Photo Wall."

4B. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCESMaterials: paper, crayons, pencilsTime: 30 minutesChildren plan and make a chart showing ways families are similar and different. Each child folds a paper in half (hot dog style) to make to columns. In one column, children write ways that families are the same. In the other column, children illustrate ways families are different. (Ex: Write- Families live in homes. Draw- different types of homes people live in; Write- Families eat food. Draw- food eaten in different countries.)

4C. WHERE IN THE WORLD DID MY FAMILY COME FROM?Materials: Each student's name listed on post-it notes, a large world map, individual world maps for each student on standard sized paper, crayons, parent letter (attached), and one large graph on chart paper. Time: 30 - 40 minutesHand out the parent letter previously to teaching the lesson. Have student's names written on post-its prior to the lesson. Have a discussion about how the United States came about and how others came to the country to make their way in the world. Using your pull down map, have each child place his/her name on the continent from which his ancestors came. When all students are finished, they can locate their country of origin on the individual maps and color/label the country. As a whole group, graph the countries from which the students' families come from. Generate questions to ask the group in regard to your findings as a class. (Save individual maps for culminating "In the Bag" Activity) Skills: Final Consonants Sequence reading and making words with s, ed, ing High Frequency Words: in, out, plant, put, six, then Word Families: in, eed, ix, ip

Culminating Activity - End of the Unit(over a few days)FAMILY IN A BAGMaterials: Large brown paper grocery bags, attached "Family in a Bag" label, and the parent letter. Time: Throughout the unit (starting from lesson 1C and continuing on until the completion of the unit). Presentation Time: 5 minutes per presentation (over a few days)On the day of presentations, model how the sharing will be done. Each student will present the items from their bag to the rest of the class and describe what each item represents. Allow for 2 students to ask a question each. Optional: Once the student has presented, allow for their bag to be put on display. Please use rubric (attached) to assess each child.