Profesora

My Family Study
First Grade

During this unit, students will be learning more about families by learning about their own families. Big activities/projects during this unit include:
-Family Graphs
-Family Tree
-Family Portraits
-Stories With My Family Anthology
-Our Family Traditions Anthology
-Family Roles Skits
-Family Appreciation Letters

Begin the unit with the following:Who's in Your Family?
* Before working with first-graders, gather materials needed for the activity. Elementary students will need paper and pencils as well as crayons to complete this activity. Rulers might be helpful also. Have materials available to students in a central location of the classroom.
As a group, discuss how charts are used in diagramming information. Share with first-gradersdifferent types of graphs including pie charts and line graphs. Make several examples on the board for students to use as motivation. Explain to students they will be making charts using the information about their families. Poll each child about their families, taking note on the board of how many brothers, sister, moms, dads and grandparents elementary students have.
Have students use theinformation gathered on the board to create their own pie charts or line graphs. With crayons, students can add color to the information.


Family Tree
* A family tree is a way to document the people in one's family. It is a diagram that shows the relationship between family members and can sometimes show generations of people.
For this family project students will need brown and green constructionpaper, glue, scissors, markers, and white paper.
Have first-graders cut out trees from brown construction paper and glue onto white paper. On branches have elementary students write names of the people in their families along with who they are, such as "Emily is my sister." Cut out leaves and glue onto tree branches when finished labeling branches with family members.


Family Portrait
* Peoplearen't the only important things in our families. Pets play an important role in families also and first-graders often think of them on the same level as other family members. For this project, white drawing paper, pencils, crayons, paint or markers are needed.
List family members on the board with students such as mom, dad, sister, brother and also add in pets such as cat, dog and fish.First-graders can use these words as a guide to help finish their family portrait. Draw all the members of families, including pets. Have students draw their house in the background. When finished, have first-graders label their family members. Display family portraits around the classroom when finished.



During this unit, children can really get into writing small moments about stories with theirfamilies. Together they will have the opportunity to share stories about their families. First, they need to brainstorm stories that have happened with their families. The teacher needs to show how she might brainstorm. One day you can show the heart method and have them think about all of the things that are dear to their heart that has to do with their families. Another brainstorming activity wouldbe to think of a time they were happy, sad, or had other strong feelings with their family. Another brainstorming activity might be using pictures they bring in of special events with their families. Then, they can start to write small moments. By publishing, each child can choose one small moments story they want to include in the class short story anthology on families. Celebrate the publicationby inviting parents to come in and hear each child’s short story.

Another genre students will immerse themselves in is narrative procedures. Family How-to Book. Students will learn more about how to write “how-to” books by first thinking about what they want to teach their classmates about that has to do with their families. Start by having them learn how to write with precision by having...