Day 1: Overview/Activator

State Standards

SS 1.3.4 Students will recognize that people belong to different groups and live in different
settings
LA 1.3.2.b Use information in order to complete a task (e.g., following one/two-step
directions, responding to questions)

NETS Standards

1. Creativity and Innovation

a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression

Lesson Goals

Students will understand and respect that we all have similarities and differences.
Students will be able to complete All About Me pages by responding to certain questions
(What are some of your favorite things? What is your birthday? What do you like most about
1st grade?)

Objectives/Purpose

When asked to identify what makes people different from one another, all students will be able
to verbally express at least one example.
When asked to discuss the diversity of families represented in and out of the classroom, all
students will be able to contribute at least one idea to the conversation.
When asked to create Paint presentations of their knowledge, all students will be able to use
the computer responsibly and raise their hands when they have questions regarding tools or
printing the final product.
When given the All About Me graphic organizer, all students will be able to record their
answers to each question.

Materials

All About Me worksheet

Book: We Are All AlikeWe Are All Different by The Cheltenham Elementary School
Kindergarteners
Computer/iPad
Projector/Screen
Beach ball with questions written on it

Anticipatory Set/Activator
This is a new unit and students havent really experienced anything similar, in terms of units.
However, they are familiar with the All About Me activity because the class does a weekly star
student where the class learns a little more about one of their classmates each week.

Play a get to know you game with students. Use a beach ball (medium size) and write
questions on each section of the ball with a permanent marker. These questions will come
directly from the All About Me worksheet they will be completing later in the lesson. The
teacher models how to find the section where your thumb lands and answers a question. The
ball is thrown to the next person and the process is repeated until each person has answered
two questions. This serves as a precursor to the reading of the book that verbally illustrates
that we are all alike and different.

Alright boys and girls, we are going to play a game. Some of you may have played something
similar with your friends or maybe at camp. The purpose of playing this game is so that we
can learn a little about our classmates. Now we are all different, so we might have different
answers to some of these questions. However, we are alike in some ways, too. Some answers
may be identical. As we are playing, I want you to try and recognize the similarities and
differences that are found in our answers. Here is the beach ball. On each section is a different
question. When I catch the ball, I answer the question that my right thumb lands on. For
example
After playing, have a brief discussion about the similarities and differences they heard in their
classmates answers.
Okay, who can raise their hand and tell me one similarity they found within our answers?
(Repeat a few times) Who can raise their hand and tell me one difference they found within
our answers? (Repeat a few times)

Instructional Sequence
1. (10 min) Teacher will: introduce families unit, using a PowerPoint presentation, covering the
basic topics that will be covered each day. Students will: sit on the mats at the front of the
room, facing the projector screen.
2. (2 min) Teacher will: give students a brain break. Students will: do a short Simon Says
activity.
3. (8 min) Teacher will: prompt students to review the beach ball game and what they learned,
including asking why it is so important to know these things about their friends. Students will:
discuss why they think we played the beach ball game. Teacher will: use the Elmo, a piece of
paper, a marker, and the projector so that students can see their ideas written down.
Students will: verbally contribute their ideas to the teacher-student discussion. Teacher will:
tell them that they are going to read a book called We Are All AlikeWe Are All Different
and that it shows how all people, not just our classroom, have similarities and differences.
Read the book, placing emphasis on important lessons that they should learn from listening to
the story. Students will: sit on the mats at the front of the room and listen attentively to the
book being read.
4. (3 min) Teacher will: send students back to their desk. Be clear about expectations of no
talking, no touching, etc. In that one minute, designate a paper passer and have them pass
out the All About Me worksheet to each student. These papers will be numbered. Students
will: find their number partners based on the number at the top of their papers and sit next
to them at a computer.
5. (7 min) Teacher will: instruct students to discuss with their partners what the word family
means to them and the differences they heard in the book that was read to them. Students
will: discuss with their partners and together, create a Paint presentation to demonstrate
what they talked about, either creating a word web or pictures. This will be printed out and
submitted to the teacher.
6. (10 min) Teacher will: tell the students they are going to complete a worksheet describing
who they are. Remind them that a lot of their answers were revealed in the beach ball game
so they can use those as a reference. Be clear about the expectation of no talking because
their answers are their own and there should be no need to get ideas from friends. Also be
clear that they are expected to answer every question. After about 5 minutes, tell them if they
finish early, they can color the words and border or draw a picture on the back of themselves
and have them incorporate illustrations of their answers from the front of the worksheet.
Students will: work diligently to complete their All About Me graphic organizers and will
submit these to the teacher at the completion of the lesson.
Closure

Today, we did some fun stuff to get to know one another. We played a beach ball game, we
read an awesome book, and we filled out and maybe colored a pretty cool worksheet. While
doing these things, we learned a lot about each other, including our similarities and
differences. We learned that it is important to know these things about each other but that we
must respect them. We also talked about the rest of the unit and that we will be learning a lot
about families. Can anyone guess why we started the family unit with learning about the

similarities and differences of our classmates? (Pause for answers) Thats right. Our classroom
is kind of like a family. And youre right, as well! Some families are alike and some are
different, just like we are.
Boys and girls, you did a spectacular job today! Im so proud of your hard work. I hope that
we can continue to work hard tomorrow, when we learn about all kinds of families.

Assessment (Checking for Understanding)

Formative assessment for this lesson will be fairly informal. The teacher will assess students
meeting the objectives by listening and ensuring that students are being respectful of their
classmates and completing their work, as asked. This means no rude comments, no
inappropriate or untimely giggling, etc. This will be monitored using a checklist (Actively
Listening: Yes or No, Being Respectful: Yes or No.)
The assessment over the objective concerning the materials turned in will still only be a
formative assessment. Students will hand in their All About Me worksheet and the teacher
will look at them after school, making sure that they answered all questions with appropriate
responses. The Paint presentations will be looked at to ensure that students completed them
and expressed their ideas in a creative way. These materials will be handed back to them the
next day.

Re-teaching/Modifications

A modification for this lesson might be for the teacher to have a completed All About Me
worksheet for herself/himself. They could also have it partially completed and model on the
projector screen how to answer the remaining questions.
The teacher, during individual work time, might allow for one-on-one time, especially for
students who may have trouble staying on task or have a learning disability.

Also, one could connect the lesson they learn from the book (We Are All AlikeWe Are All Different) to
other books theyve read or personal experiences and have them share those with the class.
Extensions
A possible extension could be having them trade their All About Me worksheets with one another to
take home and bring back the next day, so they can read each others and get to know a classmate a
little better. They could maybe even write a little about how they might relate to the person whose
paper they took home.