Letter home- going to be talking about family roots, considering blah

blah and blah, sensitive of different family structures, culminating

project will be a family tree- goals
Poster- what does an audience do?
How do you define your family? How does your family shape who you
are?
What role/purpose do roots serve?
Why is it important to learn about other peoples heritage?
Tree trunk rings
Create rubric for family tree- give to students to self assess, introduce
Monday of second week
Three categories- tree related? Or just number it, kids will figure out
categories regardless
One is writing checklist
# of details, well thought out etc.

First week- family over time, create timeline, read aloud: this is the
rope, reflect on memories
Second week- family geography, where are we from, put it together in
family tree, conscious decisions about materials- what kind of tree?
Where is it growing/has it grown? What should the branches look like?
My example
Family roots
First week, focus on read alouds
Second week, making their tree, presenting, responding to someone
elses work, give them roles while others are presenting, go over what
a good audience does
What purpose do roots serve?
Why do people try to learn about and stay connected to their familys
roots?

What- students will understand what heritage means and why people
try to stay connected to their heritage
They will also consider their own heritage and consider how they want
to stay connected to it and why

First week- general

Second week- personal
Why- fifth graders couldnt answer that question
Not much acknowledgment of family lives in school
Also to show that everyone has a heritage regardless of where theyre
from
HowStandards- look them up
Who?- not much social studies, older students lack basic geographical
knowledge and couldnt answer the question, a few students from far
away- but also want students to understand rich local heritage
Curriculum materials- not sure if want parental involvement or if that
will be too difficult, it may isolate a few students, I will consider after
conferences

Aspects of culture
Language:
Food:
Dress:
Family traditions:
Holidays:
Family tree:
Family role model:
Consider family over time/space
Assemble heritage book over two weeks:
Start with family tree- then pick two family members to highlight, two
places, then something about you
locations
Name- story of your name (first or last)
Class quilt by the end

Family tree- who will you include on your tree- one memory with this
person, something that they taught you
Picture of them at the end
This is the rope- Jacqueline woodson
I have an olive tree- Eve Bunting
The keeping quilt- patricia polacco
Rifka takes a bow- betty Rosenberg perlov
The blessing cup- patricia polacco
Hes got the whole world in his hands- kadir nelson
Yesterday I had the blues- jeron ashford frame
Aunt Flossies Hats and Crab Cakes Later- Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard
Growing up with Tamales- Gwendolyn Zepeda
http://www.museumoftolerance.com/atf/cf/%7B0418CDF9-65C7-4424955C-E30218530A20%7D/FOFFO_Lessons_Elementary.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/books/review/this-is-the-rope-byjacqueline-woodson-and-more.html?_r=0
http://www.digitaltraditions.net/t_resources/rowupon/u1_less1.pdf
http://www.legacyproject.org/holidaykit/part2/hd2.2.html