First Grade: What Makes a Family a Family? - Part 2 by Stephanie Rotsky
First Grade: What Makes a Family a Family Unit - Part 2
What a memorable unit and collection of books about families that we shared together over the past two months! The goal from the start was to both heighten students' awareness and appreciation of what makes a family a family and create an opportunity for them to think about their own families and what is special about them.
Following each story we read, we added new responses to the ever-present question that was posed:What makes a family a family?
The heart below represents the total responses students shared over the course of the unit.
A quick look back at the books we explored during the second half of the unit:
Donovan's Big Day by Leslea Newman
A young boy named Donovan is beyond
excited as he gets ready for his moms’ wedding…
Following the story, students were asked: Who is in your family?
We brainstormed the many different members that could be in a family and then created a Key for those members so each of us could present a "picture" of who is in our families.
We began with creating a picture of who was in Donovan's family. Then students used the key to create a picture of who is in their families.
Following each story we read, students were asked to reflect on examples of how that family showed love and kindness to one another. For Donovan's Big Day, first graders illustrated one part of the story where love and kindness was shown to one another.
I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose Lewis
A woman, Rose Lewis, travels to China to adopt a baby girl, Alexandra Mae-Ming Lewis, to create a forever family together back in Boston…
As an introduction to this book and to set the stage for this story about adoption, students brainstormed two lists: What babies need and what parents do for their babies. We used this list to illustrate how babies need many things when they are so young and that their parents are responsible to make sure that they are taken care of. I wrote the word adoption on the board and explained that in very rare cases, there are parents who love their babies very much, but for different big reasons, they realize (and it is a very, very sad and painful decision to make) that they are not able to give their babies what they need and to take care of them in the way that is necessary. So...these birth parents give up their babies so they can be adopted by new parents and become part of a forever family.
After reading the book, students were invited to illustrate an example from the story that showed how Alexandra Mae-Ling Lewis' family showed love and kindness to her and one another. There were students who were deeply sad that the birth mother could not take care of Alexandra when she was born and it was heartening for all of us to read Alexandra's Forever Mom's words to her daughter:
I held you tightly, kissed you softly and cried.
The tears were for your Chinese mother, who could not keep you.
I wanted her to know that we would always remember her.
And I hoped somehow she knew you were safe and happy in the world.
Always and Forever by Debi Gliori and Alan Durant
To introduce this poignant story about loss in a family of animals, we first looked back at an earlier student response to the question: What makes a family a family? A student had shared:
When someone dies in your family, they are always a part of your family forever.
I then asked students had anyone had a family member who died in his/her family. Many hands went up. Many children wanted to shared the names as well as who these individuals were in their families. We went on to watch two Sesame Street videos - You Can Talk to Me and Memory Box. The first video shows us the conversation that takes place between a young girl whose dad has died and her uncle and his words to her that she can always talk to him when she is missing her dad. The second video focused on this young girl who decides to make a Memory Box of special things to remind her of the wonderful times she shared with her dad.
Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup by Pamela Mayer
One little girl, Sophie, two
grandmothers -Bubbe and Nai Nai, one Jewish, one Chinese, chicken soup with
kreplach, chicken soup with wontons, loving their granddaughter and passing
down their soup that their grandparents made for them, it takes Sophie and her
clever mind to uncover the gifts of being part of both cultures for her family…
We concluded our Family Unit with this wonderful story The Hello, Goodbye Window. It is no wonder that it received the Caldecott Medal for best illustrations in 2006! The Hello, Goodbye Window captures (and invites the reader into) the loving relationship between a little girl and her Nanna and Poppy. The window in their kitchen provides opportunities for playful interaction, magical moments and precious hellos and goodbyes. Love and connection permeate every page of this story...
Students were given a blank Hello, Goodbye Window frame and invited to draw either something they see when they look out from a particular window in their home or what someone might see when they look into a particular window in their home.
What an honor to share these Family books with the first graders and have an opportunity to reflect on our own families and why each is so very important and precious to us.
