I plan to launch this unit with a viewing of
Barney’s Families Are Special
video which is available in most department or video rental stores. This viewing would lead to a general discussion of where we came from and our similarities and differences. For example, one could discuss how a momy and a daddy make a baby which grows inside mommy’s abdomen. When the baby is born, it lives with a family. While every family unit is different, each is special. This type of introduction may alleviate some of the awkwardness teachers and students may feel with non-traditional family structures. Students will understand that all children have two biological parentss, however, both parents may not live in the same household.
In addition, each person in the family is special and unique. Barney’s video reinforces this concept through lively song, dance, and skits. A particulary educational skit revolves around parents bringing home twins from the hospital. The audience learns that identical twins develop from the same cell and therefore have the same DNA. However, each twin is still unique because he or she has his or her own personality. I will reinforce the concept of uniqueness and individuality with the reading of
All The Colors Of The Earth
by Sheila Hamanaka. Her inspiring text and artwork exposes the richness of our diversity.
Next, I will continue my unit with another literary selection. We will read
Me And My Family Tree,
a children’s book which provides a good introduction to heredity. The students will learn about family trees and the connections between family members. They will see how certain traits are inherited from ancestors. As a class activity, the students will create their own family trees with the assistance of their families. This project will provide a wonderful opportunity for parents to involve themselves in their son or daughter’s education.
Before engaging in this activity, I will contact all of my classroom parents to gather the information that they would like to see in these projects. Then, I will plan a parent/child activity. The parents will bring in photographs of their child and other family members. Then we will comment on our similarities and differences between family members. Also, we will reassure each child that he or she is an important part of his or her family. In addition, each shild will learn how he or she is a unique individual to this world. I hope that my classroom parents enjoy their time with their children and feel that they have made an important contribution to their child’s education.
Another important piece of literature to introduce genetics is
Grandfather’s Nose: Why We Look Alike or Different.
This children’s book explains how different combinations of genes given to us by our parents create our unique individuality. This book is expecially good for reviewing basic genetic vocabulary. After reading this book, we will have a discussion on the information we learned from our parent activity. This is especially useful for tapping the students’ prior knowledge. They will need to remember and express the information from their family tree.
I find that it is extremely important to review information in a variety of ways. Also, I have had success with repeating the same lessons or reading the same books. When presented with a familiar activity, the students are free to recognize points that they may have missed the first time the information was presented to them. Therefore, when planning my weekly lessons, I combine lessons I intend to repeat with new lessons.
This unit’s primary science lessons will reinforce the concept of same and different. An analogy will be drawn between the single cell formed at conception and a flower seed. The end products are very different from the beginning cell or seed. In addition, many cells or seeds of the same species can develop differing end-products. For example, one can plant many marigold seeds. The resulting marigold flowers can have different characteristics. Some will have large flowers while others will have small flowers. Some will be tall and others will be short. In addition, the flowers will represent a variety of colors. While all of the flowers are different, they all are beautiful and belong to the marigold family. Parallels can be drawn to the children and their families. There are similarities and differences among family members but all are beautiful and play an important part in the family.
The concept of same and different can be reinforced within the area of mathematical readiness. I will begin by using Attribute Blocks by MacMillan Early Skills Manipulatives. The students will begin to sort objects by a single attribute. Once the students have become successful with sorting objects by a single trait, I will increase the difficulty of the lesson to include more traits. I will give the students blocks for two to three attributes in a single pile without naming the attributes. I will then instruct the students to make piles of things that are the same. Then, I will have the students verbalize or point to the similarites and differences. In this way, I will build cognition by having the students decide what the attribute blocks have in common and how they are different.
After the students are familiar with traits and how to group things together according to their attributes, I will show how the class can be grouped according to specific traits such as hair color, hair type, eye color, eye glasses, skin color, and gender. I will make a large graph on the board with separate pictures or markers representing each child and the specific trait being used. (I have found column graphs with pictures to be the most successful.) Then each child will place their marker or photograph in the appropriate category. The class will count the number of students in each category and decide which group has more students. This is an activity that should be repeated a number of times. It is great for visual kinesthetic learning and is often alot of fun for the students.
The arts can also reinforce the concept of same and different. Our first art project will be full-size self-portraits illustrating the traits discussed in previous math classes. The students will paint them and hang them around the classroom. This will provide wonderful material for a discussion of how we are the same and how we are different. For example we can observe that everyone in our class has hair, however everyone’s hair is different. Some have straight hair and some have curly hair. Some have dark hair and some have light colored hair. This activity will reinforce the concept of individual uniqueness and build self-esteem.
Another art activity to reinforce similarities and differences will be fingerprint art. The students will observe that everyone has fingerprints, however, no one has the same fingerprints. In addition, each art paper would be different and a reflection of the student who created the art.