Before using this questionnaire stress to students the answers will be anonymous and that no one should sign their names. All they must do is check the appropriate line that best describes their families.
Describe Your Family
____ Live with biological mother and father
____ Live with mother
____ Live with father
____ Live with mother and stepfather
____ Live with father and stepmother
____ Live with adoptive mother and father
____ Live with foster parents
____ Live with a relative or relatives
2.
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How many brothers and sisters live with you? ____________
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3.
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How many stepbrothers and stepsisters live with you? ____
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4.
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How many nonrelated children live with you?____________
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5.
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How many cousins or relative children live with you?_______
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Review the questionnaires than tally up students responses by marking an X in front of each item which someone gave an answer. Discuss the results with students. Continue the discussion about the variety of family types in the class in context of the changing family in America. Encourage an open discussion of students concerns and fears that center around the family.
Independent Activities
1.
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Have students create a collage that best describes their families.
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2.
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Have students write a poem or song that describes the special qualities of their families.
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3.
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Have students share snapshots of their families with the class.
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4.
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Have students make a family album of pictures. Allow students to leave a space so that they may add information about each member of their families as the lesson progresses.
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Activity # 2 A Family Time
Purpose
To help students realize that families don’t always stay together. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t still a part of you.
Discussion
Following Activity #1—
Families Come In All Combinations
students are aware of the fact that not all family members stay together or live in the same house. This does not mean they are no longer a part of you. Discuss that today’s families move frequently. Sometimes when people change houses they move great distances while others move only down the street or across town. Regardless of the distances or the reasons changing houses almost always meant that some other things change too. What are some of the changes you experiences when you moved? Discuss new friends, new neighborhoods, new places to play, new experiences for other members of the family.
Independent Activities
keeping lines of communication open other than phone calls or infrequent visits.
1.
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Snapshots—
The teacher may provide the class with a Polaroid Camera or students might choose to take in their own cameras. Have students take snapshots of each other so that they may send them to a family member who doesn’t live with them.
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2.
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Taped Letter—
The teacher may provide the class with a cassette player or students might choose to take in their own cassette players. Have students prepare a message to be sent to a family member who doesn’t live with them.
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3.
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Letter Writing—
Have students write letters to family members who do not live with them.
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4.
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Special Occassions
Have students make cards for holidays, birthdays or special events to share with family members who do not live with them.
Alternative—
For students who are reluctant to write have a
Prepared Card Shop
where students might select a commercially made card for a special occasion. These cards can be accumulated among teachers and students brought from home. Or have a committee of students who are artistic and/or have good writing skills make cards for the
Prepared Card Shop
for students to select from.
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Objective #2—To increase students awareness of the differences in family size and structure.
Activity #3 The Television Family
Purpose
To help students recognize different family sizes and structures are part of America today.
Discussion
Some of our ideas about families come from the families we see on television. How real are television families? Keep a list of all the television programs about families that you see in one week. Answer the following questions for each program as a group or students might work independently.
The Television Family (Questions)
1.
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Describe the television family size, kind of family members, customs and lifestyles.
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2.
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Is the television family like real families you know?
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3.
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Did the television family seem real to you? Why or Why not?
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4.
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If you were writing a halfhour television program about a family you know, how would your story compare to the ones you saw on television?
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5.
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Describe the families you have seen in television commercials or in newspaper or magazine advertisements. Tell what you remember about them.
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Independent Activities
1
.
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Have students develop a
Family Show Television Guide
.
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2.
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Have students write their own Family Shows.
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3.
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Students or teacher may tape a particular family television show and can share the video with the class for discussion purposes.
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4.
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Have students make a collage of different families pictured in magazines.
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5.
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Family Album—
have students go back to their family albums and write something about each member of their family pictured. Such as “ My father works for the United States Postal Service.” or “My mother works at Pratt and Whitney nights and stays home during the day. or “My sister is studying to be a teacher.”
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Objective # 3—To develop a greater appreciation of the roles and responsibilities of the family.
Activity # 4 You Give A Little and You Take A Little
Purpose
To help students understand their role and responsibilities as a family member
Discussion
In every family each member has a role and responsibilities. Define the terms role and responsibility with the class. In what ways are you still dependent on your family? How are you becoming more independent? In what ways are your family interdependent? Discuss how each family member takes from the family and gives to the family.
Independent Activity
1
.
|
Have students make a list of their roles and responsibilities under the headings W
hat I Give
and
What I Take.
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Objective #4—To provide experiences for students to see themselves as positive human beings.
Activity # 5 Making A Mistake Is OK
Purpose
To help students see themselves as positive human beings.
Discussion
Mistakes cannot always be avoided. Not only that, they are essential. If you never made a mistake, you would never learn anything new. Few people realize that. For anyone at any age, life consists of problems and solutions. It is a process of making mistakes and learning from them. When you make a mistake, it is best to take notice of it, understand how it happened and then let it go. Have students volunteer to discuss mistakes they have made and how they felt. You might even tell one of your own.
Independent Activity
Have students write in a few sentence about a mistake they have made. Tell students that their responses will be private. Have them answer the following questions.
a.
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How do you usually feel when you make a mistake?
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b.
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Do you feel differently if the mistake is made in front of a group of people?
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c.
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How do you usually react to your mistakes.
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Activity # 6 Use Your Credit Card
Purpose
To help students see themselves as positive human beings.
Discussion
Do you take your good qualities for granted and worry only about your poor qualities? If this is true, then you are not giving yourself enough of credit. In order to build a good selfimage it is important to recognize the things you have done well. Have students share their good qualities with the class. You might also have students exchange good qualities about each other.
Independent Activity
Have students write about a good quality they might have. Give students the following questions to help them in describing their good qualities.
a.
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How do you feel when you do something well?
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b.
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When other people pay you a compliment, how do you react?
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c.
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If you do something nice for someone, how do you feel?
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