Stephanie J. Sheehan
Lesson Plan 1: Introduction (2-3 days, 30-45 minutes each)
Objectives: Students will introduce themselves to their classmates, describe themselves, learn about classmates, practice public speaking skills, practice fine motor skills, and demonstrate an initial understanding of identity.
Materials: "multicultural"
markers or crayons, pencils, large paper, paper with large printing lines, video camera (or tape recorder if video recorder is not available)
Procedures:
Day 1: 1. Provide art supplies and ask children to make a detailed self-portrait on white paper with a picture frame sketched on it.
2. Ask, "Who are you?" and tell students to answer this question by writing words that tell who they are on the edges of their picture frame.
3. Write the sentence starter, "I am" on the board and provide lined paper. Tell the students to write at least 3 sentences that tell important things about who they are.
4. If there are students struggling with the writing aspect, assist by writing the words as they recite the information.
5. Write the following guiding sentences on sentence strips and put them on the board:
"Hello. My name is __________. I am _____ years old. I like ________. Today I'm feeling ____________. I am _____________, I am ____________, and I am _______."
6. Students will practice introducing themselves in pairs, including showing the portrait, saying their "I am" sentences, their age, something they like, and how they feel.
Day2-3: 1. Students will use the guiding sentences, their portrait and an item from home to introduce themselves to the class.
2. Video-tape introductions to show the students at the end of the year and in order to inspire the best public speaking skills.
Lesson Plan 2: Book Response for The Family Book (4 days, about 30 minutes each)
Objectives: (Introduction to Written Response to text)
Students will understand the book; demonstrate and develop comprehension through illustration, writing and verbal skills.
Materials: The Family Book by Todd Parr, pencils, large elementary lined paper, large white construction paper, multicultural crayons and/or markers
Procedures:
Day 1: 1. Read The Family Book. Interrupt during the reading to ask children to think of examples for some of the family types listed. For example, when it says, "Some families are small," ask the children to give an example of a small family.
2. After reading the book, ask the students to draw detailed pictures of their families on large white construction paper.
3. Ask the children to label the family members and write some words or sentences on the bottoms of their pictures that tell what their families are like.
Day 2: 1. On the following day, the students will be asked to copy the following sentence starter, "My family is" from the board onto their lined paper and complete the sentence two different ways. Instruct students to spell the words by saying them slowly and writing the sounds they hear.
2. They will then read their sentences to the class and show their pictures from the previous day.
Day 3: 1. After all the pictures and sentences are complete, edit the sentences and ask the children to write them over neatly with the correct spelling.
2. Then, create a class book with each child's illustration next to his or her sentences.
Day 4: 1. When the class book is complete, show it to the class and read it together as a shared reading activity.
2. Work on a shared writing activity in which the students list ways that their families are different from one another and ways they are alike. Display in the room.
Lesson Plan 3: Culminating Activities (approximately two weeks)
Objectives: Assess the children's learning in terms of personal identity; develop public speaking skills, creativity and oral and written skills; increase self- expression.
Materials: Let's Talk About Race, by Julius Lester, video camera, construction paper, composition notebooks, yarn, pencils, multicultural paint, markers and crayons, scissors, glue, magazines, various other art supplies
Procedure:
Week 1: 1. The children will conduct a shared, interactive writing assignment in which they brainstorm questions that should be answered in their autobiographies. The book, Let's Talk About Race will be revisited frequently as an aid to writing this piece. (It explicitly explains that race can be a significant part of who someone is, but that it is only part of the picture, along with other things like personal tastes, gender, etc.)
2. The students will spend 1-3 days writing a rough draft autobiography that will describe personal history and identity from the perspective of at least 4 factors such as age, race, family life, religion (how the child participates or feels about it), gender, health, physical abilities and talents, and ambitions.
3. Confer with children individually or in small groups to edit and help them to elaborate. Students will then revise their writing for publishing.
Week 2: 1. The children will spend 2-3 class sessions creating a scrapbook to accompany the autobiography that will include the child's choice of collage, magazine photographs, photographs from home, drawings, notes, and artwork that they feel will help them to present their autobiographies in a visual manner.
2. The children will make invitations for their parents to attend and to listen to their work.
3. The children will have several opportunities to practice reading their writing and presenting their scrapbook before the final performance.
4. On performance day, there will be a celebration with refreshments, and students will be expected to reintroduce themselves on video-tape as they did in the first week of school. (See Lesson Plan 1.) Then, the students will read their autobiographies with animated voices, incorporate visuals from their scrapbook into their presentation, and demonstrate stage presence including "proud" posture and projected voice.
Extension: Finally, students will view and compare video-tapes from the beginning of the year and the end, to see their growth in public speaking skills, self-perception, and personalities.