Image courtesy: Anjitha Antony, 2014
Creating a Family Tree will help children know more about their family history and their place in history. The activities are planned around one book: 'All kinds of families' by Norma Simon. This is a great opportunity to know about different types of families like big, medium, and small families as well as young children, teenager children, and children who are grown up. Also, the illustrations show what different families do together for fun. Some like to travel and other like to dance around the Christmas tree. The big idea is that there are all types of families. It describes all the different kinds of families that exist. These descriptions may help children identify their own family situation somewhere in the book and relate to it. The author writes, "Families come in all sizes. Big families, middle sized families, and little families." I also loved that there were real letters between family members integrated into the illustrations. One image shown was a letter that wrote, "Dear Amy, I wish we could get together more often." These letters allowed the reader to connect to the families shown in the book. The message I took from this reading is that all families are unique and special. The following Family Tree activity based on the book 'All kinds of families ' by Norma Simon. Enjoy! |
![]() Book Title: All Kinds of Families
Author: Norma Simon Publisher and Date: Albert Whitman and Company, 1975 Objective:
Given the story All Kinds of Families, and a discussion on ancestors, students will be able to create a family tree going back at least three generations. Family Tree Materials: *Pencils, crayons or markers *Family tree template. *List of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents names (have your students get this information from home prior to this activity) *Book: All Kinds of Families Steps:
Guided Discussion: After discussing the story, remind your students that many families are different than others. Ask them some questions in review. Some of the questions you might ask are...
Depending upon children's present knowledge:
Whole class family tree: Materials:
Steps:
This is a whole-class activity where children will get an opportunity to know more about their peers. Such activities will promote oral language skills through peer to peer and peer to teacher conversations and interactions. Acknowledgements: http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/byrnes-literature/CKHOOSTE/___FAMILY2.HTM http://diy.fwg.hk/download/eng/FamilyTree/ |