Language minority students learning English will benefit greatly from a unit on the family, as it is a strong aspect of culture. At the same time, students will be able to learn about the families, and cultures of their peers. However, the lessons can be adapted for any grade level K-12. Through class discussions, role plays, reflective writing, and critical thinking, students will have an opportunity to further develop their thoughts and reflect upon the concepts learned about family. Butcher paper, markers, construction paper, yarn or string, Polaroid camera.
Students practice sample dialogues prepared by the teacher.
Each group comes up with a family name. Written assignments and participation in both production and extension activities will be evaluated. Students will design and create their own visual journals, that describe or tell a story about their family. The students will use a variety of different visual resources that they choose and collect individually. The universal nature of visual resources provide opportunities to stimulate discussions, to form connections with others, and to bring together students of different language levels and culture backgrounds to build a learning community.