Lesson #5                                                                                                                    Megan Fazio

Time needed: 2 class periods                                                                                  Topic: Names & representing ourselves as individuals in the past, present, & future

                                                                                                                                         Grade: 1st

Materials:

·         Markers

·         Crayons

·         Scissors

·         Scrap paper

·         Glue sticks

·         I am from… mini sheet for each student

·         I am now… mini sheet for each student

·         I will one day be… mini sheet for each student

·         Black construction paper

·         Overhead projector

·         Tape

Prep:

·         Print off and cut half sheets (make sure they have dotted writing lines) that say I am from…, I am now…, and I will one day be… on them, enough for one of each for each student and a few extras in case of mistakes.

·         Make sure overhead projector works. 

·         Create your own example of The story of _____(your name)_______.

MMSD Curriculum Standards & Connections:

History

·         Use a vocabulary pertaining to time and events such as day, month, and year. 

Students will be using this vocabulary when they write about where they are from, where they are now, and where they want to be in the future in their self stories.

·         Describe personal and family changes (death, birth, divorce).

Some students may describe changes that have happened in their life in their self stories, whether it is a personal change or family change that happened in the past or present.

Behavioral Science

·         Identify the self as an important member of groups (i.e. classroom, family, community).

Students participate as active members of the learning classroom community when they are participating in discussions and sharing their self stories with each other.

·         Follow rules and directions.

Students are following rules and directions throughout the lesson.  They are following direction when the teacher explains the self stories, and they are following the rules when they are choosing their partners.

·         Exhibit group membership by being trustworthy, responsible, respectful, and by demonstrating accountability for actions, displaying self direction, and showing pride.

Students display responsible and respectful attitudes in the classroom community when they share their self stories with a partner.  They show accountability for their actions when choosing partners, and they show self-direction when they work independently on their self stories.

NCSS Standards:

·         Time, continuity, and change

·         Individual development and identity

·         Global connections

El. Ed. Standards & Connections:

·         Standard #5: Explains and justifies educational choices

I have chosen to do a mini project to conclude our unit because it is a way for students to express what they have learned about themselves.  Also,

·         Standard #13: Is a reflective practitioner

This lesson demonstrates the teacher as a reflective practitioner because he/she is creating an example based on a reflection of his/her name, culture, and experiences.  In addition, this lesson is built upon reflecting on previous lessons and helps students to reflect on what they have learned about themselves throughout this unit.

·         Standard #14: Relates well with students, families, and communities

This unit helps teachers to get to know their students as individuals.  In this particular lesson, there is reference to recent visits of community members to the classroom to enrich the students’ study of names.  In addition, the self stories that the teacher and students will write will help teachers connect with students more.

Objectives:

·         Students will participate in a short introductory discussion recapping what they have learned throughout our unit on names.

·         Students will write a sentence or two using words such as day, month, and year on each I am from…, I am now…, and I will one day be… half sheet.  They will express events or traits that make them who they are.

·         Students will write their name how they wish to represent it on their half sheet of paper.

·         Students will share their The story of _______________ with a partner during our interactive share time.

Context:

            This lesson will be one of the culminating events in our unit on names.  Between the previous lesson and this lesson, we will have brought in some experts from the community who are from different cultures to come in to our classroom and talk about how names are significant in their culture.  Students will have generated a list of questions, and the teacher will have pieced together a copy of the interview questions students had thought of.  Students would be in small groups and rotate to interview each of the 3-4 guests.  At the beginning of this lesson, we will begin to think about some of the possible universalities of names across cultures, and write our own stories to share to close up the unit.

Opening:

            Have the students come to the carpet.  Since between the prior lesson and this lesson, we have had some guests come to our classroom and talk about names in their culture, we have already made a class list about what we learned about names in specific cultures from our guest speakers.  Take out the chart, and review with students what we learned from our guests.  Then, ask the students:

·         Do you notice anything about what some cultures might have in common about names?

·         Are there some connections you made from these cultures with your own?

Procedure:

1.      Tell the students that keeping these connections in mind, today we are going to finish up our unit by writing our stories.  Everyone has a unique story, and even though we found some similarities among the stories that we have read, and we may have had experiences similar to those of Sangoel, Unhei, and Farah, we are different people. 

2.      Take out the example of The Story of ________(your name)____________ (This will look like a silhouette of black construction paper with three half sheets stapled across the bottom that read I am from…, I am now…, and I will one day be…, and on top should be the half sheet with your name written on it—The Story of (your name)--how you have chosen to represent it). 

3.      Read your story to the students, and tell them that they will be writing one just like it.  They are going to keep in mind what their name means to them, and experiences that might have to do with their name.  Encourage the students to think about their own experiences and their own names, not the names of the characters in our stories.

4.      Give the students a few minutes to turn and talk with their social studies partner about some ideas they might have about what they will write in their story.  Circulate around the carpet to observe and interact with students.

5.      Have students return to their spots at the tables, and pass out the half sheets.  Tell the students that their first job is to write their mini stories I am from…, I am now…, and I will one day be…, and to write their names on the half sheet titles.  While the students are working, call them one by one to the board, where the projector is on.  For each student, tape a piece of black construction paper to the board.  Have the student stand between the projector and the board so that the teacher can trace the student’s side profile from their shoulders up. 

6.      Repeat this for each student.  The students will cut out their profiles themselves, and staple their writing to their silhouettes when they have finished.  Students may decorate their silhouettes if they wish by cutting out pieces of scrap paper and gluing them on, but they must first finish their writing.

7.      After all of the students have finished (this may take place the following day), tell the students that we will be doing some partner sharing.  We will be spending about 15 minutes sharing with each other, so review with students how to find a partner (make eye contact, walk towards each other, ask if they would like to be your partner).  Students can look for a new partner whenever they are done sharing with their first partner.  The teacher will circulate through the classroom and share with the students and observe and interact with them as well.

Closure:

            Give the students a five minute warning so that they know they need to finish up their conversation with their partner soon.  Have students meet you back on the rug with their self stories.  The students can take these home and share them with families, friends, and neighbors.  To conclude the unit, tell the students that we have learned a lot about names, but ask: Do you think we know it all?  What are some things you still wonder about names?  Tell the students that even though we are ending our unit on names, they are encouraged to continue their own investigations.

Assessment:

·         Students will be assessed based on their participation in our pre-activity discussion to reactivate their prior knowledge.

·         Students will be assessed during the activity through informal observations and interactions.

·         Students will be assessed based on the effort and completion of their stories.

 

Differentiation:

·         Students will be sharing in partners, and this will be a more intimate share rather than sharing with the entire class.  I have chosen this because for some students, their story may be very personal, and they may not wish to share it with everyone.

Cultural Relevance:

            During this activity, students are

Troubleshooting:

·         Students should already know how to mingle and choose partners.  However, if for some reason, the teacher notices that some students are not changing partners or that one student is not being chosen by any students, it may be time to stop and review again