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Summary and Objective
Children will understand that their class is made up of individuals who arrived in America from many different places in the world, and that immigrants brought treasures with them that became family heirlooms. Using items from their families, from the teacher's collection (if possible), and from an online search, they will consider why these items may have been important enough to have been brought along. They will discuss how these items would travel, based on size and fragility, and how they might have been significant to their owners.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Before the lesson, the teacher creates a worksheet for homework that includes questions about a child's geneaology, family holidays, special foods, items (heirlooms) brought by immigrating family members, sayings, foreign phrases, etc.
Step 2.
The teacher will have on display articles from different countries, from which children without an item may choose their artifact. They will "adopt" that country.
Step 3.
Children will meet in small groups and share information about the items they listed under the heirloom section of the homework worksheet or the items they picked from the classroom collection.
Step 4.
Children will make sketches of their items, while, one by one, they list their items on a chart containing their names and their countries of origin.
Step 5.
Children will then go online to find items that immigrants might have brought with them from their country of origin. The images selected are examples of choices.
Step 6.
Children will work in small groups to discuss the feasibility of bringing these items to America, keeping in mind size, fragility, and possible value to the owner.
Step 7.
As a follow up, children will write a short description of their own items and complete their illustrations of them, keeping in mind the discussion of the online items. The illustrations with descriptions will be mounted on a large map on a bulletin board on the item's country of origin.
Step 8.
Another follow up might be to ask children to imagine that they had to leave their homes in America forever, and could take only one item with them. What would they choose and why?
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