[T4R] A Family is a Family is a Family: L4 Connecting to a Similar Text

The Book

A Family Is a Family Is a Family

Written by Sara O’Leary, illustrated by Qin Leng, published by Groundwood Books

This heartwarming book celebrates diverse family structures and the love that binds them together. Through a classroom discussion, children share stories about their families, highlighting the uniqueness of each one while reinforcing the idea that all families are special.

This book provides opportunities for young students to explore concepts of family by recognising and describing family members (AC9HSFK01 – Foundation Year, Humanities and Social Sciences). It also encourages children to develop a sense of self within their family (AC9HPFP01 – Foundation Year, Health and Physical Education) while practising personal and social skills to interact respectfully with others, particularly in understanding inclusion and acceptance (AC9HPFP02 – Foundation Year, Health and Physical Education).

With its gentle storytelling and wonderful illustrations, A Family is a Family is a Family fosters empathy, respect, and an appreciation for the many forms that family can take.

Resource creator

Steven Huynh

Level

Foundation,

Description

This is lesson 4 of the Talk For Reading (T4R) unit of A Family is a Family is a Family.

This lesson helps students make connections with another text in the similar topic through Dialogic Reading and discussion.

Learning Intentions

• We are learning to extend our connections to a similar text.

Successful Criteria

• I can find a similar text about love and family (AC9EFLY01).
• I can understand that all families are thrived by love and care (AC9HSFS03).
• I can discuss and express how my family shows care through sharing and drawing (AC9HSFS05, AC9AVAFC01).

Curriculum Alignment

AC9AVAFC01 9.0 (Visual Arts Foundation): Create arts works that communicate ideas

• creating arts works in a range of forms to communicate ideas from lived personal or social experiences; for example, creating a dance or scenes showing favourite activities such as games; using digital devices to record their peers playing a game and creating a voice-over that describes what’s happening; composing a song or chant about a favourite food or activity; drawing a home scene of people and animals
• creating works in response to inspiration from sources such as play, imagination, observation, literature, artworks from their cultures and communities or arts knowledge and skill development activities
• extending and varying known songs, chants or rhymes; for example, changing words, interpreting without using voice, adding movements/actions or improvising rhythm patterns as accompaniment
• manipulating objects, puppets, 2D images and/or available technologies to create or retell stories
• devising a chant/rap that a character from an animated series, a text or a fictional hero could use to communicate a health or sustainability message or to learn the steps in a process; recording the chant/rap using an available digital device and sharing live or via a school-managed space such as a learning management system
• repurposing materials and objects such as clothing or packing boxes as starting points for imagining and developing scenes and scenarios; for example, using packing boxes to create an imagined environment or vehicle
• considering as a class the characters and situations associated with a story and then re-imagining them by asking questions of the story, such as “What’s up?”, “What happens next?” or “What else might/could happen?” to support the development of their own socio-dramatic or miniature worlds play

AC9EFLY01 9.0 (English Foundation): Identify some familiar texts, such as stories and informative texts, and their purpose

• recognising symbols in everyday environments and discussing why they are used; for example, exit signs, school crossing signs, emblems or badges on school uniforms
• recognising symbols in everyday environments and discussing why they are used; for example, exit signs, school crossing signs, emblems or badges on school uniforms
• grouping texts according to topic; for example, grouping a set of texts, which may include informative and imaginative texts, about farm animals

AC9HSFS03 9.0 (Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation): Share a perspective on information, such as stories about significant events and special places

• sharing aspects of events special to past generations of their family from provided stories and discussing why those events and places are special
• identifying a place in their local area that they like, and talking about why they like it and how they could care for it

AC9HSFS05 9.0 (Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation): Share narratives and observations, using sources and terms about the past and places

• creating a display about a special place or family event using photographs, artefacts and/or drawings
• using terms about time when talking about their experiences; for example, “then”, “now”, “yesterday”, “today”, “tomorrow”
• using appropriate terms to describe the direction and location of a place such as “near and far”, “above and below”, “beside and opposite”

Materials

Instruction

  1. Warm-up
    • Revisit and scaffold “what makes a family?”
  2. Dialogic Reading (supporting text)
    • Before reading:
      • Discuss: Is there anything else that makes a family besides playing or having fun together?
    • During readling:
      • Model fluent reading with expression and intonation.
      • Pause to ask key questions that encourage children to deepen their understanding.
    • After reading:
      • Revisit: How the families show care to their children.
      • Explicitly explain what ‘care’ looks like
  3. Connecting to their families
    • Discuss: How does your family show care to each other?
    • Encourage children to use helpful sentence starters.
    • Draw how their family shows care to them.

Downloads

Free VersionPaid Version
Material contentLimitedFull access
InstructionsNot includedIncluded
Redownloads5 per downloadUnlimited
DownloadSign up/Log in to download[T4R] A Family is a Family is a Family: L4 Connecting to a Similar Text (editable slides) $0.99
Learn more

Units of Work

Related Activities


Leave a Reply