[T4R] A Family is a Family is a Family Reading Unit for Foundation Year

A Family is a Family T4R Unit Overview

Unit creator

Steven Huynh

Level

Foundation,

The Book

A Family Is a Family Is a Family

Written by Sara O’Leary, illustrated by Qin Leng

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.

Overview

Unit Synopsis

By the end of the Talk For Reading (T4R) unit of A Family is a Family is a Family, children may be able to:

  • Compare the similarities and differences between family settings.
  • Recognise that families come in various forms beyond the traditional structure.
  • Justify their opinions by making personal connections and references to the text.
  • Identify key elements, such as love and care, that define a family.
  • Talk about their favourite family activities and how their family members show care for one another.

Reading Skill Focus

  • Responding to literature
  • Interacting with others
  • Predicting
  • Connecting (text-to-self and text-to-text)
  • Summarising

Reading Strategies

  • Discussion
  • Dialogic reading
  • Read along
  • Book review

Supporting Texts

  • Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer

Lessons

[T4R] A Family is a Family is a Family: L1 Background Knowledge

• We are learning to build our background knowledge to help us comprehend a text.

• I can identify people in my family (AC9HSFK01).
• I can respond to questions about family (AC9HSFS04).
• I can discuss a wonderings chart with my friends and teacher that highlights my curiosities I have about the book (AC9EFLY05).

Curriculum Alignment

AC9EFLY05 (English – Foundation): Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising and questioning to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed or read independently

• sequencing ideas in spoken texts, retelling well-known stories, retelling stories with picture cues, retelling information using prompts
• listening for specific purposes; for example, details of a character or to answer a given question
• relating one or two key facts from informative texts
• retelling events from First Nations Australians’ stories and cultural accounts in sequence
• predicting what might happen in a text based on the title and cover

AC9HSFK01 (Humanities and Social Sciences – Foundation): The people in their family, where they were born and raised, and how they are related to each other

• discussing the members of a family (for example, mother, father, caregiver, sister, brother, grandparent, auntie, uncle, cousin) and acknowledging other varieties of kinship structure that may be represented in the cultural background of students (for example, cousin-brother and mother-auntie in First Nations Australian families)
• creating drawings of family members accompanied by information collected from questions and observations to share details of that person’s life, including the places they were born and raised
• creating concept maps of their family with pictures or photographs to show connections to those people who make up their family

AC9HSFS04 (Humanities and Social Sciences – Foundation): Draw conclusions in response to questions

• identifying the main people in their family and explaining how they are related
• identifying the most important celebrations and commemorations in their lives and those of their family
• exploring the location and features of places they belong to and what makes those places special
• suggesting ways that they are going to care for their classroom, bedroom or playground

[T4R] A Family is a Family is a Family: L2 Making Predictions

• We are learning to make predictions about the text.

• I can use images to predict the type of family in a story (AC9EFLY05) and make sense of the text (AC9EFLA07).
• I can use interaction skills to share my thoughts and discuss opinions with my friends (AC9EFLY02, AC9EFLE02).
• I can identify different types of families from the book or my classroom (AC9HPFP01).

Curriculum Alignment

AC9EFLA07 (English – Foundation): Explore the contribution of images and words to meaning in stories and informative texts

• recognising that texts can be interpreted differently when only the words or only the images are read or viewed
• identifying where written text is reflected in accompanying images and where written text is not captured in images

AC9EFLE02 (English – Foundation): Respond to stories and share feelings and thoughts about their events and characters

• using drawing and beginning forms of writing to express personal responses to stories, poems or films
• discussing events and characters in texts, and connecting them to their own experiences

AC9EFLY02 (English – Foundation): Interact in informal and structured situations by listening while others speak and using features of voice including volume levels

• exchanging ideas with peers in pairs and small groups, engaging in class discussions, listening to others and contributing ideas
• showing understanding of appropriate listening behaviour, such as listening without interrupting, and looking at the speaker, if culturally appropriate
• altering volume for inside and outside situations and when speaking to an audience
• participating in informal interaction situations; for example, play-based experiences that involve the imaginative use of spoken language
• listening to and following instructions

AC9EFLY05 (English – Foundation): Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising and questioning to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed or read independently

• sequencing ideas in spoken texts, retelling well-known stories, retelling stories with picture cues, retelling information using prompts
• listening for specific purposes; for example, details of a character or to answer a given question
• relating one or two key facts from informative texts
• retelling events from First Nations Australians’ stories and cultural accounts in sequence
• predicting what might happen in a text based on the title and cover

AC9HPFP01 (Health and Physical Education – Foundation): Investigate who they are and the people in their world

• making personal connections with stories that explore identity and belonging; discussing who they are, where they come from and people in their lives
• exploring similarities and differences in family structures in First Nations Australian communities and other cultures
• exploring cultural practices from different cultures, including the cultures of Asia, that are important to individuals, families and communities
• identifying different families in their communities; for example, 2-parent, single-parent, extended and non-traditional families
• identifying ways they use their strengths in physical activities to help themselves and others to be successful
• recognising that they have a right to belong and contribute to a variety of groups

[T4R] A Family is a Family is a Family: L3 Making Personal Connections

• We are learning to make personal connections with the text.

• I can make connections between my family and the families in the text (AC9EFLE02).
• I can understand no matter how different families are from each other, they’re all thrived by love (AC9HSFS03).
• I can discuss and express what I love doing with my family through sharing and drawing (AC9HSFS05).

Curriculum Alignment

AC9AVAFC01 (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

AC9EFLE02 (English – Foundation): Respond to stories and share feelings and thoughts about their events and characters

• using drawing and beginning forms of writing to express personal responses to stories, poems or films
• discussing events and characters in texts, and connecting them to their own experiences

AC9HSFS03 (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 (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”

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

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

• 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 (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 (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 (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 (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”

[T4R] A Family is a Family is a Family: L5 Summarising

• We are learning to summarise the key messages of the text.

• I can summarise some key details of the book (AC9EFLY05).
• I can deliver short spoken texts to share information about my family to peers (AC9HSFS04, AC9EFLY07).

Curriculum Alignment

AC9EFLY05 (English – Foundation): Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising and questioning to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed or read independently

• sequencing ideas in spoken texts, retelling well-known stories, retelling stories with picture cues, retelling information using prompts
• listening for specific purposes; for example, details of a character or to answer a given question
• relating one or two key facts from informative texts
• retelling events from First Nations Australians’ stories and cultural accounts in sequence
• predicting what might happen in a text based on the title and cover

AC9EFLY07 (English – Foundation): Create and deliver short spoken texts to report ideas and events to peers, using features of voice such as appropriate volume

• sharing a personal experience, interest or discovery with peers in a semi-formal situation
• sharing personal responses to ideas and events experienced through texts
• using visual prompts to practise staying on topic or to sequence ideas

AC9HSFS04 (Humanities and Social Sciences – Foundation): Draw conclusions in response to questions

• identifying the main people in their family and explaining how they are related
• identifying the most important celebrations and commemorations in their lives and those of their family
• exploring the location and features of places they belong to and what makes those places special
• suggesting ways that they are going to care for their classroom, bedroom or playground

[T4R] A Family is a Family is a Family: L6 Reflecting and Evaluating

• We are learning to reflect on and evaluate the text.

• I can do a book review to share my feelings and thoughts about the story (AC9EFLE02).

Curriculum Alignment

AC9EFLE02 (English – Foundation): Respond to stories and share feelings and thoughts about their events and characters

• using drawing and beginning forms of writing to express personal responses to stories, poems or films
• discussing events and characters in texts, and connecting them to their own experiences


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