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Crystal Rushton and Meghan Bissett First Grade Family Traditions Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. 30 minutes

As a class we will discuss what is meant by family traditions. Students will explore the significance of family traditions through a read aloud and discussion of The Keeping Quilt by author Patricia Polacco. Students will also discuss how author Patricia Polacco can be a mentor in their own writing. On day two, students will construct quilt-squares representing their family tradition, in addition to writing a report. On day three, students will share reports and quilt-squares with the class. Following the lesson, quilt-squares will be assembled and displayed in the hall.

Learning Goals Connection to Standards Students will be able to Social Studies GLCEs 1 G4.0.1 Use components of culture (e.g., foods, language, religion, traditions) to Discuss the meaning of family traditions and their importance. describe diversity in family life. Discuss the diverse culture and 1 H2.0.3 Investigate a family history for at least two generations, identifying various tradition of the Jewish-Russian members and their connections in order to tell a narrative about family life. family depicted in the book. 1 H2.0.1 Demonstrate chronological thinking by distinguishing among past, present, Make text-to-self connections and future using family or school events. between the family in the book and Language Arts GLCEs their own. R.CM.01.01 - Make text-to-self and text-to-text connections and comparisons by Demonstrate chronological thinking activating prior knowledge and connecting personal knowledge and experience to ideas by discussing how traditions can be in text through oral and written responses. passed down through generations. Create a quilt-square and report representing their family tradition of choice. Materials: The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco Instructional Sequence: Introduce Book (5 min.) Discuss what family traditions are and introduce book. Call on a few students to explain what a tradition is. Write tradition on the board. Create concept web with students. Family traditions might include special occasions, holidays or celebrations, stories, songs, games, language, food, vacations, objects, etc. that have been started and repeated in your family or passed down. Traditions can include customs that have been started and repeated with your familyso, like every summer I have a tradition of celebrating the fourth of July with my family on the lake where my grandma lives.A lot of traditions been passed through generations. We discussed it yesterday, so what is a generation?All the people living around the same age in a family (brothers, sisters, cousinsaunts, uncles, moms and dadsgrandparentsgreatgrandparents, etc). So, what does it mean for a tradition to be passed down through generations? -Each generation celebrates the tradition or an object can be passed down to different family members. Set listening focus for story: Today we are going to read a very special story from Patricia Polacco titled The Keeping Quilt. The story is about the tradition of a quilt that is passed down through different generations of Patricias family. Pay close attention to the different family traditions in this book and why the traditions are important to the family. Also, think about the way that author Patricia Polacco writes about what she knows besther family! It really helps us to get ideas for our writing when we think about stories of our families and the traditions we have. Begin reading The Keeping Quilt. Book stopping Possible Discussion Questions: point: (20 min) Her parents almost Tell students: never learned, so -Thumbs up if you know someone who helps their parents or family with English. she spoke English -Raise your hand if you sometimes help your parents with English. for them, too. -Raise your hand if you came to school and you did not know how to speak any English at first. Call on these students and ask them to share where they moved from and the name of the other language they speak. Follow-up with these students and askWhat was it like at first? Was it confusing? Was it hard to understand what people were saying to you? Etc.

Overview:

As a class we will discuss what is meant by family traditions. Students will explore the significance of family traditions through a read aloud and discussion of The Keeping Quilt by author Patricia Polacco. Students will also discuss how author Patricia Polacco can be a mentor in their own writing. On day two, students will construct quilt-squares representing their family tradition, in addition to writing a report. On day three, students will share reports and quilt-squares with the class. Following the lesson, quilt-squares will be assembled and displayed in the hall.

We will make a quilt to help us always remember home She accepted the hankie. They were engaged.

Ask students: What did Annas mother mean when she said that they would make a quilt to help them always remember back home? Tell students: Here we just read how Great-Grandpa Sasha followed a Jewish tradition to ask Great-Grandma Anna to marry him, or get engaged. The hankie was filled with a gold coin for wealth, a flower for love, and salt to add flavor to their lives. That is a really special tradition. Raise your hand if you know and would like to share with the class the tradition we follow in America when someone wants to ask someone else to marry them. -Give them a ring. Discuss the meaning behind giving these items: Just like the hankie filled with the gold, flower, and salt had a special meaning in the Jewish tradition of asking someone to marry you, some people believe the special meaning behind giving a wedding ring is that it means never-ending love. They say this because the ring is in a circle that has no end. Ask students: So, what family traditions have stayed the same and what traditions have changed? -Quilt is still used as the wedding huppa. -Gold, bread, and salt are still in the bouquet. -Friends who are not Jews came to the wedding. -Her mother wore a suit. Ask students: Why do you think Patricias mother is telling her where the different pieces of the quilt came from? -Her mother is telling Patricia about memories she has of her family or stories she has been told, etc.

When she became a bride, the quilt became her huppa. For the first time, friends who were not Jews came to the wedding. whose dress had made the flowers and whose babushka went around the edge of the quilt. End-of-book discussion:

So, what we were some of the different traditions the family had with the quilt? -used as a table cloth on the Sabbath, for birthdays and other special occasions -Great-grandma Anna gets engaged on the quilt -used at the wedding huppa -used as a blanket -used to wrap babies -keeps Great-Grandma Annas legs warm when she is old; it is there when she dies -used to tell children stories about past generations of the family -given to children as they moved away and started their own families Why do you think the Patricia Polacco called the quilt the keeping quilt? -They kept different family members clothing to make it. -The family always keeps it wherever they go. -The keep their family memories with it. -Etc. How can we be writers like Patricia Polacco in the Keeping Quilt? -Write about our families. -Write about what we know. -Write about our family traditions and give details about their meaning. -Etc.

Conclude lesson and give directions for independent work: (5 min.) Give students purpose of constructing quilt-square: So, as you all know, we are very lucky to have Patricia Polacco coming to our school in a couple weeks. To welcome her and show her how much we have been studying and enjoying her writing, each class is going to create their own keeping quilt. Everyone is

Overview:

As a class we will discuss what is meant by family traditions. Students will explore the significance of family traditions through a read aloud and discussion of The Keeping Quilt by author Patricia Polacco. Students will also discuss how author Patricia Polacco can be a mentor in their own writing. On day two, students will construct quilt-squares representing their family tradition, in addition to writing a report. On day three, students will share reports and quilt-squares with the class. Following the lesson, quilt-squares will be assembled and displayed in the hall.

going to make their own quilt-square and then we will put them all together to make a giant quilt we can hang up in the hall. What is even more interesting is that each of your quilt squares is going to represent a tradition your family has. We sent home notes to each of your families asking you them to discuss a tradition with you that you would like to share. We even got back notes from most of your parents that give us information about your tradition. If time permits, allow students to begin quilt-square construction.