Social Studies Grade One

Unit 3: Interdependence

Module Two - Responsibilities in the Family

• interdependence, needs, wants, roles, cooperation

Students will know that:

• family members meet their needs and wants through interdependent relationships.

Skills/Abilities Objectives

Students will:

• identify roles and responsibilities within families .
• practice cooperative behaviours.

Students will:

• value their own contributions and those of others within families.

Students may:

• set goals for cooperative behaviour.

• Have students identify what family members learn from each other. Create pictures or webs .
• Plan an activity that includes siblings. Invite older brothers and sisters to help with a special activity. Plan a special day for younger brothers and sisters to visit. Plan a special day for the "only child" members of the class.
• Explore the various roles of family members.
• Use various resources to explore cooperation and responsibility in families and various cultures. Work in groups to make large picture webs.
• Use drama in context to explore feelings and roles. Have students create various scenarios and assume in a familiar context.(See the drama curriculum for information on drama in context.)
• Use a Talking Circle to discuss various questions such as, "Who should prepare a family's food?" Explore various nontraditional roles within most families today.
• Deal with adult occupations. Have children interview adults in their families about their occupations. Invite some to class to talk about their work and training required for their work. Deal with unemployment as a reality in many families. Discuss unemployment insurance and welfare as positive and necessary benefits.
• Interview people about their jobs choosing examples that will dispel biased attitudes. For example, interview a person with a disability, or people in nontraditional jobs.
• Tell the story of Denise Needham, a Regina carpenter.
• Explore the various ways that families work together and how they have fun together. Students might draw pictures for a bulletin board display.

Module 2: Activity Guide

As a homework assignment have the students talk to their parents about ways that family members learn from one another. Have students draw a picture of how their family members learn from one another. Write ideas in their journals.

Use resources such as My Kokum Called Today, the article Playing House in Africa in Somewhere Today: Just for Fun, and Owl Moon. Ask students:

• How do children learn from their parents and grandparents?
• Can having fun together also help children to learn? Can learning also be fun?

Make individual webs. Print "We learn from ---" in the centre. Have a number of lines radiating from the centre where students will print the names of people, and from there the things they have learned.

Have students draw or write about things they can teach each of their family members.

Learn about the special role of stories to teach and to entertain. Use literature that children can learn from and identify what was learned.

Siblings

The teacher may choose to invite younger or older brothers and sisters to the classroom for several short sessions. With the class, plan activities for the students to do with the younger children, for example, reading to them or playing games. With older siblings, have the students prepare interviews, asking questions about where they attend school or work and what their responsibilities are, especially in the family.

Learn how to say "brother" and "sister" in other languages.

Identify ways the students can help or have fun with their siblings and ways their siblings can help or have fun with them. Have them illustrate their ideas.

Collect photographs of brothers and sisters and try to match them in families.

An only child

Read a story about an only child. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of being an only child.

Tell students about China being so crowded that people are allowed to have only one child. Find China on a map of the world and show where it is in relation to Canada. In many places parents have lots of children because they need lots of help with family responsibilities like planting and harvesting crops or looking after animals.

Responsibilities in the family

Deal with the different roles of family members. Use resources showing a cross-section of society functioning in various roles and work.

Brainstorm ways of being responsible at home. Work in groups to make large picture webs. Put the main idea, "Being Responsible At Home" in the middle. Identify all the different things they can do in the home to show their responsibility. Plan the web, having everyone in the group draw a picture to show responsible action in the home.

Use books such as Caring for My Baby Sister, Caring for My Things, A Dozen Angels, and other resources to explore cooperation and responsibility in families.

Cooperation in the family

Give each student a sheet of paper with the stem: "Cooperating means __________" at the top. Complete the sentence and draw a picture. Compile the papers into a Cooperation Book.

Ask students to bring a picture from home showing cooperative behaviour. Using a camera, collect pictures of cooperative behaviour around the school. Compile the photographs and pictures in a book and add captions. Place the Cooperation Book in your school library.

Have students suggest actions that show cooperation. They may suggest:

• doing their homework without being reminded,
• getting along with their siblings, and
• getting themselves ready for school.

Learn about cooperative behaviour and responsibilities in various cultures.

Many Indian and Métis children help to take care of younger siblings. Discuss the nature of that responsibility. Discuss the following questions:

• If children learn by doing and by observing the behaviour of others, how would you teach children to be kind, to share, and cooperate with others?
• Many Asian children spend many hours a day doing homework and attending other classes when their regular school is finished.

Use books about other countries to show responsibilities of children around the world.

Exploring feelings

Use drama in context to explore feelings. Assign the following scenarios to individual students. The student reads or tells the scenario to the class. The teacher takes the role of an interviewer. As interviewer guide students to understand that they do not hate the person, but the actions of that person. Explore ways of dealing with the unpleasant situation.

• My best friend is Tommy. Sometimes we have a good time playing in my tree house or with Lego at his house. But Tommy always takes the best parts. I hate him when he does that. I get mad and tell him that he can never come in my tree house again.
• My brother is so mean to me. We always have to watch the television shows that he wants to watch. I hate him.
• Marnie sits in front of me at school. She has a big package of crayons with lots of different colours. She thinks she is so smart just because she has all those crayons. She is always bragging. I don't like her.

Discuss the responsibilities of taking care of pets. Integrate with science .

Helping maintain a house

Explore the roles of all family members in helping to maintain the house. Divide the class into groups. Tell each that they have a home they must look after. Ask them to:

• identify some of the things they must do to look after the home;
• assign roles to everyone in the group;
• prepare a mime for the class showing everyone in the group doing something to help look after the home.

Use a Talking Circle to discuss, "Who should prepare a family's food? Could all members of a family help?" Discuss how making meals may be shared by all family members.

Have students tell, write about, illustrate, or act out their job(s) at home to do with preparing food, service, or clean up.

As a class, prepare a simple food item such as butter or ice cream. Create a class composition explaining what each person did. Model using words like first, next, then in this type of writing.

Prepare popcorn with caramelized brown sugar as a coating (first made by indigenous peoples). Record the preparation steps in a list format.

As a homework assignment have the students learn how to prepare a simple food item, for example, hot chocolate, cinnamon toast, a cheese sandwich, or a sundae. Have the students write the steps involved. The class composition could be sent home as a model.

Occupations

Interview people about their jobs. If possible, choose examples of people in nontraditional jobs. For example, interview a person with a disability, or a male in a traditionally female job such as nursing. Tell the following story.

Story of Denise Needham

The teacher may wish to introduce the story with a discussion about the various roles in their families. Discuss ways in which these roles are changing.

Denise is a carpenter. In fact, she has her own company called the Women's Renovation Company. She builds balconies, fixes steps, and remodels basements. She has had jobs all over the province. During the summer when she has a lot of work, she hires another woman to work with her. She hires a woman because so far no men have applied.

She says, "I have always liked working with my hands." She likes to make or fix things and have something to show for her work.

Denise has taught many women and men carpentry skills. In fact, she often has the owners of the house help her with the work. That way they can save money and take part in the project. People at the YWCA think she is doing something important. The YWCA gave her a 'Woman of the Year' award in 1992. The award was a way of saying, "Thank you for being a leader. Thank you for teaching women and girls how to be carpenters and fix things."

Has she had problems because she is a woman carpenter? She says, "Absolutely none. People want a good job done. It doesn't matter if you are a woman or a man."

The teacher may wish to follow-up the story with the following:

• Ask the students, "What tools would Denise use?" Find pictures of tools. (Tool catalogues are a good source of pictures.) The students may wish to organize a tool box for Denise.
• Invite a carpenter to demonstrate tools used in carpentry.

Consider the work done by adults who stay home and look after the family and home. Develop a list of all their jobs, including activities like chauffeuring children. Make a rap, chant, or poem to express these understandings.

Develop appreciation of volunteer work by guiding students in developing an interview and interviewing someone who does volunteer work. Make a class composition summarizing the results of the interview. Make a Proud of Our Volunteers binder to place in the library. Add to the binder on an on going basis. Include the people who do volunteer work in the school.

Interviews re: parent's work

Note: The teacher will need to be sensitive to the employment situations of the adults within the community. If some parents are unemployed or receiving social assistance the emphasis may be on the importance of the work that is being done in the home.

As a homework assignment have the students discuss with their parents the kinds of work they are involved in and, in cases where parents work outside the home, arrange to visit their place of work. Guide students in making a simple questionnaire. For example:

What kind of work do you do at home?
What kind of work do you do outside the home?
Do you use any special equipment?
In what ways is your work important?
What do you like best about your work?
What don't you like about your work?

Make a mural to summarize understandings about work. The title might be: "People Work To Meet The Needs And Wants Of The Family".

Use the stem: Some people are _______ . Assign different jobs to students and ask them to paint pictures of people doing their jobs. Include people in nontraditional jobs and people of many backgrounds and abilities. Include a diversity of jobs such as Band Chief, operator on a help line, and computer technician. Words at the bottom of the mural could say: "All Jobs Are Important."

Meeting needs through sharing

Discuss how sometimes people share what they have with others.

Sharing is an important part of the culture of all Indigenous peoples from earliest times. They understood that the ability of each one of them to survive depended upon the ability of the group.

In traditional Indian and Métis culture, if a fish was caught part of the fish was put back in the river to say "thank you" to the river for giving the fish. Then the fish would be shared with other members of the community. Use stories from Indian cultures that illustrate sharing.

Families having fun together

Discuss how families have fun together. Use The Piggy in the Puddle and Chime In: Going on a Picnic to initiate discussion. Have students draw pictures of their families having fun together.

Suggested Resources
(listed in other bibliographies and catalogues)

Resources - Human characteristics and small contributions

All I See Cynthia Rylant (ELA)
A Friend Called "Chum" Bernelda Wheeler (ELA)
The Greedy Goat Faye Bolton (ELA)
Hello, House! Linda Hayward (ELA)
I Am Freedom's Child Bill Martin Jr. (ELA)
I Wish I Could Fly Ron Maris (ELA)
Loving Ann Morris (ELA)
Mary Had a Little Lamb Sarah Josepha Hale (ELA)
Ming Ling Stephen Cosgrove (ELA)
The Monkey and the Crocodile Paul Galdone (ELA)
Move Over, Twerp Martha Alexander (ELA)
One Potato Sue Porter (ELA)
The Selfish Giant Oscar Wilde (ELA)
Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak (ELA) (MHP, V3712)
The Wolf Who Cried Boy Jeffrey Dinardo (ELA)

Resources - learning from family members

Fiddy Wow Wow (MHP, V2217)
Owl Moon Jane Yolen (ELA)
The Wednesday Surprise Eve Bunting (ELA)
Somewhere Today: Just for Fun, "Playing House in Africa". Oct., 1993 (5.1) Get free subscriptions and back copies from:

Youth Editions
P.O. Box 1310, Station B
Hull, PQ J8X 3Y1

Achimoona (ELA)
Arthur's Pet Business Marc Brown (ELA)
The Best Present Holly Keller (ELA)
Bonnie McSmithers You're Driving Me Dithers Sue Alderson (ELA)
Boss for a Week Libby Handy (ELA)
Come With Me Ashley Wolff (ELA)
The Foundling Carol Carrick (ELA) (pet)
A Friend Called "Chum" Bernelda Wheeler (ELA) (consequences and punishment)
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi Chris Van Allsburg (ELA)
Goldilocks and the Three Bears James Marshall (ELA)
Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat Cynthia Rylant (ELA) (caring for animals)
Kyle's Bath Peter Eyvindson (ELA)
Nobody Meguido Zola and Angela Dereume (ELA)
The Piggy in the Puddle Charlotte Pomerantz (ELA)
Piggybook Anthony Browne (ELA)
Please Don't Interrupt Joanne Brisson Murphy (ELA)
Stories From Our House Richard Tulloch (ELA)
Strega Nona Tommi De Paola (ELA) (consequences)

Resources - roles, conflict

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Judith Viorst (ELA)
Arthur's Birthday Marc Brown (ELA)
Bonnie McSmithers You're Driving Me Dithers Sue Alderson (ELA)
I Like to Be Little Charlotte Zolotow (ELA)
Mama, Do You Love Me Barbara M. Joosse (ELA)
Nobody (ELA)
The Piggy in the Puddle Charlotte Pomerantz (ELA)
The Runaway Bunny Margaret W. Brown (ELA)
The Three Wishes Margot Zemach (ELA)
Warner, Don't Forget Lynn Seligman and Geraldine Mabin (ELA)