Lesson Plan

Exploratory FCS
Lecture/Group Activities Unit 3 - Lesson 1: Family, Home & Community Date:
6th -7th Grade 55 Minutes

Special instructions for the day:

Materials Needed: - Review Topics for class starter review

Time:
Description/Activity Objective
Content Standard Standard 2.01 Examine the importance of the family.

Objectives Students will

Define the family.

Identify the role families play in the lives of teens.
Examine ways that family members help each other.

Anticipatory Set: 7 min Today we are going to start off with a game. Who has played the game Heads Up? I want everyone to partner up,
and one partner should be facing the board, and the other have their back to the board.

How to play: Students will partner up, one student will face the front of the class, while the other faces the back. On
the projector there will be words, phrases or concepts that the students should know. The student facing the front,
and that can see the phrases, will describe the concept to the other student, to which that student (facing the
back) will have to try and guess what concept the other student is describing.

Demonstration 3 min Discussion:

What is your definition of a family?
What is having a family like, or what should it be like?
- Note: Stress that there are all kinds of families. (Some families just have a mom and children, some families
have children and a dad, some children live with their grandma or grandpa or both. Some families have
both a mom and a dad with one child or with many children, and some families don't have any children)
7 min Characteristics:
- Have students take out a piece of paper and list characteristics of families. Ask students to share what
they listed, and write them on the board. Discuss with students both the negative and positive
characteristics.
- Note: These characteristics are positive if the family incorporates the skill and negative if the family is
lacking the characteristic.
Characteristics might include: Commitment, time together, appreciation, communication, decision
making, responsibility, problem solving, values and spiritual wellness, family rules and family traditions.
What actions might members of a family do, to demonstrate these characteristics?
Does anyone have an example or experience?
15 min Student Activity:

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 - Divide the class into groups, based on who is the oldest, middle, youngest, only child. Have each group go
to a corner in the room. Give each group markers and butcher paper. Have them list advantages and
disadvantages of their birth order.
- Each group will present their findings to the class.
How does their role in their family affect their relationships with their siblings?
How about with their parents?
3 min Siblings
- Have students turn to a partner and tell them about their siblings.
How old are your siblings?
Where do you fit in?
Do you and your sibling(s) get along?
Is there some rivalry(competition)?
Family members helping each other:
- Bring the class back together, and ask a couple of partnerships to share with the class, what they learned
about their partner.
5 min How do your siblings help you?
How does your family help each other?
Do you have different responsibilities at home? Who does what?
5 min Students will have some time, to think of something from home(object, story or tradition) that expresses their
family in some way. The student will share the object with the class the following day, and explain the meaning
this object has to their family, how it expresses the value of their family or represents part of their heritage. The
student will include the role that they play in their family, and share the ways that their culture values families.
Conclusion: 2 min

Resources Pte.idaho.gov Crosswalk Guide

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 Lesson Plan
Exploratory FCS
Lecture/Group Activities Unit 3 - Lesson 2: Family, Home & Community Date:
6th -7th Grade 55 Minutes

Special instructions for the day:

Materials Needed: - Possibly a computer/projector depending on the presentation

Description/Activity Objective
Content Standard 2.01 Examine the Importance of the family

Objectives Students will

Explore family heritage

Explore ways that different cultures value families

Anticipatory Set: 3 min To get the students excited and ready for the lesson, I will tell the students a story about someone in my family
history.

In 1955, my grandmother, came over on a ship from Norway, knowing no English..

Demonstration 1 min Instruction:

The student will share the object with the class the object/tradition/recipe that represents or has meaning to their
family, and explain the meaning/how it expresses the value of their family or represents part of their heritage. The
student will include the role that they play in their family, and share the ways that their culture values families. Each
student should take only 2 minutes. The presentations will be graded on completion and participation.

As the students are presenting, the rest of the class should be taking notes. The notes will include the presenters
name, the item they brought, and the meaning it has to the presenter.
50 min Students will present their information.
Conclusion: 1 min Thanks everyone, for sharing parts of your family heritage/family meaning. Learning about our own heritage, and
the heritage and culture of others, helps us to have better understanding and respect for others as well as helps us
to get to know ourselves.

Resources

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 Lesson Plan
Exploratory FCS
Lecture/Group Activities Unit 3 - Lesson 3: Family, Home & Community Date:
6th -7th Grade 55 Minutes

Special instructions for the day:

Materials Needed: - Magazines, water closet story, word-sramble letters, printed article,

Description/Activity Objective
Content Standard 2.02 Explore supportive family relationships

Objectives Students will

Explain the role of communication in families

Anticipatory Set: 3 min Show the video whos on first. Can be found on youtube.com

what effective/appropriate communication was demonstrated?

what ineffective/inappropriate communication was demonstrated?

Point out that both men in the video were saying the same thing, but they still didnt understand each other,
making it ineffective.
Demonstration 3 min Discuss with students the definition of communication.
What is communication?
Communication is about me. True or false?
Who is involved in communication?
How do people communicate?

Communication is a two-way activity and cannot be completed alone. Each type of communication requires
another person in order to practice certain skills for successful communication. Some of these skills will be learned
during this unit.

5 minutes Scrambled Word Activity:

Preparation
Make cards for the scrambled words game. Use the 6 words from below. Write each letter from in a large,
readable size. Cut the letters apart so they form letter squares. Laminate them for repeated use. Be sure to write
each word on a different piece of paperthis will prevent the students or you from mixing up the letter
combinations.

There are 6 types of personal communicators.

1. SPEAKERS and 2. LISTENERS (verbal)
3. WRITERS and 4. READERS (written)

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 5. ACTORS and 6. OBSERVERS (nonverbal)

Divide the class into six groups and give each group one of the communicator type words to unscramble. When
each group finishes, have them display their words on the chalkboard or bulletin board.

Tell the students they are going to explore the three types of communication: verbal, written, and non-verbal.

5 min Verbal communication:

Read aloud "The Water Closet" story to the students. (Story is at bottom of lesson plan) Then have a brief discussion
that leads the students to identify about the lack of adequate communication on the part of the little old lady (the
sender) and the schoolmaster (the receiver).

Who is the sender?

Who is the receiver?
What was the misunderstanding, and the problems that stemmed from it?
How might something like this occur within the family?
15 min Non-verbal communication:
What is non-verbal communication? Examples?

The students are then going to make a non-verbal communication collage.

Have each student get a magazine and tell them to look for pictures of people where faces give away the
emotions. Have them cut out at least 5 pictures. Tell them to glue the faces to the front of the construction paper
and label each picture with the non-verbal message that the person is showing.

What messages do people send with facial expressions, eye contact, handshakes, posture, and tone of voice?
What is the real message?
Can you communicate your emotions, without meaning to?

10 min for prep Written Communication:

15 min for
sharing Divide the class into 6 groups. Have each group read two bullets in the article, Improving Family Communication,
When they are finished reading, give each group a large piece of paper and have them do a sketch to stretch.
That is, they are going to draw the portion of the article that they read on their poster and then share it with the
class.

Link for Article:

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/family-dynamics/communication-discipline/Pages/Improving-
Family-Communications.aspx
Conclusion: During your conversations, how can you tell when someone is listening to you?
During your conversations, how can you tell when someone is not listening to you?
What behaviors do you demonstrate to show others you are listening to them?
How does it make you feel being listened to/not being listened to by a family member? A friend?

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 On a scale from 1 to 10, how important do you think it is to your success in school (and beyond!) that you know
and use appropriate communication skills?

Learning how to effectively communicate, both verbally, nonverbally and through writing, helps to develop
stronger relationships and also can help you succeed in school and in the workplace.

Resources ALEX Hey Im talking to you!

Healthychildren.org

THE WATER CLOSET

There was a little old English lady who was looking for a place to live in Switzerland. She asked the local village schoolmaster to help her and together they
found a place that suited her. She returned to London to get her things, but on the way home she remembered that she had not noticed a bathroom in the
new place, or as she called it, a water closet. So when she arrived in London she wrote to the schoolmaster to inquire about a water closet in her place.
Being somewhat embarrassed to ask about this, she decided to just use the abbreviation W.C. rather than spell out the words. When the schoolmaster
received her letter he was puzzled by the initials W.C., never dreaming that she was referring to a bathroom. So he went to the local minister to see if he
knew what a W.C. was. Of course, the minister thought it stood for the Wesleyan Church. So the schoolmaster wrote this reply to the English lady.

Dear Madam,

The W.C. is situated nine miles from the house in the center of a beautiful grove of trees. It is capable of holding 350 people at a time and is open on
Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday of each week. A large number of folks attend during the summer months, so it is suggested you go early, although
there is plenty of standing room. Some folks like to take their lunch and make a day of it, especially on Thursday when there is organ
accompaniment. The acoustics are very good and everyone can hear the slightest sound.

It may be of interest to you to know that my daughter was married in our W.C. and it was there she met her husband.

We hope you will be here in time for our bazaar to be held very soon. The proceeds will go toward the purchase of plush seats for our W.C., which
the folks agree are a long-felt need, as the present seats all have holes in them.

My wife is rather delicate; therefore, she cannot attend regularly. It has been six months since the last time she went. Naturally, it pains her very
much not to be able to go more often.

I shall close now with the desire to accommodate you in every way possible, and I will be happy to save you a seat down front or near the door,
whichever you prefer.

Sincerely,

The Schoolmaster

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 Lesson Plan
Exploratory FCS
Lecture/Group Activities Unit 3 - Lesson 4: Family, Home & Community Date:
6th -7th Grade 55 Minutes

Special instructions for the day:

Materials Needed: Green paper strips, goose story, How strong is your family questionnaire, change your family printout, Magazines, glue sticks,
modgepodge

Description/Activity Objective
Content Standard 2.02 Explore supportive family relationships

Objectives Students will

Explore ways to be a supportive family member
Describe characteristics of strong families
Anticipatory Set:

Demonstration 3 min Read A Sense of a Goose Story (bottom). Discuss how the story relates to building family strength.

What can we do to help members of our families?

How did the geese become stronger? How does this relate to families?
4 min Students will make a list of qualities of a strong family, and we will list them on the board.

What are qualities/traits of a strong family?

Does anyone remember some of the positive and negative characteristics we talked about on Monday?

15 min Students will create a collage representing traits/characteristics of a strong family.

They will share their collage with a partner and explain, how it represents a strong family for them.
10 min The students will be given the How Strong is your Family questionnaire, and they will fill it out individually. This will
not be graded and is for their own information, since it could be personal.

While, students are filling out their worksheet, pass around green strips of paper, each student should get at least 3.

10 minutes Building a tree:

Once the students have filled out the questionnaire, on each of the green strips, have them write an area that
they would like to see improved in their own families, or ways to improve relationships with parents, siblings, and/or
grandparents. We will take each of the strips and make links, and put together a tree, we will hang this tree in the

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 classroom. Here is an example: Students will assemble the links into chains, however the tree will be assembled, by
me after class.

7 min Secrets of a Strong Family

From the list on the board, which might include: Communication, creative problem solving, values & spiritual
wellness, decision making & responsibility, affection, have the students make a list of 10 activities that they do, or
could do with their family to build family strength.

Give the students the you Can Change Your Family handout, to give them some ideas.

HOMEWORK: Students will do one of these activities they listed, and write a paragraph about how it went, what they
learned and/or how it improved their familys relationship. DUE Monday.
1 min Whether you have grown up in a strong family or not, it is possible to have a strong and healthy family of your own.
If your present family is a good model to follow, transfer those strengths to your new family. If not, rather than blame
others, yourself, or circumstances, take responsibility for making your future family the kind of family that nurtures
and loves its members. It doesn't just happen by accident. It takes effort and determination; but it's worth it.
Investing in your family is the best investment in the future you can make. Remember your homework!

Conclusion:

Resources

Sense of a Goose --Author Unknown

When you see geese flying along in "V" formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way: As each bird flaps its wings, it
creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird

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flew on its own. People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are
traveling on the thrust of one another. When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets
back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those
people who are headed the same way we are. When the head goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point. It is sensible to
take turns doing demanding jobs, whether with people or with geese flying south. Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their
speed. What messages do we give when we honk from behind? Finally ... and this is important ... when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshot, and falls
out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly
or until it dies, and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group. If we have the sense of a goose, we will
stand by each other like that. --Author Unknown

Lesson Plan
Exploratory FCS
Lecture/Group Activities Unit 3 - Lesson 5: Family, Home & Community Date:
6th -7th Grade 55 Minutes

Special instructions for the day:

Materials Needed: - Celebrations & traditions worksheet, Our family tradition worksheet, create your own traditions form

Description/Activity Objective
Content Standard 2.02 Explore supportive family relationships

Objectives Students will

Identify Family Traditions

Explore activities families can do together

Anticipatory Set: 2 min https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/videos/10150974501364999/

Video about Somali thanksgiving traditions
Demonstration 15 min What is a tradition?

Traditions help build family unity and provide feelings of security. They do not need to be expensive or time
consuming but they must be something meaningful to the entire family.

- Discuss how traditions are often simple activities such as a particular food on a given day or, for a particular
event (such as rice pudding, homemade bread, popcorn, apples, etc.). It may stimulate interest to have

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 samples of such a food that has been a tradition in your family to share with the class while you explain about
personal family traditions.
- Continue talking about traditions by addressing the following concepts:

What does the term tradition mean?

- TRADITION is an established custom or practice.

What makes a tradition?

- Doing the same activity at the same time repeatedly; it should be something meaningful to the entire family.

How do traditions develop? Where do ideas come from?

- They come from the familys native culture, friends or neighbors, grandparents, and other family members.

Who is responsible for developing and following through with traditions?

- Parents, children, grandparents, or other family members, e.g. any single family member or a combination of
family members

Who should be included in family traditions?

- Both parents and the children or other family members

How much should family traditions cost?

- They dont always need to cost money, but some activities do cost money

How can they be maintained?

- It is easier to maintain family traditions if parents and children make plans for the activity together and the
family group participates in the activity.

How can traditions help develop family unity and provide feelings of security?
In doing things together and interacting with each other, traditions give a sense of achievement, predictability,
and provide a source of memories, etc.

10 min Working in groups and using the student activity worksheets, OUR FAMILY TRADITIONS and CELEBRATIONS AND
TRADITIONS, have the students share traditions of their own families in their assigned groups, including birthdays,
and let each student record them on his/her paper.

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 10 min Then have the groups demonstrate the tradition to the class in the form of a pantomime. The class will try and guess
what they are doing.

20 min Students will then come up with their own holiday/tradition. This is something that you already dont do in your
family but you might want to adopt into your family. Think about your family likes and dislikes. They will fill out the
create your own tradition form These traditions should be genuine activities that could potentially be used by you
or your classmates. After these are collected, a copy will be made of every tradition and distributed to the class, so
they have a conglomeration of activities.

Conclusion:
Remember that traditions help build family unity and provide feelings of security. They do not need to be expensive
or time consuming but they must be something meaningful to the entire family.

Resources

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