Faces of a Family
Lesson 6: What do families in our classroom look like?
Unit Essential Questions: What does family mean? How are families alike and different?
Lesson Essential Questions: What does family mean? What do families in our classroom look like?
Time Needed: 2 class periods, plus about a week and a half to draw and paint the mural
NCSS Standards:
· I. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture
and cultural diversity so that the learner can
o A. explore and describe similarities and differences in the ways groups, societies, and
cultures address similar human needs and concerns
· IV. Individual Development & Identity: Social studies programs should include experiences that
provide for the study of individual development and identity, so that the learner can
o Describe the unique features of one’s nuclear and extended families
o Identify and describe ways family, groups, and community influence the individual’s
daily life and personal choices
o Work independently and cooperatively to accomplish goals
MMSD Standards:
· Demonstrate empathy for feelings of others
· Identify self as an important member of groups
· Describe how family members and friends provide for needs of love and respect
· Cooperate in group settings to establish and achieve mental goals and promote the welfare of its
members
UW Teaching Standards:
· Standard 2: Understand social context of schooling
· Standard 7: Understands and adapts to multiple forms of communication
· Standard 9: Manages learning environment
· Standard 11: Uses technologies
Materials:
· List of ideas about families created in previous classes
· Mural Planning Worksheet
· Plywood, 4’ x 8’ (1/2” thick), sharp edges rounded and painted white
· Overhead projector or document camera
· Acrylic paints
· Painting smocks
· Clear varnish
Objectives:
· Students will discuss what it means to be a family using prior knowledge built from previous lessons
· Students will draw their own family, what they do together, why they are important, why they are
unique, or who is in their family.
· Students will collectively plan out a mural
· Students will draw and paint a mural depicting what it means to be a family
Lesson Context:
This is the final lesson in a unit on families. The students have discussed who is in a family, what makes a family, what makes families similar or different, why families are important, and what families do together. For this last lesson, students will be taking all they have learned from the previous lesson and putting it together to create a mural that depicts different ideas of what it means to be a family.
Lesson Opening:
· Post the lesson ideas so that the whole class can see (the first day’s ideas should be in a different color
from the additions made). These things in a different color were from the very first day, before we had talked
about what family means. What are some things that we have learned and been able to add to our list?
Procedure:
· Introducing the mural
o To show everyone everything that we have learned about what family means, we are going to work as a class
to make a mural. A mural is a large painting or drawing that has a lot of different parts that together have
a certain meaning. Show examples of murals to students and discuss the meanings of each mural.
o Before you start making a mural, it is important to plan out what you are going to do. Our mural is going
to show what family means. What are some things that we need to include on our mural? Make a list of
“Our mural needs…” Be sure to point out what families do together, why families are
important, who is in a family, differences and similarities between families, and what makes
families unique. Brainstorm images that go along with the items on the list that could be used
on the mural.
o To make our mural, everyone will be responsible for drawing a picture of their family in some way. You can
draw any of the things on this list. For example, I might draw my family eating dinner together, because
that is something that my family does. You will use this planning worksheet to plan out what you are
going to draw. If you have a couple of different ideas, you can do a couple of planning sheets and then
choose your favorite. Remember that a lot of people are going to be looking at these, so take your time and
try your best.
· Give students time to work on their drawings. While students are drawing, circulate and talk to
students to help them think about how they are going to articulate what they are drawing.
*Lesson can break here for the day and continue with the next portion.*
· Sitting in a circle, students share what they have drawn. Push students to articulate what it is they
have shown and what aspect they are showing (ex. Why families are important, etc.). What have you
drawn? Can you say more about that? What do you mean by that?
· After students have shared, bring out the piece of plywood, which has been painted white. Tell
students that they will be using paints to create their mural on this piece of wood and that it will then
be hung up in the cafeteria (or other location that the teacher has arranged).
· The next step for making a mural is to plan out where everyone’s pictures are going to go. Should everyone get
equal space on the mural? Why or why not? Should we place pictures that are similar near each other? Help
students to arrange pictures and decide where everyone will go. Make a plan of where everyone’s
drawings will go on a white piece of paper so that students can refer to this later. Before the next
step, the teacher may draw very lightly in pencil to set boundaries for each student.
*Lesson can bread here for the day and continue with next portion.*
· Today we are going to begin drawing our mural. Because it would be very crowded for everyone to try to draw at
the same time, I have made a schedule so that five people will get to draw their picture in pencil up on the board.
Show example of you projecting your image with a document camera or overhead projector (if using
overhead projector, teacher will need to make overheads of each student’s drawing) onto the
plywood and tracing the lines in pencil very carefully. Be sure to point out that it if someone makes a
mistake in pencil, not to erase the marks. The rubber from the eraser sometimes makes the paint peel
off.
*After each child has had a chance to draw their portion of the mural in pencil, continue to next portion. The teacher should go over everyone’s pencil marks with black paint so that the outlines are bold and easier for the children to paint inside of.*
· Show students plywood with images penciled on. Now that everyone has had a chance to trace their
drawing onto the board, we can begin painting. I have outlined everyone’s drawings with black paint so that it is
easy to see where you will be paining. I have again made a schedule for who will paint on which days so that it
does not get too crowded. Three students will paint each day. Model painting your portion, pointing out the
importance of taking your time and using smooth strokes. Also point out that students will need to
use a paint smock when working on the mural.
*After each child has had a chance to paint their portion, cover with a clear varnish and let dry. Invite other classrooms, families, or community members to come to a viewing of the mural, where students describe what they have painted.*
Lesson Closure:
Before the viewing, have students again articulate what it is they have drawn. For the viewing, set students up in small groups. Visitors may go around to the small groups and ask students to explain what it is they have made on the mural and what the mural means overall.
Assessment:
Throughout this lesson, students will be assessed on what they have learned throughout the unit on families. Students will be asked to express through multiple forms of communications, what they have learned about what it means to be a family. This includes talking about why families are important, what families do together, etc. Students can be assessed during discussions, during the planning stages of the mural, and during sharing of what their contribution is to the mural.
Special Considerations:
This lesson takes a lot of teacher preparation. This lesson provides a great opportunity for the teacher to bring in family members to help facilitate the drawing and painting of the mural. This way, the teacher will not always have to be monitoring what is going on with the mural, but can assign an adult from the students’ families to do this.
Resources:
Osumi, T. (n.d.) Making murals, making history: A mural making guide for k-12 teachers. Retrieved at
http://www.kuidaosumi.com/murals/muralguide.html.
This lesson is a great resource for any teacher or adult working with children who wants to make a mural with their students. The article begins by explaining why murals are a great tool for discussing and assessing students' knowledge of a particular subject. The article then gives detailed instructions on how to walk children through making a mural. It also contains helpful tips for making the mural the best possible. I used this article as a guideline for the mural-making portion of this lesson.
NCSS Standards:
· I. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture
and cultural diversity so that the learner can
o A. explore and describe similarities and differences in the ways groups, societies, and
cultures address similar human needs and concerns
· IV. Individual Development & Identity: Social studies programs should include experiences that
provide for the study of individual development and identity, so that the learner can
o Describe the unique features of one’s nuclear and extended families
o Identify and describe ways family, groups, and community influence the individual’s
daily life and personal choices
o Work independently and cooperatively to accomplish goals
MMSD Standards:
· Demonstrate empathy for feelings of others
· Identify self as an important member of groups
· Describe how family members and friends provide for needs of love and respect
· Cooperate in group settings to establish and achieve mental goals and promote the welfare of its
members
UW Teaching Standards:
· Standard 2: Understand social context of schooling
· Standard 7: Understands and adapts to multiple forms of communication
· Standard 9: Manages learning environment
· Standard 11: Uses technologies
Materials:
· List of ideas about families created in previous classes
· Mural Planning Worksheet
· Plywood, 4’ x 8’ (1/2” thick), sharp edges rounded and painted white
· Overhead projector or document camera
· Acrylic paints
· Painting smocks
· Clear varnish
Objectives:
· Students will discuss what it means to be a family using prior knowledge built from previous lessons
· Students will draw their own family, what they do together, why they are important, why they are
unique, or who is in their family.
· Students will collectively plan out a mural
· Students will draw and paint a mural depicting what it means to be a family
Lesson Context:
This is the final lesson in a unit on families. The students have discussed who is in a family, what makes a family, what makes families similar or different, why families are important, and what families do together. For this last lesson, students will be taking all they have learned from the previous lesson and putting it together to create a mural that depicts different ideas of what it means to be a family.
Lesson Opening:
· Post the lesson ideas so that the whole class can see (the first day’s ideas should be in a different color
from the additions made). These things in a different color were from the very first day, before we had talked
about what family means. What are some things that we have learned and been able to add to our list?
Procedure:
· Introducing the mural
o To show everyone everything that we have learned about what family means, we are going to work as a class
to make a mural. A mural is a large painting or drawing that has a lot of different parts that together have
a certain meaning. Show examples of murals to students and discuss the meanings of each mural.
o Before you start making a mural, it is important to plan out what you are going to do. Our mural is going
to show what family means. What are some things that we need to include on our mural? Make a list of
“Our mural needs…” Be sure to point out what families do together, why families are
important, who is in a family, differences and similarities between families, and what makes
families unique. Brainstorm images that go along with the items on the list that could be used
on the mural.
o To make our mural, everyone will be responsible for drawing a picture of their family in some way. You can
draw any of the things on this list. For example, I might draw my family eating dinner together, because
that is something that my family does. You will use this planning worksheet to plan out what you are
going to draw. If you have a couple of different ideas, you can do a couple of planning sheets and then
choose your favorite. Remember that a lot of people are going to be looking at these, so take your time and
try your best.
· Give students time to work on their drawings. While students are drawing, circulate and talk to
students to help them think about how they are going to articulate what they are drawing.
*Lesson can break here for the day and continue with the next portion.*
· Sitting in a circle, students share what they have drawn. Push students to articulate what it is they
have shown and what aspect they are showing (ex. Why families are important, etc.). What have you
drawn? Can you say more about that? What do you mean by that?
· After students have shared, bring out the piece of plywood, which has been painted white. Tell
students that they will be using paints to create their mural on this piece of wood and that it will then
be hung up in the cafeteria (or other location that the teacher has arranged).
· The next step for making a mural is to plan out where everyone’s pictures are going to go. Should everyone get
equal space on the mural? Why or why not? Should we place pictures that are similar near each other? Help
students to arrange pictures and decide where everyone will go. Make a plan of where everyone’s
drawings will go on a white piece of paper so that students can refer to this later. Before the next
step, the teacher may draw very lightly in pencil to set boundaries for each student.
*Lesson can bread here for the day and continue with next portion.*
· Today we are going to begin drawing our mural. Because it would be very crowded for everyone to try to draw at
the same time, I have made a schedule so that five people will get to draw their picture in pencil up on the board.
Show example of you projecting your image with a document camera or overhead projector (if using
overhead projector, teacher will need to make overheads of each student’s drawing) onto the
plywood and tracing the lines in pencil very carefully. Be sure to point out that it if someone makes a
mistake in pencil, not to erase the marks. The rubber from the eraser sometimes makes the paint peel
off.
*After each child has had a chance to draw their portion of the mural in pencil, continue to next portion. The teacher should go over everyone’s pencil marks with black paint so that the outlines are bold and easier for the children to paint inside of.*
· Show students plywood with images penciled on. Now that everyone has had a chance to trace their
drawing onto the board, we can begin painting. I have outlined everyone’s drawings with black paint so that it is
easy to see where you will be paining. I have again made a schedule for who will paint on which days so that it
does not get too crowded. Three students will paint each day. Model painting your portion, pointing out the
importance of taking your time and using smooth strokes. Also point out that students will need to
use a paint smock when working on the mural.
*After each child has had a chance to paint their portion, cover with a clear varnish and let dry. Invite other classrooms, families, or community members to come to a viewing of the mural, where students describe what they have painted.*
Lesson Closure:
Before the viewing, have students again articulate what it is they have drawn. For the viewing, set students up in small groups. Visitors may go around to the small groups and ask students to explain what it is they have made on the mural and what the mural means overall.
Assessment:
Throughout this lesson, students will be assessed on what they have learned throughout the unit on families. Students will be asked to express through multiple forms of communications, what they have learned about what it means to be a family. This includes talking about why families are important, what families do together, etc. Students can be assessed during discussions, during the planning stages of the mural, and during sharing of what their contribution is to the mural.
Special Considerations:
This lesson takes a lot of teacher preparation. This lesson provides a great opportunity for the teacher to bring in family members to help facilitate the drawing and painting of the mural. This way, the teacher will not always have to be monitoring what is going on with the mural, but can assign an adult from the students’ families to do this.
Resources:
Osumi, T. (n.d.) Making murals, making history: A mural making guide for k-12 teachers. Retrieved at
http://www.kuidaosumi.com/murals/muralguide.html.
This lesson is a great resource for any teacher or adult working with children who wants to make a mural with their students. The article begins by explaining why murals are a great tool for discussing and assessing students' knowledge of a particular subject. The article then gives detailed instructions on how to walk children through making a mural. It also contains helpful tips for making the mural the best possible. I used this article as a guideline for the mural-making portion of this lesson.
