My Family Comes From...
I chose this activity because children need to know that not everybody comes from the same place, and that everyone is special in their own way, everyone is different, but in the end we are all the same. Many children in this country are first generations born in the USA, while others are second, third, etc... As an educator, and in order to eliminate BIAS, I would like to create an activity in which children can learn about each others family background and origin. It is important for children from young age understand that everyone has cultural heritage, to learn to respect others, and at the same time to become familiar with different cultures and their traditions.
Materials I would provide: World map, puns, paper, yarn, glue, crayons, tempera paint and pencils. With these materials children can make their own books about their families and their origin.
This would be fun activity where children can bring different photos of their family's old country, share some old family traditions, or count to 10 on their native language.
I would use a world map to connect all the photos with location of the origin, and share some common and age appropriate facts about it. This way, children can learn about the background of their friends and better understand the reasons such as why some children dress the way they do, or the way they talk.From the material provided, every child can make a book and describe their own family. In this book, they can include pictures of family members came to this country, how many family members are in the household, how many siblings do they have, what language do they speak at home, do they ever go back to visit old country, what holidays they celebrate, etc... I would encourage children to include as many photos of the family and the country they came from, so the rest of children can have a better understanding of the place they describing.
This activity will promote anti-bias goals such as:Introduce children to other cultures- with this activity children will have the opportunity to share their family and cultural tradition with the rest of the class, and that way other children will get familiar with different practices from what they have at home.
Provide children with positive experience exploring similarities and differences- by sharing their family background with the class, children will help others notice similarities and differences among the classmates and learn to appreciate their friends for who they are, regardless of the difference in appearance, or cultural believe.
Encourage children to respect other cultures-this activity will help children learn about different cultures, all the nice things that each culture has, as well as how long a particular segment has been practiced, which will encourage children to respect those cultures.
This activity would be appropriate for children ages five and six. "They are more group-oriented and can begin to understand cultural identity. Fives and sixes will enjoy exploring the cultural heritage of their classmates"(R&W.pg18). I believe, this activity would be appropriate for this age group, because children that age are old enough to begin to wonder what else is out there, realizing that there are children with different skin color, speaking language that they don't understand, dressing differently, etc..
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Books I would include in this activity would be: "Where Did Your Family Come From?", and "All Families are Special".
The book "All Families are Special", talks about Mrs.Mack's students, who, when they find out, she's to be grandmother, discuss their own situations and discover that no two families are alike. This update of Simon's classic illustrates contemporary examples of blended and international families.
The book "Where Did Your Family Come From?", talks about how individuals from different countries came to United States. It shows in details how they traveled to the new country, what kind of work are they hoping to find and what kind of work did they do int the old country.The reason I chose these two books, is to better illustrate the "Coming to America", as many children just know that they were born here. These books will help children get better picture of different cultures, and different types of families. They will also learn that not all families have same number of members, same traditions,and celebrate same holidays. By reading these books, children will be able to recognize themselves in some of the examples, as well as making connections with some of their classmates. These books will develop a positive, knowledgeable and confident self-identity within a cultural context (Anti-Bias Curriculum.pg.138).
Resources:
http://theartofchildhood.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/we-are-all-alike-we-are-all-different/
http://www.albertwhitman.com/content.cfm/bookdetails/All-Families-Are-Special
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/where-did-your-family-come-from-melvin-berger/1114261708?ean=9780824986476
