Unit: Family and Friends

Competence Objectives:              The learner will correctly express the relationships in his/her family.

Suggested Criteria for Success: The learner will complete and present to the class a family tree showing names and relationships of his/her family.

Suggested Vocabulary:                baby                     wife                      parents                 father
                                                           mother                 uncle                    male                     child/children
                                                           husband                             aunt                      grandparents       son
                                                           grandmother       daughter                             brother                 nephew
                                                           Mr.                       Mrs.                      Ms.                       Miss
                                                           sister                    step-mother        step-father          niece
                                                           grandfather         female                  guardian                             oldest
                                                           youngest              middle                 men                      women
                                                           only                      spouse                 immediate family members

Suggested Materials:      w Photographs of your family or picture(s) of family groups. Some pictures present the possibility of what/where questions (i.e., What is the child doing? Where are they?).
w Handouts from the end of this lesson.
     Men/Women is for students to differentiate the vocabulary words by sex.
     My Family Tree gives a form for students to complete a family tree. A
     fancier family tree form with background graphics follows this lesson in a
     separate file.
w Paper and markers/pens/pencils for students to draw their family picture and make a family tree.
w Picture Dictionaries
w Journal.

Suggested Methods:       Discussion, Drawing, Sorting, Pair Work, Project, Journal Writing

Some Suggested Steps

Introduction/Lecture. Use a picture of your family, or a picture of a magazine family, to introduce the lesson.


	$Unit: Family and Friends C:\Users\Inspir\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image002$

Drawing. As the teacher, make a quick demonstration picture (stick figures, perhaps) of your own family. Ask students to draw their families, using stick figures or more advanced art. Put each person’s name under his/her picture.

As an alternative to drawing, you may make and label a family diagram similar to the sketch below. (Also, see Family Tree later in this lesson.)


	$Unit: Family and Friends C:\Users\Inspir\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003$

Sorting. Use the Vocabulary Words page at the end of the lesson and let students sort words by men and women.

Vocabulary. Review the concepts of only, oldest, youngest, and middle children with the class. Ask each student to tell if they are the only, oldest, youngest, or one of the middle children in their family. Adult learners who have children can use their drawing to tell each child’s name and identify them as their only, oldest, middle, or youngest child. For families with more then three children, number the children from oldest (1) to youngest (12). Students may use the completed Vocabulary Words page from the end of this lesson as a resource.

Labeling. Ask students to label their family sketches with the right word for each family member (i.e., father, mother, sister, brother, me).

Interview Project. Pair students and ask them to interview each other about their sketches. Have each student introduce his/her partner’s family to the class (in English).

Family Tree. Show students how to make a family tree. Draw your family tree with personal names and family relationships--for example, label one block as Grandfather (Pete Smith). Ask each student to tell the class about his/her family tree. Is anyone’s tree growing a new branch soon (a coming marriage, a new baby expected)?

Journal Work. Write about your immediate family members. The instructor will want to detail this assignment to the level of the class. The assignment may be as simple as writing “ My family,” or “These are the members of my family,” followed by a list of names. To make the assignment harder, ask students to add the relationship of the person to them. For a mixed class, the more advanced students can try sentences such as “My grandfather and grandmother are Frank and Addie.”

A writing assignment for more advanced students in a mixed class might be one of these:

How Did You Meet Your Husband/Wife?

Who Lived in Your Home When You Were Growing Up?

Thank you