Subject/Focus Area(s): ELA and Social Studies
Learning Objective(s) or Learning Target(s)
This should support the central focus, overarching
goal, big idea, or essential question(s); should be
measurable; should indicate what students will be
able to do at the end of the lesson (These can be
written as “I can” statements)
Personal Assets, Cultural, Assets, Community
Assets (also referred to as Funds of Knowledge) of
class
● Cultural: How does this lesson connect to
students’ lives and experiences? How will
you use students’ traditions, languages and
dialects, worldviews, literature, art, music,
dance, etc. to support learning?
● Community: How will you use students’
community resources, such as local
landmarks, community events and
practices, etc. to support learning?
Georgia Standard (s) of Excellence, WIDA
Standard(s), etc.
Note standards that apply to the lesson.
Grade Level/Time Frame: K-2
Students will be able to
-gain a deeper understanding of their family’s history
and heritage
-understand that immigrants from all over the world
come to the US
-identify on a world map the continents from which
their families originated
Cultural: This lesson connects to students’ lives by
allowing them to explore more of their family’s
history and heritage. Students will be able to explore
more about where their family is from and how each
family is unique.
Community: This lesson draws on community
resources by having students discuss their family
history and heritage with family members or other
community members. Students will be able to make
connections between their own family’s history and
heritage and that of other students in the class.
1LA.E.31 participate in collaborative conversations
with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts
with peers and adults in small and larger groups
1LA.E.34 describe people, places, things, and events
with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings
clearly
1LA.E.35 add drawings or other visual displays to
descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas,
thoughts, and feelings
1LA.D.30 recall information from experiences or
gather information from provided sources to answer
a question, with guidance and support from adult
1SS.D.15 identify and locate one’s own city, county,
state, nation (country) and continent on a map or
globe
1SS.D.16.a locate all of the continents: North
America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia,
Antarctica, and Australia
Prior Academic Knowledge and Prerequisite Skills
What prior academic knowledge and/or
prerequisite skills will this lesson activate?
What prior academic knowledge and/or
prerequisite skills will students need for this
lesson?
Materials/ Text(s) from Text Set
Key elements/quotes/questions/vocabulary other
points from text to highlight for focus and
facilitation
Students should already know how to write an
informative text to introduce a topic and provide
supporting details.
Students should already know the names and
locations of the seven continents.
Classroom norms and rules should already be
established about class discussions and presenting
information.
If creating a digital presentation, students should be
familiar with the digital presentation platform (PPT,
etc.).
Materials:
• World map with colored markers to label
• Copies of Family Data Sheet
• Objects gathered from home including a picture
of each student
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Crayons/markers
Texts:
• O'Brien, A. S. (2015). I'm New Here. Watertown:
Charlesbridge.
• Williams, M. (2005). Brothers in hope: the story of
the lost boys of Sudan. New York: Lee & Low
Books Inc.
• The Mats by Fransisco Arcellana (Kane/Miller)
• The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco (Simon &
Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books)
• Leaving for America by Roslyn Bresnick-Perry
(Children’s Book Press)
• Families by Aylette Jenness (Houghton Mifflin)
• Encounter by Jane Yolen (Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich)
• Two Lands, One Heart by Jeremy Schmidt and Ted
Wood (Walker and Company)
• Wood-Hoopie Willie by Virginia Kroll
(Charlesbridge)

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks:
(include activities and discussions that engage
students to develop and apply understandings
related to the topic and specific learning
objective(s). Learning tasks may be scaffolded to
connect to prior knowledge and include formative
assessments)
• Itse Selu: Cherokee Harvest Festival by Daniel
Pennington (Charlesbridge)
• Grandmother’s Song by Barbara Soros (Barefoot
Books)
• Additional short stories that focus on immigration
or family heritage
*Before beginning the lesson, consider checking with
parents and guardians to see if they have concerns
about a ‘personal history’ activity. If there are
concerns, the lesson can be adapted to focus on
interesting facts about each student’s family. The
mapping portion or focus on immigration could be
omitted.
Prepare students for the activity by reading a variety
of stories that focus on immigration and family
heritage, for example the ones mentioned in the
materials section.
Give each student a copy of the Family Data sheet to
complete at home. Allow time for this to be
completed (suggested time: one week including the
weekend).
Once the Family Data sheet has been completed,
students will create a Family Quilt to display their
ancestry. This can be done digitally using different
PPT slides or other digital platform, or this can be
done using paper. Allow students to choose how they
would like to present their personal histories. If
students are making a physical “quilt”, provide
students with construction paper to create a 9 patch
“quilt”. Students will decorate the middle square with
a picture of themselves/their family. Each of the
remaining boxes will be decorated with symbols and
representations of their family heritage. This can
include pictures and artifacts from home, or
drawings. Students may wish to represent the
countries/locations important to their family heritage
or other objects that represent those communities.
Once students have finished creating their quilt or
multimodal presentation, they will write to describe
what they chose to represent in each of the boxes
 and why that is important to their family’s history
and heritage.

Students will then be paired up to share their

personal histories with a partner or with the whole
group. As students present, they will add a colored
marker on the map to represent the location of their
family’s heritage. Invite families to come watch the
presentations and share their own stories.

Formative Assessment: While students are working

on their quilt/presentation, the teacher will ask
questions about their family history. Students will
have to recall the information and retell about the
important people, places, or events with relevant
details. The teacher can use the student’s Family
Data Sheet to prompt as needed.

Summative Assessment: While presenting, students

will identify the continent that is the location of their
family’s heritage. Students will turn in their
presentation to be evaluated. The teacher will assess
how students utilized drawings or other visual
displays along with their descriptions to clarify ideas,
thoughts, and feelings about their family’s history.
Lesson Closure After students present their Family Quilts, the
individual quilt pieces can be joined together to form
one large class quilt that can be displayed or
presented to other classes or community members. If
created digitally, they can be combined into one large
presentation and/or shared on the class website for
other students and families to view.