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Celebrate different families

Topic: Celebrate different families

Learning Outcomes

  • explore stories about people who have made a difference and brought about a fairer world.
  • have opportunities to articulate his/her own attitudes, experiences and values
  • to see that the common bond that unites many families and caring communities is love and caring
  • Read a book that celebrates that all families are different

 

Introduction
  1. Children draw pictures of their families on paper.
  2. Write on board- “What do we know about families?”

Ask the class the following questions and record their answers● What do we know about families? ● Who is in a family? ● What do family members give or share with each other?

Make sure to include all the different kinds of families that are in your classroom. At the same time, it is important to name a wide variety of families (such as single parents or LGBTQ-headed), especially ones that are not represented in your classroom.

 

Development
  1. Read the book-ask questions
  2. Ask children to draw Roy, Silo and Tango as a family.

Questions to ask could be:

What problem did Roy and Silo have? ● How did it get solved? ● How did Roy and Silo get an egg? ● How do Roy and Silo take care of Tango before she hatched? ● How do Roy and Silo take care of Tango after she hatched? ● What things do Roy, Silo and Tango enjoy doing together as a family? ● How is the family in the story similar to your family? ● How is the family in the story different from your family?

Scan/take photos of each of the children’s family pictures that they made. Choose one or two of the family of penguins.

Plenary

Children can show their creations and take suggestions/ feedback. Can be printed out and placed in class library alongside Tango makes three.

 

Other Resources for teaching this topic

In groups of 2 or 3, children make their own book on their family and the penguin family from the text.

Book Creator App.

Tango makes Three blurb:

Roy and Silo are just like the other penguin couples at the zoo – they bow to each other, walk together and swim together. But Roy and Silo are a little bit different – they’re both boys

‘And Tango Makes Three’ is a brilliant story which explores different families through a family of penguins, challenging the fairytale stereotype of a family being a man, a woman and children. This text celebrates that all families are different.

  • Integrated into the SPHe curriculum for Infants-Strand: Myself and Others Strand Unit: Myself and My Family – identify and name the people who constitute a family and appreciate that all family units are not the same
  • Ideas for this lesson plan were inspired from a unit of work at https://highlandliteracy.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/bgelessonplan_and-tango-makes-three.pdf This lesson plan is excellent as it includes lessons for infants up to 6th Class when approaching Tango makes three, homophobia, diverse families and inclusion. Well worth checking out.

Teaching children philosophy website also has some valuable questions for this topic. https://www.teachingchildrenphilosophy.org/BookModule/AndTangoMakesThree

Related Lessons

Different Families