“My relations are obviously those of divided allegiance,” Moynihan wrote in a diary he kept during the 1950s. Moynihan’s childhood-a tangle of poverty, remarriage, relocation, and single motherhood-contrasted starkly with the idyllic American family life he would later extol. Moynihan’s mother, Margaret, remarried, had another child, divorced, moved to Indiana to stay with relatives, then returned to New York, where she worked as a nurse. When Moynihan was 10 years old, his father, John, left the family, plunging it into poverty. He was born in 1927 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but raised mostly in New York City. Patterson’s book is deeply sympathetic to Moynihan in ways that I don’t quite agree with, but I found it invaluable for understanding Moynihan as a human. James Patterson’s Freedom Is Not Enough furnished much of the biographical information in this section. With My Family (to the tune “The Muffin Man”)Ĭontinue singing other verses with ideas from the children in your group.“lower-class behavior in our cities is shaking them apart.”īy his own lights, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, ambassador, senator, sociologist, and itinerant American intellectual, was the product of a broken home and a pathological family. Take these piggyback songs about family and incorporate words that apply to your own family. Help them expand their stories by asking questions. Encourage the children to create stories about their rock families. Afterwards, let the children play with their families. You can use a sharpie marker for details. Take a walk together and have the kids collect different sized rocks to create a family. You may want to knot in between each charm to keep them from bunching together.
Punch holes into each charm and then string them onto a length of yarn to make a bracelet. Then, write an adjective or two on the back that best describes the person. Have the kids write a family member’s name on the front of each shape.
Next, cut out charm baubles (geometric shapes) from cardstock. A thesaurus may be helpful to find word synonyms. Start by suggesting words like funny, loving, caring, dependable, kind, cheerful, cute, generous, responsible, and so on. Gather in a group and brainstorm a list of adjectives that best describe your family members. This organizer design is almost like an outline for when students are asked to write a story. This “graphic organizer” project helps kids to express how they feel about their family, the events, and even tips for future family gatherings. The last row of circles includes thoughts of how the children felt during this family gathering. The third row holds circles for things that happened during the event. Next, branch down to the next level and add all the family members who attended. At the top of the page of paper, write the event in a large circle. After reading the story together, take time to share memories of family experiences.įor a project, have the kids think of a specific family gathering. It’s a fun pairing of words and pictures that capture the energy and love that flows from a family reunion. Family Fun and Laughsįor this theme activity, read the book The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant. Next, take a black marker and create stitch marks around each quilt block to replicate the real stitching on a quilt – a work of art that has spanned generations. When all blocks are done, glue them together onto a sheet of poster board. Now, if you have an odd number of family members, just have the child create an extra quilt block (or two) with some of his/her favorite things. Draw the person and surround the headshot with things they love. Invite the kids to draw and color a quilt block for each member of the family including pets. Why not try an art project involving quilts? Cut out squares of pastel-colored paper. Talk about the making of quilts and how you can incorporate family heirlooms and memories inside this stitched piece of art. Begin this lesson by reading The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy and discuss the importance of family and what family means to each child.
Take this theme into reading, writing, speaking, music, and art.
Celebrate this very special relationship by using a variety of activities that focus on “my family”. Whether you are a parent who is homeschooling or a teacher needing a lesson plan for the classroom - family is a good theme.