Title: Family Heritage (This lesson would be appropriate to space out for the length of three days.)

Materials: chart paper, four different colored markers, drawing/coloring materials, on 8"x11" paper for each student.

Objectives:

• Groups of students (writing in different colored markers) will respond with at least one statement to each of the four questions dealing with families in a carousel brainstorming activity.
• Students will draw a picture of what they think of when the term "families" is mentioned.
• Students will list five important things about their own family in the hands-on activity.

Procedures:

Carousel Brainstorming:

• Remind students how the book, Isla, often addresses the concept of families.
• Have four questions located around the room attached to large sheets of paper. These questions could be: 1) List things dealing with families from the book, Isla. 2) List places where your ancestors have come from. 3) What characteristics have you inherited from your family? 4) What things about you and your family might you tell your future children and grandchildren.
• Divide the class into four groups. Choose a good writer to be the scribe for each group. Each group will have a different colored marker.
• Have the groups go around the room and answer the questions on the large chart paper. Limited time should be given to each group to ensure students from each of the groups will contribute to the lists.
• Remind students that they are not allowed to respond by repeating an answer that is already written.
• At the end of the rotation, have the groups come up with a quick summary of the question they ended on. Go around the groups and have a spokesperson from each group give the summary to the rest of the class.
• Check off each group for contributing at least one statement to each question (shown by the different colors of ink on each chart.)

Values Whip:

• Ask students to consider what they think of when the term "families" is mentioned.
• Give students time to draw a picture of their idea.
• Go around the room and have students share their picture with the rest of the class. If a student wishes, he or she has the option to pass.
• Collect pictures.

Hands On (Air-plane Activity):

• Remind students of how the girl and grandmother in the story, Isla, traveled to the Caribbean islands on a imaginative "flying journey".
• Pose the questions, "What if you could "fly" back to where your ancestors came from? What important information about your family would you tell them?"
• Instruct students to list five important things about their family on an 8"x11" paper.
• Have the students fold their papers into airplanes.
• Instruct students who are finsished early to decorate their planes with pictures that represent things about their families (ex. a ball for a family who really likes sports).
• Tell students their planes represent what information they might bring on their own "flying journey" to visit relatives.
• Check off students for writing five important things about their families.
• Instruct students to place planes in their personal journals.

Evaluation: Check that each group contributed at least one statement for each of the four questions in the carousel brainstorming activity (shown by that group's color of marker used on each of the four charts). Check off each student for completion of the family drawing and the listing of five important things about their family on the airplanes.