The activity is to be executed in the form of a book series, where each child receives their own blank scrapbook that they can design, craft, and build with the assistance of their teacher and family members. With information sourced from the parents, each child will construct their own personal book filled with information about themselves, their family, and all of the facets that make them unique. The books could contain photos, words from their home language, notes written about their family history, or information about their family's customs. When finished, the collection of 'My Family Comes From' books could be placed in a container in the room for children and visitors to look through, and at the end of the year, each child would be able to take their book home to keep.
From my experiences in classrooms, creating class materials that are individualized and personal always receives a strong response from students. There's something about the idea of making something about themselves, of telling their own story and then sharing it, that is very appealing for them. Also, I find that most children like to quietly compare differences and evaluate what their neighbor, their friend is like or is doing and how that differs from themselves. The 'My Family Comes From' book set is a great way to foster that interest and encouragement, in a way that's built to be very supportive and respectful towards every child's individuality.
The activity would take about a week or two to complete. First, during circle time, the teacher should discuss the idea of making family storybooks about each child. She should ask what sort of things would be different from family to family, and listen to the children's responses as well as suggesting things so that the list is well rounded. Things like 'meals' and 'holidays' and 'languages' must be passed around the circle. The teacher would then prepare a handout for the children to take home with them, with simple survey questions regarding those topics, and ask for copies of photos, or any family stories or information that the parents could think to offer.
Next would come crafting the books. The children, with their stories and photos gathered, would each receive a stack of paper pages for them to decorate with stickers, markers, confetti, and more. Photos would be glued in, and captioned. With the help of a teacher, they could write facts and trivia about their families. For example, one child might want to write about their most recent Diwali celebration, where another would want to write a phrase or two in their home language. One child might have a page with a picture of their two fathers, and another child with a story about their grandparents who came to America from another country. Each book would be completely personalized. Once all the pages were finished, the teacher would bind them for the students with yarn, and the next class would have time reserved for each child to show their book to the class and talk about what they had written in it.
Picture books might also be helpful tools to enrich this activity, particularly if they were used as introductory materials on the topic of cultural-custom family diversity and respect. Any books that are about a particular character child and his or her family would be perfect, as long as the characters were human and not animals or particularly cartoonish. For example, one absolutely perfect book is called 'Families', by Susan Kuklin. Though the text is a bit mature for very young children (in terms of the amount of words), the book is essentially a professional version of what this activity would aim to do; tell the stories of different children and their families. Kuklin's book focuses on diverse family environments; adoption, same-sex parents, first-generation children, and more. It'd be a fantastic prelude to the topic and would give the children a strong example of what they were going to be exploring.
From 'Families'.
Another book, better for younger children, is titled 'Families Are Different' and is written by Nina Pellegrini. The book is illustrated, and tells the story of an adopted Korean girl who discovers the diversity of her classmates and their families - again, very similar to the 'My Family Comes From' activity. Both books would be great to introduce the children into the subject matter of different types of families.
I see this as an enriching activity because it works to show children that everyone has different customs and cultural traditions, not just first-generation Americans, or people who don't practice the typical Western 'norms' in the way that they dress, eat, or celebrate. A child who is Anglo-American might look at their friend, a Chinese-American, and see their customs as unusual. However, after the book making and talking to their family, that child would come away with a greater realization that there is no such thing as a 'default' set of customs that is the norm - just ones that are perhaps more common depending on certain parts of the world. Every child in the room is bound to do things differently with their families. The consistency of those differences make diversity and specialness a tangible thing, something to be interested in and celebrated amongst the children.
I think this activity would work well for any child in the elementary school age group. Preschool might be a little young, but I imagine children around the age of six would respond perfectly to it. Since kids at this age need to be aware of other cultures, as well as their own, I think this is a good activity to kickstart their awareness.
The activity also matches perfectly with multiple anti-bias goals, which outline successful and appropriate multicultural curriculum. 'My Family Comes From' particularly fosters the following three goals.
1. Teach children about their own culture.
The entire premise of the activity is to encourage and educate the children about their own cultures.
2. Increase children's ability to interact, talk and play with people different from them.
Through the activity, children will be able to discuss their cultures with one another. By opening up the topic to conversation, interaction and appreciation for other cultures will be inspired.
3. Promote respect towards others.
By approaching the activity in a way that gives equal importance to all children and their families, the children will understand that all of the various cultures represented in the class are important, valid, and worthy of respect.
The 'My Family Comes From' activity is a great way to enhance understanding of family diversity, and familial pride in young students. By collecting personal informations, creating their own books, and then sharing them with friends, children will be able to learn more about their own heritage as well as that of their peers. From that point, respect for diverse families should come more naturally and joyfully to all the children in the class.
References
York, Stacey. 'Roots & Wings' p. 222.
Kuklin, Susan. 'Families' - information retrieved from Amazon.
Pellegrini, Nina. 'Families Are Different' - information retrieved from GoodReads.
'Anti-Bias Activity Goals' Handout.
