Sexual Health Education

Grade 1

Families
Grade 1 Lesson 2
National Standards: State Standards:
 Identify different kinds of family structures.  Goal 24: Promote and enhance health and
HR.2.CC.1 well-being through the use of effective
 Demonstrate ways to show respect for communication and decision-making skills.
different types of families. HR.2.IC.1
Common Core Alignment:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.4
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade
1 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.1
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with
peers and adults in small and larger groups
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.2
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or
through other media.

Rationale:
In this lesson, students will learn new and unfamiliar vocabulary related to families. Students will need
to adhere to classroom rules while participating in the discussion about different types of families.
Students will have to integrate information from a variety of sources, including visual aids, videos and
direct instruction by the teacher.

Time Requirements
Day 1
 25 minute lesson
Day 2
 35 minute video
 15 minute closing activity
Extension Activity-20-30 minutes

Lesson Objectives
 Students will define family and key family composition vocabulary words.
 Students will identify the different roles in a family.
 Students will demonstrate ways to be respectful of different family compositions.
 Students will describe their own family by drawing, writing and sharing with the class.

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Vocabulary
Family– A group of people going through the world together, often children and the people who care for
them
Extended family – All of the relatives or people making up a family, whether or not they live together
(grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins)
Adopt– To raise a child you did not give birth to
Foster Family – The family who cares for a child who is not their biological child
Mixed-race family – A family consisting of people from different races or ethnicities
Single-parent family – A family where one parent lives with and cares for children
Guardian– Someone who is caring for children and who is not the birth mother or father
Same-sex family – A family in which both parents are men or both parents are women
Divorce– When married parents separate. The child may live with one or both parents

The following definitions may be used to clarify student questions on same-sex couples:
Gay – When a man loves and chooses to spend their life with another man (i.e. when two men love each
other the same way a mother and a father do).
Lesbian –When a woman loves and chooses to spend their life with another woman (when two women
love each other the same way a mother and a father do).

Source: Talking About Our Families: Primary Grades: K-2, Teaching Tolerance. Retrieved from
http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/talking-about-our-families-primary-grades-k-2

Materials
 Family members activity sheet
 “That’s a Family” video available for checkout through the Office of Student Health and Wellness
by contacting SexualHealthEd@cps.edu. If not available, use “We All Have Different Families” by
Melissa Higgins (available at Chicago Public Libraries).
 “My Family” worksheet
 Coloring materials

Preparation
 Print and cut out images from the Family Members activity sheet (Find additional
representations for extended family members if desired)-1 per class
 Print “My Family” worksheet- 1 per student
 Secure a copy of “That’s a Family” video or “We All Have Different Families”
 Review Extension Activities

Key Content
 Families are a loving community.

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 Different families have different family members with different roles.

 Families can be loving and supporting no matter their composition.
 All family types are normal and should be respected.

Teacher’s Note: This lesson focuses on acceptance for all family types and helps students understand
that all family compositions can be healthy and loving. It is important for educators to be aware that
some students may have experienced or are experiencing neglect or abuse within their family. These
families are not healthy, regardless of their composition.

Activity

Day 1

1.) Introduction
Define: Family, extended family
Discuss: Families are loving communities that you are a part of.
Ask:
 Who are the different members of a family?
 What are the roles of different family members? (mother, father, brother, sister,
grandparents, aunts, and uncles)
 Do these people have different roles in different families?

2.) Activity #1: Family Roles

Display family member cutout images on the board.
Ask students to list words that describe that person’s role in their family. Write student answers
under each image.
 Encourage students to be open about differences in family roles in individual
families.
 Emphasize that some families may have all of the pictured members, and some
may not. Families are all different!

3.) Family Composition

Define: Adopt, Mixed-race family, Single-parent family, guardian, Same-sex family, Gay, Lesbian,
Divorce
Show: Pictures of different family compositions
Discuss:
 How are these families different?
 How are these families the same?
 What are some words that can describe caring families?

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Check for Understanding: Can you tell what kind of family someone has just by looking at them?

Day 2

4.) That’s a Family

Show: “That’s a Family” video
Discuss:
 What different types of families did you see in the video?
 What did these families all have in common?
 How can we show respect for different types of families?

Alternative Activity: Read aloud to the class We All Have Different Families by Melissa Higgins
(available at Chicago Public Libraries). Use discussion questions listed above.

5.) Activity #2: My Family Worksheet

Draw a picture of your family using the “My Family” worksheet and write three words that
describe your family.

Share your work with the class.

Evaluation
Students should be able to:
 Vocalize the roles of different family members
 Define and recognize family, extended family, adoption, mixed-race family, same-sex family,
single-parent family, guardian, mixed family, nuclear family, and divorce.
 Draw and write descriptor words for their family and share their works with the class.

Extension Activities
ELL Extension: Talking about your family means you need to learn a lot of new words to describe the
people who are important to you. With help from a teacher or buddy, create your own family book.
Bring in photographs or draw pictures of all the people in your family. Attach each picture to a piece of
paper and write the common noun describing this person (e.g., aunt, brother, etc). If you’re ready, you
can also write one sentence describing this person and how they are related to you (e.g., My aunt is my
father’s sister.).

-Or-

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Talking about your family might inspire you to talk with your family. Choose one person in your family
you’d like to know more about. Interview them about what they think of when they hear the word
FAMILY and what family means to them. Share your discoveries with your classmates and discuss how
different people define the word. Soon, you’ll be able to explain your own unique definition of family.

*Both lessons from Talking About Our Families: Primary Grades: K-2, Teaching Tolerance. Retrieved from
http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/talking-about-our-families-primary-grades-k-2

Resources
 “The Importance of Family” - A short, student made film showing personal interviews with
family members. This concept could be reproduced for the Core Curriculum extension
assignment listed above.
http://www.schooltube.com/video/21e60b74e320495cbc8f/The%20Importance%20of%20Fami
ly%20!!
 Who’s in My Family: All About Families by Robie H. Harris