Sheila Kilpatrick

Grade level

: 3rd

Length

: 50 minutes

Performance expectation

: The student will discuss how

homes are made differently around the world and create their own.

Materials

:

This is my House

by Arthur Dorros, butcher

paper, a globe, and materials to build their own house.

Procedures

:

Introduction

: 1) The teacher will begin this lesson

by asking a question such as: Could you imagine living in a house

made out of straw, branches, or snow? Then he/she will state

how we all live differently around the world. The teacher will

provide some more questions for the students to think about:

Why do you think people from all over the world make their houses

differently? Then the teacher will state that we all live in

homes but they are made differently. 2) The student will brainstorm

about some materials people use to build a house. The teacher

will create a list of these on the butcher paper. The entire

class will read the ideas together. Before the teacher reads

the book, he/she will ask the children to listen to all the different

ways houses are built. Also, have them listen for all the different

languages in the book.

Development

: 1) The teacher will read

This is

my House

to the entire class. She/He will read the sentence

ÒThis is my houseÓ in all the different languages

while the students look at the illustration of what that house

is made from in that particular country. While he/she is reading

the students can locate the country on the globe. 2) Ask the

students which kind of house they live in with their family.

Have them draw or construct their own make-believe house and write

a story about it. They can use similar materials to those that

were used in the book or think of new materials. Have the students

provide the location and language they speak in this country

as the book did. Also, have them write “This is my house”

in the country’s language. Display the houses and have the

children talk about them and/or read their story about their house.

Closure

: 1) Discuss the student’s responses

to the book and their feelings toward living in a different type

of home than they have. Ask them if they could be able to live

in one of the homes in a different country. Discuss what makes

each house a home. Discuss that there are many types of houses

and that they can be a small room or a tall building. Discuss

how each of these homes are different because they are made from

different materials but that each is their home because of the

people in it.

Assessment

: Listen to the students while they are brainstorming

ideas to construct the list in the introduction. This will indicate

if they can predict what some houses are made of. Read the journals,

the creative stories, and observe the drawings. Assess if they

know where the country is located on the globe. Assess their

project about their make-believe home. Observe if they used materials

that were in the book or if they made up their own.

If children do not want to draw or construct their own house

they can reflect on the story, or write their own story.

Adaptations/Considerations

: Have the student write about

other things that are different from country to country. Read

another book or watch a movie about peopleÕs homes all

around the world. Have the students draw a picture of what materials

were used to make some of these homes.

References

:

Dorros, A. (1992).

This is my house

. New York, NY:

Scholastic Inc.

S. D. Kilpatrick, October 4, 1997.