My Family Lesson Objectives for Ages 1-6-Years-Old

My Family Lesson Objectives for Ages 1 to 6-Years-Old

I wanted to give an example of a developmentally appropriate lesson that is scaffolded to meet the WIDA objectives and skills of each age group. 

Family is a topic that most children can talk about. It's a perfect topic to start at for English language learners both young and old. From April to June are great months to talk about families, especially in countries like the U.S.A, South Korea, Japan, and others who also have Mother's Day and Father's Day (Parent's Day), Children's Day, or any kind of family holidays around this time.

If you're looking for a lesson aimed at teaching English language learners to talk about their families for these months, I have the perfect developmentally appropriate lesson for you.  Because we will go by skills by age, Bloom's Taxonomy, and the WIDA levels starting from level one, this lesson would be perfect for all young learners.

After completing these objectives, your oldest kindergarten students should be able to have a simple conversation about their family when asked by a friend or teacher. 

Before we get started, let's talk about fluency.

Most private English academies that I've worked for expect students to gain fluency while attending their school; however, the same schools only provide 20-60 minutes of English per week, which is no more than 2 hours per month, not including any absences or holidays. To get to at least to A2 level, high-beginner, students need about 140 hours of English study. Most students don't get over 60 hours in 4 years of English study at most private English schools. 

There's a saying "children are like little sponges." Well, let me tell you something. You can't put a teaspoon of water on a table then use a sponge to wipe it up and expect it to be damp and stay damp a week later."

With that being said, if your school does not provide enough hours for English exposure, you may not be able to get through most of these objectives and that's okay. Do what you can for the children, but don't cut corners by skipping lower-level objectives that will result in slower learning students being left behind. Now...

Let's get started.

Please note that some level objectives can be done in one lesson for older students. For example, level 1 is the lesson and level 2 is the end of the lesson review or wrap up before class is over for older students. 

Teaching tip: It's always a good practice to model the language so students know what good work looks like. If you want them to talk about a picture, do one by yourself first and use another one or the same one for the students to practice after watching you.

Level 1 

Identify family members.

1 to 2-year-olds 

• I can point to pictures of a family member when named orally by the teacher.
• I can identify a few words about family members such as mom, dad, grandma, grandpa.

3 to 4-year-olds

• I can use sentences of two to three words to name family members when shown pictures. 
• "It's mom"
• I can identify words for immediate family members including sister and brother.

5 to 6-year-olds

• I can make sentences that tell something.
• "This is mom."
• I can identify words for immediate family members including sister and brother.

Level 2

Review words for family members.

3 to 4-year-olds 

• I can count family members up to 5.
• (S) I see 2 sisters.
• I can recall words for family members to answer yes or no questions when shown pictures. 
• (Teacher shows a picture of mom) "It's mom."  (Students) "Yes." (T shows a picture of sister) "It's brother." (S) "No."

5 to 6-year-olds

• I can count family members up to 5. 
• (S) There are two sisters.
• I can recall words for family members to answer yes or no questions when shown pictures.
• (Teacher shows a picture of mom) "It's mom/This is mom." (Students) "Yes, it is." (T shows a picture of sister) "It's brother/This is brother." (S) "No, it's not. It's/This is sister."

Level 3 

This is where the objectives will have to be made into separate lessons.

Answer questions about family members.

4-year-olds 

• I can count and state the number of family members up to 10.
• I can answer questions about the number of people in a family when shown pictures. 
• (T) How many people are in this family? (S) 4 people.
• I can answer questions about characters in stories about families.
• (T) Who do you see in this family? (S) I see mom.
• I can draw a picture of my family and discuss the drawing using pronouns. 
• (T) Tell me about your family? (S) I have 4 people in my family.
• (T) How many brothers do you have? (S) I have 1 brother.

5 to 6-year-olds

• I can count and state the number of family members up to 10.
• I can answer questions about the number of people in a family when shown pictures. 
• (T) How many people are in this family? (S) There are 4 people.
• I can answer questions about characters in stories about families. 
• (T) Who is in this family? (S)There is a mom, dad, etc.
• I can draw a picture of my family and discuss the drawing using pronouns. 
• (T) Can you tell me about your family? (S) I have 4 people in my family. This is my mom. This is my dad. This is my sister. This is me.
• (T) How many sisters do you have? (S) I have 3 sisters.

Level 4

Discuss and ask questions about family members with classmates.

5 to 6-year-olds

• I can look at a graph and tell how many classmates have many family members and how many have a few.
• I can ask my classmates questions about their families.
• (S1) Do you have a brother? (S2) Yes, I do. / No, I don't.
• I can make a diagram to compare and contrast the members that make up my family and my classmate's family.

It's always good to reflect on your lessons when they come to a close. Ask yourself these questions, but don't worry if you couldn't achieve them all. 

1. Can my students identify family members verbally or non-verbally?
2. Can they answer simple questions about their family such as the number of people in their own family or a family they see?
3. Can they answer questions about who is in their family such as if they have a brother?
4. Can they ask their peers the same questions about their families?

In the next unit, we will move on to a new topic, but also review what we learned in this lesson to build this previous knowledge. This post will be updated when the lesson is ready.

STAY TUNED!