In this microunit, explore what family means both at the biological and social levels. As you do, consider what, if anything, we are owed by our family and what, if anything we owe to our family.
Central Questions:
Central Questions:
- What defines a family?
- What do we owe to our family?
- What does our family owe to us?
Let's Get Started
Choose two of the activities below to jumpstart your thinking about families.
- View the picture "Precious Family Moments" and complete one of the tasks below:
- Describe the scene from the point of view of one of the family members using your senses. What is that experience like for the family member? What are they thinking? What do they see, smell, hear, taste, touch?
- Write a poem based on this image.
- Use the image as inspiration for a freewrite about anything you want.
- Watch the animated StoryCorps video "Always a Family." How do you think the storyteller would define family? What evidence from the video suggests that?
- View the image "Hands-On Parenting." In your opinion, is there such a thing as too "hands-on" when it comes to parenting? Where should parents draw the line in being involved in their children's lives?
- Scroll through the photos tagged 'family' on Pixabay. Which one best represents your family and why?
- Respond to the quote below. Do you agree or disagree? What experiences do you have that connect to this?
- "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." --Anthony Brandt
The Science of Families
Choose two of the activities below to complete.
- Watch "The World's Largest Family Reunion...We're All Invited!" and answer the questions below.
- The speaker begins with an anecdote, or a short personal story. What does this story have to do with the topic of the TED talk? Why do you think he began with something personal?
- The speaker gives us five reasons why his work is important. Of the five, which do you think is the most important and why?
- Throughout the speech, the speaker "name drops" several famous people. What does this add to his speech? What is the intended effect on the audience?
- Complete the TED-Ed lesson entitled "Secrets of the X chromosome."
- Read "Trauma From Slavery Can Actually Be Passed Down Through Your Genes" and create a text map. Your text map should have the main idea in the center, with supporting ideas and details radiating out. Draw lines between supporting ideas that are connected to one another. When you are done, answer the following questions:
- What surprised me about this text?
- How does this connect to the theme of family?
- Read "Siblings Can Have Surprisingly Different DNA Ancestry. Here's Why" and answer the questions below.
- Notice the nonfiction text features in this article: subheadings and graphics. What do each of these have to do with the content of the article itself?
- The title of the article says that the content offers an explanation as to why siblings can have surprisingly different DNA ancestry. What is that explanation?
- The article begins and ends with an interview. Why do you think the author chose to do that?
- Watch "What will Families be like in the Future?" and create a graphic organizer or flow chart that shows the connection between overpopulation and families in the future.
Parent and Child
Choose two of the activities below to complete.
- Watch "Do kids think of sperm donors as family?" and answer the questions that follow.
- Rhetorical questions are questions posed by an author that they intend to answer themselves, or attempt to. This TED talk contains several rhetorical questions. Choose one and describe how the speaker answers it, or attempts to answer it.
- How do you think the speaker would define "family"? Support your answer with evidence from the TED talk.
- Watch the StoryCorps animation "The Icing on the Cake." Answer the following questions.
- How much do children know about their parents' lives?
- Should parents try to shield their children from struggles? Why or why not?
- Read "Good Bones" by Maggie Smith and create a one-pager that includes language from the poem that you like, images that stand out to you, the poem's overall message, and its connection to the relationship between parents and children.
Siblings and Rivalry
Choose two of the activities below to complete.
- Watch "The sibling bond" and answer the questions below.
- Summarize the speaker's descriptions of the different types of siblings.
- What sibling are you? Do you agree with his assessment? Why or why not?
- Are we all predestined to play certain roles in our family, or do you believe those roles can change? Why or why not?
- Complete the TED-Ed lesson entitled "The Akune brothers: Siblings on opposite sides of the war."
- Read this excerpt from To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han and create an image that shows the relationship between Margot and Lara Jean. Make sure you include the following things in your depiction:
- Personality traits of both girls
- Potential conflicts between them
- What bonds them together
- Read this excerpt from Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon and this explanation of the origin of the saying the title is based upon. Why did the author choose this title? What details and evidence in the excerpt support your answer?
- Read "sisters" by Lucille Clifton and analyze the following things:
- The poet's use of repetition. What words are repeated, and why might that be? What do they have to do with the poem's subject?
- The poet's use of line breaks. What do you notice about the lines of the poem? Why do you think the author made that choice?
- What is the poet's tone toward her subject? How do you know?
Found Families
Choose one of the activities below to complete.
- Watch "The family I lost in North Korea. And the family I gained" and the excerpt from Under the Same Sky by Joseph Kim. Then complete the activity below.
- Using Storyboard That, Animoto, or a similar tool, create a movie trailer for the film of Joseph Kim's life based on the information in both the TED Talk and his memoir. Consider the following things:
- What images from the memoir will you include in the trailer?
- What will the voiceover voice say?
- What will the title of the movie be?
- Using Storyboard That, Animoto, or a similar tool, create a movie trailer for the film of Joseph Kim's life based on the information in both the TED Talk and his memoir. Consider the following things:
- Listen to the StoryCorps interview between Kay Lee and John Nordeen and the excerpt from More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer. Then answer the questions below.
- An often repeated quote is "blood is thicker than water," which people take to meant that your family should always come first. Two modern authors have suggested that the full quote is actually a bit different: "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." In context, they say it means that the blood shed in war--by brothers in arms, or friends--is more powerful than the genetics you share with your family. Do you believe that friends can become our family? In what circumstances might that happen? Use evidence from both texts in your response.
Family Differences
Choose one of the activities below to complete.
- Watch "Love, No Matter What" and answer the questions below.
- In this TED talk, the speaker discusses "vertical" and "horizontal" identities. How does he define these? What are your vertical and horizontal identities?
- What surprised you or challenged your thinking in this video?
- How do you think the speaker would respond to the author or speaker of another text you have read? What would they agree or disagree on?
- Read "Adam Laxalt's family members oppose his candidacy for Nevada governor" and answer the questions below.
- What reasons do Laxalt's family members give for writing this text? Do you believe these are valid reasons?
- Is it our obligation to support our family no matter what? Under what circumstances would you publicly oppose a family member's choices?
- How do you think the authors would respond to the author or speaker of another text you have read? What would they agree or disagree on?
Show What You Know
Use any of the following formats to answer the central questions using evidence from at least four of the texts that you read.