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Content Area: Social Studies
Index: 6.4A Grade 4 CPI 2
Standard: 6.4 - US & NJ History
Strand: A - Family and Community Life
Cumulative Progress Indicator: 2 - The student will compare family life in a community of the past to life in a community of the present.
Grade: 4
Sample Activities:
· This vignette focuses on Etruscan family life and invites students to compare and contrast similarities and differences in daily life over time. Students examine their own family life and draw comparisons to the family life of the ancient Etruscans. Students also examine how the family functions to meet individual and group needs. The teacher, Mrs. Fay, instructed her students to listen to a story about ancient families. She told her students to use their notebooks to make comparisons between the ancient families she described and their own families. She also asked her students to compare the roles of the father, mother, and children of long ago with the same roles today. Mrs. Fay began reading the story to the class: “Once upon a time there lived an Etruscan family in the country that is now called Italy. They inhabited the west-central region, north of Rome, before the Romans came along.” Ms. Fay pointed out the locations on a large map. In the seventh and sixth centuries, B.C. the Etruscans dominated Rome militarily. The Etruscans were also fine engineers, artists, and farmers. As with the Romans, family life was thought to be very important. In Etruscan families, the men hunted, fought, managed money, shepherded animals, and farmed the land. The women performed household work, such as spinning and weaving. The mother and father worked together to improve the lives of their family.” A student raised his hand and remarked that both his parents work as well as buy food and clothes for the family. “My dad is the mayor of our town, does all the banking, goes to work, shovels snow, reads to us with mom, and knows how to fix stuff. My mom cooks for us after she comes home from work, reads, exercises, plays the piano, and helps us with our homework. Both of my parents go to baseball games too,” added the student. Mrs. Fay encouraged the class to write this in their notebooks. Mrs. Fay continued the story: “The Etruscan women took very good care of their health. They read and were very sophisticated. They also enjoyed some freedom (for that time) because they were allowed to attend games and banquets. They also influenced social customs, such as dress and food preparation.” “The Etruscan man was considered to be the head of the household, teacher of the children, and leader of political activities, while his wife remained involved in family life and served as his companion for social activities. The children had toys to play with just like you have. They also had words for son, daughter, wife, husband, grandfather, grandmother, mother, father, brother, sister, granddaughter, and grandson.” As the story continued, the students wrote down more comparisons between the Etruscans and their own families.
· The students compare the Etruscan family with that of a modern day family, using a retrieval chart with two columns, ETRUSCAN FAMILY and MY FAMILY, and individual descriptors such as the following: father, mother, children, home, other relatives, and neighbors. Students discuss each category and make entries on their individual retrieval charts, which they then present to the class in short oral presentations.
· Using available materials, students create a talking mural depicting the activities of the daily life of an Etruscan family. They list what the components of the drawing should be and then number them. Each student selects one of the elements to draw and color. Assign a team of coordinators to put it all together. After completing the mural, they tape-record descriptions of each daily activity depicted in the mural.
· In pairs, students analyze the family roles of women, past and present. One student can serve as “Ms. Past,” the other as “Ms. Present.” Students develop a script and perform a puppet show based on the information gathered.
· The children’s section of any public library or bookstore contains many stories of various world cultures and historical examples of family life. Students could explore past and present familial roles of every member of the family in, for example, ancient India, ancient China, the Middle Ages, or the Middle East. How have familial roles changed? How do family roles change when the family includes an individual with disabilities? There are many popular films depicting heroic familial responses to a physical disability.
· Students study family life in other parts of the world and at other times in history. Discuss how the roles of family members have changed. Ask questions such as the following: How have the roles of men and women as husbands and wives changed since ancient Greece and Rome? Research these questions using any of the many books on this subject available in the library or bookstore. (There are new titles coming out every week.)
· Students read about family life in ancient days in Egypt, India, and China and compare/contrast it with their own family life. Students work in groups to develop profiles of typical family members from other societies and other times in history.
Kidspiration Activities:
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