What is commemoration? - Commemorative landscapes

In this lesson, students will learn about the concept of commemoration. Students will share how their families remember important people and events. Students will construct a working definition of commemoration as they understand the ways their peers’ families remember in similar and different ways. Students will extend their understanding by writing a letter or blog entry that describes their family’s unique commemorative practices.

Learning outcomes

Students will:

demonstrate an understanding of the meaning of commemoration.
identify and describe how their families remember important people and events.
explain the various ways families remember important people and events.

Teacher planning

Time required

Two 45-minute classes

Materials/Resources

The Memory String by Eve Bunting
Sweet, Sweet Memory by Jacqueline Woodson
Drawing paper
Crayons and/or markers
A string taped to the board
Photograph album
Pencils/pens
Notebook paper

Technology Resources

Document camera
Multimedia projector
Blogging program, such as WordPress

Activities

Day one

Write the word commemoration on the board. On notebook paper, have students write about a favorite family memory.
Ask students to read their entries out loud with a partner, taking time to share what they liked and appreciated in their partner’s writing.
Explain that they’re going to be thinking about special memories and how we remember these events as individuals and within our families.
Read the book The Memory String by Eve Bunting to the class.
After reading the book, students will get with a partner and share one of Laura’s memories that stood out to them. Ask the students to share the memories that they discussed with the class and construct a graphic organizer to map all of the student responses (e.g., circle map, Lenoit.)
After sharing, ask the students: What do all of these events have in common? Facilitate student understanding that these events all happened in the past and had a special meaning to his or her family.
Then ask: How does Laura choose to remember these events? Highlight the unique way that Laura remembers these special events through a collection of buttons on a string.
Explain to students that all individuals and families have special ways that they honor, or commemorate, important events and people in their life. Hold up a picture album, and highlight how looking through picture albums is often a way that families commemorate special events or people. Provide an example of a special picture that honors a special person or event in your life.
Hold up another book, such as Sweet, Sweet Memory by Jacqueline Woodson. Either read the story to students or have students read independently. Then compare and contrast the books in groups. Have a whole class discussion, emphasizing that the individuals in the books remembered important people or events in different ways. For Laura, she remembers special events through a collection of buttons on a string. In Sarah’s family, people and events are commemorated through the sharing of stories.

Day two

Ask students to draw a picture of how their family commemorates, or remembers, special events and people.
After students have finished drawing, ask volunteers to come to the front of the class and share their drawings using the document camera. Encourage students to describe their pictures and share how their family commemorates special events.
Tape the drawings along a string on the board to create your own class memory string like what Laura does with buttons on a string.
At the end of the lesson, summarize the various ways that students and their families remember special people and events; however, explain that all of these ways commemorate or honor a past event or person important to that group of people.
Students will write a letter or blog entry explaining how their family commemorates important people and events.

Possible extension

Use a digital storytelling software, such as Animoto, and have each student create a slide of their picture. Encourage students to create a caption of their image using their letter or blog entry.

Assessment

Evaluate student writing against the information provided through class activities.
Gauge student participation in class discussions.

North Carolina curriculum alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 3

Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
- Objective 3.01: Respond to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes by:
  - considering the differences among genres.
  - relating plot, setting, and characters to own experiences and ideas.
  - considering main character's point of view.
  - participating in creative interpretations.
  - making inferences and drawing conclusions about characters and events.
  - reflecting on learning, gaining new insights, and identifying areas for further study.

Grade 4

Goal 3: The learner will make connections with text through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
- Objective 3.01: Respond to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes by:
  - analyzing the impact of authors' word choice and context.
  - examining the reasons for characters' actions.
  - identifying and examining characters' motives.
  - considering a situation or problem from different characters' points of view.
  - analyzing differences among genres.
  - making inferences and drawing conclusions about characters, events and themes.

Grade 5

Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
- Objective 3.01: Respond to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes by:
  - analyzing word choice and content.
  - examining reasons for a character's actions, taking into account the situation and basic motivation of the character.
  - creating and presenting a product that effectively demonstrates a personal response to a selection or experience.
  - examining alternative perspectives.
  - evaluating the differences among genres.
  - examining relationships among characters.
  - making and evaluating inferences and conclusions about characters, events and themes.