1.+Internet+Search+Literature+List


 * __Literature :__**
 * //__ Me and My Family Tree __//**__ ** by Joan Sweeny ** __** – ** This book teaches asks children questions such as “Who is part of your Family?” “How they are related to you,” and “Where are you on your family tree.” This book serves as a “fun” introduction to genealogy. It is an alternative way to teach children the parts of a family, parents, siblings, grandparents, and cousins. What I feel is most important about this specific book is that it not only teaches children how their relatives are connected, but, it teaches them their own special and specific place in their own family.


 * //__ This Is My House __//** __** by Arthur Dorros **__** – ** This book was one of the most unique books I have found on families. This book teaches children about the different cultures that make up families all over the world. This book is special because it teaches children how to write and say, "This is my house" in seventeen languages. I believe that this book serves as a useful starting point for children's own explorations of their communities.


 * __ “Families are Different” by Nina __**** Pellegrini - ** This book is a great choice when determining what types of literature you will use to teach your students about families. This book teaches children that no two families are the same. This book teaches children about families in a way they might not have known before. This teaches children about adoption, single parents, no “parents”, and multicultural families. It also teaches children that one thing families have in common is a bond called love.

//**__ I Love You Mom __**// __** by Iris Arno **__** – ** This book would be a great addition to the classroom when teaching children about mother’s day. I am aware that books such as this may touch upon a sensitive subject in children whom to not have a “mother.” This is important to keep in mind before introducing this book. With this being said, I believe this is a great story. It teaches children the many different types of jobs moms have, therefore, teaching children that moms are important for many reasons. Books like this are also a great way to involve parental involvement. This book could be a great book to read at home, together.

__**//Brothers and Sisters//** **by Ellen Senisi-**__ I feel this book would be great to have in a Kindergarten classroom. It is a book that tells a story through photographs. There are hugs, kisses, hair brushing, and roughhousing shown to represent sibling relationships. The book is able to capture the joys and problems with sibling relationships. Majority of students inside the classroom have siblings and would be able to relate to this story. There is large type on white pages which makes the book an easy read. The clear and full-colored photographs present different ethnics, genders, and ages that also includes adoptive families. This is beneficial to the students because it is able to show them how families are different.

__**Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers** **by Mary Ann Hoberman** - __This book would be beneficial to the classroom because it is a book of poems about families of all sizes and configurations. There are poems about brothers and sisters, stepsiblings and adopted children, being an only child, parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even pets. Adults and kids would enjoy these funny, cheerful, and exciting poems about all aspects of families. These poems would be excellent for choral readings since the stanzas are short and written in lots of color. Students would also enjoy using this book as an introduction to poetry because it could help them build the basic vocabulary for poetry. Both the poems and illustrations express the sense of what makes family life so wonderful and unpredictable. In addition, the illustrations capture the idea of each poem to further the enjoyment of the book. The size, print, and layout of the book are appropriate for the elementary student.

__**// My Day, Your Day //** **by Robin Ballard-**__This book would be perfect to have inside a Kindergarten classroom setting. A group of children settle in for a busy day at day care, while their parents rush off to their jobs. This book allows children to make connections and compare their activities with the jobs they see in the community around them. The left-hand side of each page presents the different activities going on in the classroom, while the right side contains illustrations showing a particular dad or mom at work. There is a nice correlation between the actions of the children and their parents. For example, as the children build with blocks, a father works at a construction site. In addition, when they gather for circle time, a mother runs a meeting around a conference table. However, on the last page the parents and children are cheerfully reunited. The book has three panels on each page in a comic book style which would be fun for the students to read. Parents and their children are wearing the same colors which would make it easy for readers to match up family members. The familiar routines and vocabulary will pop out to day-care veterans, and the simple text and appealing illustrations may help enhance the experience for beginner pre-schoolers.


 * __//Families//__ ** **__by Ann Morris-__** This is an informational book with simple text and appealing photographs. The story shows children that all kids are part of a family and that they come in all sizes and nationalities. The text explains that people in families love, care, and help each other. Many cultures are represented such as United Kingdom, the United States, Ethiopia, Canada, Vietnam, South Korea, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Japan, and India. The photographs indentify each group, its nationality, and a map to indicate where the photos were taken. Overall, the book represents that some families are similar while others are much different. However, all of the families are equally important.

This is a poem about “me” and no one else! It reminds children that they are each unique individuals.
 * __ Me I Am __** **__by Jack Prelutsky, pictures by Christine Davenier__**


 * __ //Uncle Vova’s Tree// __** **__by Patricia Polacco__**This is a story about a young girl and her fond memories of Christmas at her Russian Uncle Vova’s house, which is full of family tradition, including singing, dancing, and // kutya! // It's a great way to share customs from the Russian culture.

This story is about a young girl in Alaska trying to find the limits of her mother’s love.
 * //__ Mama do you love me? __//****__ By Barbara M. Joosse __**

This book explains the concept of a family tree using animals. There are brief examples of about her parents and siblings; aunts, uncles, and cousins; grandparents, great-aunts and uncles; and great-grandparents
 * //__ Who's Who in My Family? __//****__ by Loreen Leedy __**

This is a story about a boy who sees his grandfather the “warrior” in the mirror and shows him about his descendants. This book t introduces children to the idea of family ancestry and encourages personal connections to the past.
 * //__ My Great-great-great-great-great-grandfather... Was a Warrior! __//****__ by Margherita Sgarlata __**

This book introduces children to all kinds of families. It gives examples of single parent homes, same sex couple homes, stepparents, biracial families, and many more. It teaches students to be accepting of all different kinds of families.
 * //__ The Family Book __//****__ by Todd Parr __**

=__Websites: __ =

__**Genealogy Spot**__ [] This website, the genealogy spot, turns kids into family history detectives. This website contains articles, question and answers, trivia, and fun activities. The main purpose of this website is to provide children a place to look up their family history. It allows children to perform a search by county, ethnicity, religion, or state. There are also great resources for teachers. Its layout is also very kid and user friendly. This website would be great for all around classroom use.

[] This website provides students with a variety of information dealing with the country or culture that makes up their persona. I believe this website is better suited for middle school students, however, if a web quest is lead by a teacher, this site could still be appropriate for younger students. There is a place for holidays celebrated around the world, family traditions, and educator resources. This website is interactive which I find very unique and interesting.
 * __WorldGenWeb For Kids__**

__**Family Tree Kids**__ [] This is my favorite website that I found when researching sites on family trees and family history. This website is designed specifically for kids. It allows children to earn how to become a "family detective" and dig up clues about your ancestry. There are games that help you practice your “detective skills,” crafts to show off your family history, activities such as scavenger hunts, teacher and parents information, and even a junior tool kit. This site also provides a very nice template for a family tree. I believe this website would make kids even more excited about learning a lesson on families.

[] This website would be good for both teachers and students. Not only would teachers be able to use the information on the website, but so would older students. However, for the Kindergarten stage, I think this would be more beneficial for the teacher to use as a resource. The language would be too advanced for them and it is not youthfully appealing. On the website there are different subject’s discussed such as information on cultures, holidays, languages, and religions. When you click on one of the subjects then a new webpage comes up with links that lead to more information. This would be great for teachers to learn about different families around the world. Not only would the site be good for a lesson on “Families,” but it also contains facts and information on other social studies topics. For example, there are subjects on economics, government, and the history of the United States. These are only a few of the subjects that on the website.
 * __Social Studies For Kids__**

__**Family Diversity: A Guide for Teachers**__ [] This is an informational website for teachers. The teacher could use the information found on this website in order to strengthen her knowledge on the backgrounds of different families. This would be beneficial to her content and lessons. It contains information on what a family is, types of family diversity, challenging stereotypes about the family, and addresses children’s needs. At the end of the text, there are also tools and resources for teachers. This website would not only be helpful to a lesson on “Family,” but also on how to handle the different diversities inside the classroom. This would be great for many teachers to have and read over to increase their knowledge on different cultures and family lifestyles.

[] This website would be perfect for children to look through and play with. Little Critters is a collection of stories that are based on families. This is the website for the books. This website has activities for children that involve their parents, grandparents, and siblings. The website would be a good independent activity for children to work on. They would be able to freely navigate through the website and complete activities that are based on families.
 * __Little Critter: World Wide Network__**

[] Scholastic is a worldwide publishing and education company. The website provides parents and teachers with resources to help children read and learn. There are themed unit plans, lesson plans, activities, worksheets, and book recommendations. I found a “family” unit plan (3-day) with some great ideas for activities and recommendations for books to go along with the lessons.
 * __Scholastic __**

[] TIME for Kids is a weekly classroom news magazine for kids. On the website TIME for Kids Teachers, there are worksheets, printable quizzes, and graphic organizers to add to the curriculum. I used the site for graphic organizers that can be used in our unit plan on “family memories” and “my family”.
 * __TIME __**

**__National Geographic__** [] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">National Geographic is a non-profit institution with interests in geography, archaeology, natural science, activities, games and stories. For our themed unit plan, we could use photos to show the students how people and families from around the world.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**__Way Back Family Ties__** [] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">This site as an online buildable family tree for kids. The site is from PBS, so it is child safe. The child will fill in information about their family and get a visual representation of their history.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**__World Fact Book__** [] This site has maps, flags, and facts about every country. It is a more simplified version than the National Geographic version. The site is on yahoo kids and it is very easy to navigate.

[] This site has tons of poems about family. The site is designed for Kindergarteners. There are even fill in the blank poems where students can write their own, by simply adding the information about themselves.
 * __All About Me__**

[] \ This site is very simple and lists every Holiday and a brief summary about it. There are subcategories like “Buddhist holidays”, “Chinese Holidays”, “Islamic Holidays”, “Jewish Holidays”, and even an “Earth Day” section. There are links about every holiday you can think of.
 * __Holidays Around the World__**