Elementary Education Program

Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Design Document for Lesson Plan

Name: Claire Griffin and Kay Sumpter              

Grade Level: 1st Grade 
Concept/Topic: Cultural Awareness - Family Diversity  
Length of Lesson (in minutes): 60 minutes 
 
Learning Objectives:  What are your learning objectives?  (What new understandings will the
students have as a result of this lesson?  Make sure learning objectives are measurable.) 

Students will be able to explain how people’s lives are often shaped by different values and
traditions. 
Students will be able to know how people of other cultures live, work and play. 
Students will be able to show examples of literature, art, and music in diverse cultures. 
 
Under which standards from North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NC-SCOS) do
these learning objectives fall? 
 
1.C.1 Understand the diversity of people in the local community.
1.C.1.1 Compare the languages, traditions, and holidays of various cultures.
1.C.1.2 Use literature to help people understand diverse cultures. 
 
 
Key Tasks/Activities:  What are the key activities or tasks that you plan to use? 

Launch (10 minutes): 

- “Good morning, students. Today for our story time we are going to be learning about
diversity between families. We are going to reflect on family traditions and what makes
them unique. Does anyone know what the term “family tradition” means? (The teacher at
this point will pre-teach this term to students. Tradition is cultural activities, events, and
beliefs that are passed down from generation to generation). 

- “Do you think that a family’s tradition has anything to do with a person’s culture? Does
anyone know what the word culture means? Teacher will explain that culture is a group
of people’s way of life in thinking, art, language and traditions.) 

- “Today as a class we are going to read The Crayon Box That Talked by Shane DeRolf.
Just from the title does anyone have any predictions about what this book is going to be
about. (Let the students shout out predictions for about a minute). 

- “This book is about a box of crayons that don’t get along because they feel like they are
too different. However, in the end they learn how they can live and work together to
create amazing things.” 
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

-       Next display a box of crayons (the 64 piece set, or above). Ask the students how the
crayons are diverse? Does anyone know what the term diversity means? (Diversity is the
difference between people and this is what makes them unique.) Some of these crayons
are the same and some are different. 

I Do (10 minutes):

 After the launch, the teacher should ask students to join the teacher on the carpet. “Let’s
begin our story time by joining me on the carpet. I will call you by table groups.” Once
the students are sitting on the carpet, the students will listen as the teacher reads the text,
The Crayon Box That Talked by Shane DeRolf. The teacher should instruct students to
listen closely to discover what the problem is in the book. While I am reading the story, I
want you to think of your family as their own color of crayon. After reading the book, I
will have the students reflect on their own family traditions and write a short statement
about it. The teacher will read the title and author, using the teacher’s finger to point out
the words. The following are suggested points/think aloud points:
o Why do you think that the crayons didn’t like each other?
o Has this ever happened to you?
o What are some reasons you don’t get along?
o Each crayon had a unique quality that contributed to the picture. Think of two
qualities you have as an individual. Share with the person next to you. 

 After discussing the questions above, point out to the students that sometimes people
don’t get along because we all have different opinions and ways of doing things.
 Each of us is unique, our own color of crayon. 

We Do (10 minutes):
 After the read aloud, the teacher will provide the following question prompt that
collaborative learning groups will discuss and then write in their journals. Students
should brainstorm the types of traditions they have within their families. Explain that
each student should choose a specific tradition that makes their families “crayon”
unique. 
 Once all students have had time to brainstorm their ideas and written their thoughts in the
students’ journal, the teacher will have some students share out their thoughts. 
You Do (15 minutes):
 The teacher will now distribute the “crayon template,” (On this template it is a crayon
that says “My favorite family tradition is”). Guide the students in completing the
sentence. After students have finished the sentence, they may draw a picture of what their
tradition looks like. The teacher should instruct the students when they have 5 minutes
left so the students can finish up their crayons. This independent activity will engage
students in thinking about their own personal traditions with their family but will also
show cultural differences between families. 
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Closure (15 minutes):

 Once all the students are done drawing their crayons, students will then share with the
whole class their drawing. Students should stand and form a community circle around the
classroom. “Does anyone know what the term community means?” (Teacher will explain
that a community is a group of people who live or work together in the same place.) Each
student will share their crayon and what family tradition they have chosen. The teacher
will then display all of the students’ crayons around the room, so other students can
reflect on the differences in each family’s traditions. 
 

 
What is your rationale for why you have selected these particular tasks/activities to meet
your learning objectives?  

 The world is a diverse place full of many unique cultures and different races. America is
known as the melting pot, because it is a country completed with a mixture of many
cultures, races, and religions. As students enter the world of education, they are
surrounded by diverse cultures and races. Students need to understand that each
individual is different and unique, and yet everyone is still special. By understanding
cultural differences though family traditions, students will become more accepting of
others and will have a better understanding of the world around them. 
 
 
Anticipating Students’ Responses:  How do you anticipate that students will respond to your
planned activities/tasks?  This does NOT mean their response affectively, but instead their
response academically (e.g., What prior knowledge or conceptions might they bring?  How do
you think they will approach or solve the task(s)?).  When necessary, please insert images of
your handwritten anticipated approaches/strategies.  Be specific!  Use your anticipated responses
to help you plan your questions in the lesson plan. 
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

 Students will have a background knowledge on traditions and cultures, but it will most
likely be limited. Children have most likely had a tradition that their family does so this
way they can explore the tradition and hear about other students’ traditions. 
 
 
 

Responding to Students’ Responses:  Describe how you will provide scaffolding for students
who are stuck and describe how you will extend the thinking of students who have a firm grasp
on the target content/objectives.  

If a student is stuck, we will refer the students to the book we read:

 Ask the students how the crayons are diverse? 

 Does anyone know what the term diversity means? 

As an extension for students who have a firm grasp on the topic, we would have them make
personal connections:
 Can you think of a time that your family had a tradition?
 What is your favorite part about your family tradition?
 If your family doesn’t have a tradition, what is one you would like to start? 
 

Development of Practices among Students:  Which disciplinary practices does your lesson aim
to develop?  (e.g., “construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others”, “develop
and use models”) How do the task(s) develop the target practice(s)?  

 Our lesson aims to construct viable arguments and the use of many viewpoints. The task
targets this practice by the students participating in a class discussion about the students’
culture and family traditions. They explain to other students that each one of them is
different but yet they probably still have some similarities between the different students,
this is our aim in the lesson. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Assessment:  Describe your assessment plan for the targeted learning objective(s).  What
specific data/information will you use, and how will that data/information tell you that the
students have/have not met the objective?  
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

 Students will be able to explain how people’s lives are often shaped by different values
and traditions, as seen in the learning exercise. Students will explore their family
traditions as well as listen to their classmates. The teacher will listen to the whole group
discussion to formatively assess students’ thinking.
 After the read aloud, students will brainstorm the types of traditions they have within
their families in their journals. Each student will choose a specific tradition that makes
their family’s “crayon” unique. 
 Our assessment plan for the targeted learning objective will be accessing the students on
the worksheet that they will turn in at the end of the task and observing them as they are
talking to their peers about their traditions to make sure they are using the correct
vocabulary. 
 
Vocabulary/Language Function:  Define vocabulary that students will need to know in order to
access the content and goals of your lesson.  Be precise and careful with your language.  Please
attend to three types of vocabulary: 
 Content vocabulary (e.g., obtuse, molecule, civil rights) 
Students will need to know the meaning of: 
 Culture: The ways a group of people live and do things.
 Traditions: things a family or group do from one generation to the next.
 Family: A group of people who live together and take care of each other.
 Community: A group of people who live or work together in the same place. 
 History: Everything that has happened in the past.
 Custom: The way a person or group usually does things. 
 
  Academic language (e.g., represent, model, compare)
Students will:  
 Compare: to notice what is similar about two or more things.
 Contrast: to notice what is different about two or more things. 

 Key non-content vocabulary that is necessary to understand the task/activity 

Students will need to know the meaning of: 
 Diversity: differences between people that make them unique. 

Classroom Management Plan:  Describe your classroom management plan.  Explain how you
will motivate students to engage in the lesson, how you will set and enforce expectations, and
how you will ensure that transitions are smooth and efficient.  

  We will state that if this lesson works out and everybody works efficiently then we will
be able to have more lessons where we sit in a circle and can just talk with one another.
We will set expectations before the class discussion and remind students that we don’t
want to talk over someone but instead let the person who is speaking, finish their thought
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

and then talk after them. If multiple students are trying to talk at once, we can implement
a signal to announce who is going next.