Blessing+Cup+Reinforcing+Activity

After reading the book, have a discussion with the students about how many people have immigrated to America from countries all over the world. Explain how Ohio is one of the states that many families chose to immigrate to and, therefore, has become very diverse in culture. Next, each student will explain where his or her family came from and each one will mark it on a big map on the board. After this, discuss how different heritages make up the classroom based on the different countries marked on the map. Then have some students share stories about their family’s journey to America and how they found their place in Ohio.

Once this discussion is over, create a family tree for the family in the story on the board. Start with the main character Anna’s family and continue down the generations listed in the book until you get to the most recent generation mentioned, which is the author, Patricia Polaccio and her children. This will help model how to create a family tree to the class. Have the students help fill in the tree according to what they remember from the story. Once completed, have the students create their own family tree. This may need to be taken home and completed for homework because they may need more time to work on it or they many need to ask their parents some questions about their family in order to complete it.

For class the following day, have students bring in their family trees to share with the class. If they would like, they may also bring in a family heirloom, a food from a country they are from, or a special family recipe to share with the class. A class discussion will be held on the different customs and traditions of each student’s heritage based on what they choose to share with the class.


 * Other Strands **
 * History
 * Economics
 * Government


 * Tags **
 * Culture
 * Heritage
 * Traditions
 * Customs
 * Immigration
 * Patricia Palacco
 * Russia
 * Judaism
 * Russian Revolution
 * Human Systems
 * Geography