Summary
This lesson introduces a variety of homes to students. People live in many different kinds of homes: houses, trailers, farmhouses, apartments, and more. It also emphasizes that no matter the kind of house, the people living inside make it welcoming and interesting. The activities are designed to encourage students to gather information and explore the homes they live in. A parent guide for doing the lesson at home accompanies this lesson.
Essential Question(s)
How are homes the same and how are they different? How does your home fit your and your family’s needs?
Snapshot
Engage
Students listen to the poem Come to My House . . . But Wait! and have a class discussion about what things in the poem remind them of their homes. After the discussion, students draw and color what they think the house in the poem looks like.
Explore
Students participate in an open card sort using picture cards of different types of homes. Students then play a seek-and-find game based on the characteristics of the houses pictured on the cards. Sentence stems are provided to help students compare their homes to the houses pictured in the card sort. An optional home activity called “Going On a House Hunt” is attached.
Explain
The story, Football Players Live in Homes TOO!, is read aloud to students. Students then view photos or pictures of a variety of homes in books or online. Using the story, Football Players Live in Homes TOO! responds to questions related to the kinds of homes found in the story.
Extend
Students compare and contrast how people live around the world and share an understanding that not everyone lives the same way. The book If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche or A Place Called Home: Look Inside Houses Around the World by Kate Baker is read with the students to help them visualize homes around the world.
Evaluate
Students draw, color, or paint a picture of their home showing more details in their pictures they think about what they have learned about homes. Students then write a story, poem, or just a few words about what makes their home special to them.
Materials
Drawing the House in the Poem handout (attached)
House Hunt Activity ( attached) optional
House Card Sort ( attached)
Football Players Live in Homes Story and Questions ( attached)
Parent Guide and Home Lesson (attached)
Paper, crayons, scissors
Engage
30 Minute(s)
Read aloud to your class the poem Come to My House ... But Wait!
Ask students what things in the poem remind them of their homes. They might mention that their house has windows, a table in the kitchen, a dog, and so on.
The poem is meant to capture students’ interest in the details of their homes. After this discussion, have students draw and color what they think the house in the poem looks like. You will need to reread the poem to them while they draw and color. You can use the attached template or a plain sheet of paper for this activity.
Use the poem to introduce discussion about why we ask people if we can come over before we go to someone’s house. Ask students what they think the poem means when it says in the first line, “I want you to come, but you’ll have to wait!” and also the closing line, ‘“But in spite of all this, you’ll still have to wait, to come to my house”.
Students may reply with: “We need an invitation, or if someone is sick, we may want to wait because we don’t want to get germs or Covid.”
Explore
Have students look at the pictures they have drawn after hearing the poem. Ask them if their home looks like the house in the poem.
Say to students, “ We know people live in many kinds of homes, so today we are going to look at some pictures of different kinds of homes. As you look at the pictures, think about who might live in these houses and how they are the same or different from their homes.”
After the seek-and-find game, have students sort the cards into the following two groups:
Homes Like Theirs
Homes Not Like Theirs.
When students have completed the discussion, have them finish the two sentences on the handout using the words from the card sort to help.
My house is like___________ because ____________________. My house is different than_____________ because _________________.
Possible responses:
My house is like a duplex because a family lives next to us.
My house is different from a castle because it is little and new.
Explain
Before reading the story, Football Players Live in Homes TOO!, review the word wall and card sort pictures. If students need more visuals go online to view more homes with students. This can also be done using a variety of children’s picture books.
Read the story, Football Players Live in Homes TOO! aloud to the students.
For the second reading of the story, you may want to print a copy of the story for each student or show the story on a big screen.
Help students interact with the story by asking questions about the story and by having a conversation together as a class. Students can share with a partner before sharing out with the whole class.
Extend
Before reading the book, examine the cover, title, and back cover blurb with students.
Ask students to predict what they think the book is about and why?
Read the book to the class focusing on how each home meets the needs of the people or animals that live in them.
Choose several of the illustrations from the book and talk about the needs of the character(s) or animals that live in that home.
Revisit the essential questions: How are homes the same and how are they different? How does your home fit your and your family’s needs? What is the difference between a house and a home?
This discussion leads into the creation of a class poster or Anchor Chart showing the class definition of a house and a home.
Example of a possible definition: ( A home is a place where you live with your family. You have things around you that are special and you feel comfortable and happy. A house is a building that gives you shelter. A family makes a house a home by living in it and making it special.)
Evaluate
30 Minute(s)
Have students draw, color, or paint a picture of their home. Encourage students to show more details in their pictures as they think about what they have learned about what makes their house a home. Encourage students to create inside and outside pictures of their homes. If they did the house hunting sheet they can refer to it for the colors to use for their table, door, garbage can, etc. . . .
Have students write a story, poem, or just a few words about what makes their home special to them. If students are not writers yet, have them dictate their story to you or have them record their thoughts on an iPad or computer.
Enrichment for Advanced Learners
Here are some alternative or extension activities that can offer a cognitive challenge for advanced learners:
Animals live in different types of homes. Have students research what kind of homes the following animals or fictional characters might live in: whale, cat, bear, Santa Claus, dragon, or animal of choice.
Record a book talk about one of the home books. Invite them to explain what they liked about the book and who might enjoy the book.
Choose an illustration from a book about homes and write a story about the people who might live in that home.
Go to the library and take pictures of books that have the word Home in the title. Pick one and tell what made that book stand out to them.
Resources
Creations, Inc. (n.d.). Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids. [Website]. https://www.getepic.com/
K20 Center. (n.d.). Anchor Charts. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/58
K20 Center. (n.d.). No place like home. Parents’ Guide. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/lesson/1579/Parent-Guide-and-Lesson-NoPlaceLikeHome.pdf?rev=10991
Social Center of Plouzane. Houses. [Digital Image]. https://lacourteechelle.centres-sociaux.fr/spectacle-lhabitat-selon-impro-infini/