Thematic Unit Calendar

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Introduce Unit
Lesson: Read On the
Night You Were Born, a
childrens book about the
specialness of the day
every child comes into
the world
Goals: students learn that
their birth was the
beginning of their story
and incredibly
significant
Start Autobiographies
Lesson: Life Events,
what they are, why they
are significant
Goals: students learn
what events are and the
order of specific events
in their life
Activity: students start
an autobiographical
book of 5 important
events in their life (see
Finish Autobiographies
for more detail)
Finish Autobiographies
Activity: students continue
their books. Each page will
describe an event, contain a
picture (photograph or
drawn picture), and three
sentences about that event
(examples include birth and
starting school)
Share Books (hopscotch)

Activity: Have 5 hopscotch
squares set up. Students read a
page of their book for each
square that they jump to
Lesson: Primary and Secondary
sources, why we use them
Goals: students learn what
primary and secondary sources
are and what they are used for
Activity: Students have a
worksheet with research
material examples and need to
identify what type of source (P
or S) each example is
Assessment Tools:
Autobiographies and worksheet
Intro Interviews
Lesson: Mock talk-show
with a parent to introduce
what an interview is, how to
conduct one, and why they
are important
Goals: students learn how to
conduct an interview, and
what they are useful for
Activity: students interview
each other and ask questions
from a list posted in the front
of the room
Share Trees + Traditions

Activity: Students present their
Family Tree to the class,
describing at least 5 of their
family members
Assessment Tool: Family trees
Lesson: Traditions, what they
are, why families practice them,
what they mean to people
Goals: students learn what
traditions are and why they are
important to families and
cultures
Activity: Students share
various traditions that their
families have (i.e. holiday or
birthday celebrations)
Introduce Ancestors
Lesson: Ancestors, who they
are, what they did for us, how
they lived
Goals: students learn that
their ancestors lived before
they were alive and that they
may have lived differently
Activity: Students each write
3 questions that they have
about their ancestors. Vote on
top 5 questions and write on
board. Students will ask these
questions of their families (in
another round of interviews)
over the weekend.
Homework - Interview Family
Share Interviews + Start

Family Trees
Activity: pair and share,
identify interview and
any gathered materials as
secondary or primary
sources.
Assessment Tool: have
students write down their
source identification
Activity: students start
family trees, based on
the interviews (see Math
w/Family for more
detail)
Science
Lesson: Simplified
lifecycle of humans
(baby, child, teenager/
young adult, adult),
different stages of life,
different events happen
in different parts of life
the different stages and
events in human life
Activity: Students
compare the human
lifecycle to the butterfly
lifecycle, using pictures
and descriptions
(matching activity)
(start vocab sheet of

words that are significant
to the unit)
Math w/Family
Activity: Students do math
word problems where they
add and subtract family
members
Activity: students finish
their Family Trees. Trees
should include parents,
siblings, and family
members at least one
generation back
(grandparents). Should also
include a picture of, the
stage of life of, and one
sentence about each family
member.
Homework - Interview family

and gather documents
(photographs, letters, etc.)
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Africa
Lesson: African culture,
holidays and traditions,
how they are celebrated,
using the book African
Ceremonies by Carol
Beckwith
how African celebrations, including comingof-age, marriage, and
harvest rituals, are
celebrated and why those
activities are important
to African culture
Activity: Students
participate in a harvest
festival simulation
Americas
Lesson: American
culture, holidays and
how they are celebrated
how American celebrations, including Dia de
los Muertos, the Fourth
of July, and Boxing
Day, are celebrated, and
why those activities are
important to American
culture
Activity: Students
decorate paper sugar
skulls and learn the
Macarena dance
Asia
Lesson: Asian culture,
holidays and how they are
celebrated
Goals: students learn how
Asian celebrations,
including Chinese New
Year, the Cherry Blossom
Festival, and Passover, are
celebrated, and why those
activities are important to
Asian culture
Activity: Students learn
how to do Chinese jump
rope and watch a short clip
of The Prince of Egypt
(original Passover)
Europe
Lesson: European culture,
holidays and how they are
celebrated
Goals: students learn how
European celebrations,
including St. Patricks Day,
Easter, and Carnivale, are
celebrated, and why those
activities are important to
European culture
Activity: Students create their
own paper Carnivale mask with
various mediums (sequins,
feathers, markers, etc.)
Scavenger Hunt
Activity: Students go to
different stations set up
around the classroom and
demonstrate their knowledge
of cultures around the world.
Assessment Tool: Review
written answers from quiz
and math stations, watch
performances of Macarena
and Chinese jump rope.
Start Maps
Activity: Students are
given a map of the world
that has California
colored in. They need to
research where the
countries their ancestors
are from are on the map
and color in those
countries in different
colors. Then they will
draw a straight line from
each of those countries
to California, in the
countrys color.
Poetry
Lesson: Diamante
poem (7 line poem that
creates a diamond
shape w/a different rule
for each line), how to
write one
how to write a
diamante poem
Activity: Students
choose 2 related words
from the vocab list
and use them to create
their own Diamante
poem
Four Corners
Activity: Each corner of
the room is a different
continent. Students go to
different corners (quietly)
and one student calls out
the name of a continent or a
holiday celebrated in a
continent. Any students at
that corner are out.
Math + Finish Maps

Lesson: Different forms of
transportation (boat, plane, car),
when they were invented, how
long it takes to travel by each
Goals: students learn that their
ancestors may have used
different forms of travel to get
to America and that each type
takes a different amount of time
Activity: Students calculate
how long (average) it took their
ancestors to get to America
Activity: Finish maps, adding
in a key that includes travel
time for each country
Present Maps
Activity: Students share their
personal maps by comparing
them to our class map
Assessment Tool: Ancestor
maps with key
Activity: Watch The Three
Caballeros, an old Disney
movie from 1945 about
Donald Ducks journey
through South and Central
America
Create class map that

includes lines from every
country that students
ancestors are from to CA

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Monday

Share Books (hopscotch)

Share Trees + Traditions

Share Interviews + Start

(start vocab sheet of

Homework - Interview family

Math + Finish Maps

Create class map that

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