Developing a Relationship with Senior Citizens

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Grade Level

• Elementary School

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Subject

• Social Studies

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Length of Time

• 3 To 4 Hours

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Description

• The purpose of this lesson is to help elementary school children develop relationships with their elders and recognize the importance of geneology.

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Goals

• Students will learn:
  
  * To value their elders and the senior citizens in society.
  
  * To learn and show empathy through literature to people who are a generation or more older than themselves.
  
  * Learn the importance of geneology.
  
  

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Materials Needed

• * Love You Forever by Robert Munch.
  
  * Kevin's Grandmother by Barbara Williams.
  
  * Annie and the Old One by Miska Miles.
  
  * Challenge Project by Joseph S. Renzielli - Required reading "Are Your Arms a Hundred Years Old."
  
  * Graph paper.
  
  * Art supplies to create a card or gift.
  
  * Paper on which to write a letter, if chosen.
  
  
  

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Procedure

• * Read stories from the book list and discuss them in class.
  
  * Each child must create a questionnaire in order to interview a senior citizen that lives at home or in a retirement home.
  
  * Develop graphs that include family information. (Example: birthdates and comparison of age.)
  
  * Write a thank you letter to the senior citizen that the student interviewed.
  
  * Invite grandparents and seniors into the classroom to share experiences and stories with students.
  
  * Create a card or gift for the senior that the student interviewed.
  
  * Each student will create a family tree or write a short family history.
  
  * Have the students add up the ages of all of the seniors interviewed and divide by the number of seniors interviewed to find the average age of those interviewed.

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Grading

• Students will be assessed on cooperation, participation, the questionnaire that they prepared, the interview they conducted, the graph, the family tree or family history they created and the thank you letter and gift or card that they sent to the senior which they interviewed.
  
  A - 100 to 90
  
  B - 89 to 80
  
  C - 79 to 70
  
  D - 69 to 60
  
  F - below 60

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