Junas-Jar-by-Jane-Bahk-on-BookDragon

THE INTENT: Objects can tell you about a person and can be a jumping point for amazing adventures.

 

DESCRIPTION: Students will explore the idea of collecting and storytelling.

 

OBJECTIVES: Students will:

– Learn more about the objects that we have in our lives and explore the reasons why we have them.

– Look at the stories and memories behind objects.

– Build literacy through storytelling.

– Develop art to connect the concept to each student’s individual experiences.

– Understand that all of us have important stories to share.

 

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

– What they objects tell about a person?

 

TIME FRAME: 1 class period

 

MATERIALS:

– Book (Juna’s Jar)

– Masking tape

– Paper and marking materials (crayons, markers, color pencils, etc)

 

VOCABULARY:

Abuelita (ah-BWEH-lee-tah): Grandma

Hola (OH-la): Hello

Kimchi (KIM-chee): staple korean side dish typically made of cabbage that is salted, seasoned and fermented.

Oppa (OH-pah): Older brother (of a girl)

 

PRE-LESSON PREP:

– Read Juna’s Jar to become familiar with the story. Write down any words in the book to add to the Vocabulary.

– The lesson will be about the things we collect in our lives. To build rapport with students, teachers are encouraged to bring to class things that they have collected as part of show and tell.

-Choose a designated area in the classroom where students could put up artwork, one for an inspiration wall and another for a gallery wall.

 

PART 1: INTRODUCTIONS

– Ask students what a collections. Collections can be big or can be small, and can come in many different shapes and sizes. For this part, teachers will bring out things that they have collected. If possible, pass around the objects to have students look at and share stories and memories behind the objects. Collect objects at the end of sharing and place it on the teachers desk fro students to see.

– Ask students if they or their family members collect things at home or have things that they value. Instruct students to share with the student next to them what they or their family collects. Encourage a few students to share their story in front of class.

– Some questions to have student think about:

o   What are some things people collect?

o   Why do people collect things?

o   How do they store their collection?

o   How big is the collection?

o   How much space does it take up?

o   When did you or your family member first start collecting?

o   Do they have a favorite piece from their collection? Why?

 

PART 2: ACTIVITY

– Prepare students for the next portion of the activity, which is reading Juna’s Jar by Jane Bahk. Have students sit in a circle (or as best a circle that you can get) on the ground.

– Introduce the lesson – that students will explore the stories and memories we have with objects in our lives and will be reading a book about this idea.

– During the story, ask students questions about what they see in the book or what is happening whenever Juna dreams.

– After the story, have students head back to their desk and ask them what they liked about the story.

– To extend the conversations that the students had about their experiences with collections earlier, have students take out a piece of paper (or a couple of pieces) and some coloring utensils. Ask them to think about the collections or objects that they had shared with their classmates earlier in the day, about the objects they or their family members collect and to draw a couple of pieces from their collection. One piece of paper should be one object. Have student’s continuous draw at least 5 (five) objects that they can think of. If they want to draw more, then encourage them to do so. Allot 30 minutes for this part.

– When they are done with one drawing, have them place the drawing on a wall or a part of the classroom. After a while the wall will be filled with a collection of things, created by the class. We will call this the inspiration wall.

– After students are done drawing, encourage the class to look at the wall together and to see what their classmates have drawn. Have them say out loud some of the favorite things that they see (and to also find items that they didn’t draw). By doing this, the object is then given life. It also validates students if they hear that another student liked what they drew.

– Now have students head back to their desk. For this next part, have a few students go up at a time and have them choose one drawing on the wall to take back to their desk. This drawing will be used as inspiration for a writing assignment.

– After students have picked their favorite drawing, introduce the next part of the activity – creating a story inspired by the drawing. The story can be anything – it can be a poem, a short story, a comic strip, etc. It can be real story or a fake one, a funny story or a sad one, fantasy or set in the real life. The object is to have students think about the world around the drawing. Questions for students to think about:

o   What places do the objects make you think about?

o   What are different ways the objects can be used?

o   What does the world look like where this object exists?

o   Are they any characters that go along with the object?

o   Draw as many things associated with the object as you can.

– Give students 30 mins for this part of the activity.

– After students have finished, have them share with the student next to them what they had written. Encourage a few students to share with the class.

– After sharing, on another wall, have student post up their story next to the drawing of their object. This will be the gallery wall.

 

Part 3: WRAP-UP

– Facilitate a discussion about what they had learned about the objects that they had collected and the stories that were created.

o   Did anyone have a favorite story that one of their classmates had made?

o   Was there a story that made you happy, laugh, sad or curious?

o   What were you able to learn about your classmates just by the objects and the stories that they chose?

 

ASSESSMENT:

– Review the drawings and the stories that students were able to create.

 

EXTENSION:

– Choose one student a day to give an “artist” talk about their artwork. Have students gather around the selected student, where they listen to the stories that the “artist” had come up with. Similar to show-and-tell, this exercise encourages students to practice public speaking but to also give students a safe space to share their story about what they collected and the drawings they had made in a fun role-playing setting.

  • If this might be too much for the students, select a couple of “artists” to speak more about their drawings and items. This would then be like an exhibition, where “guests” (the rest of the class) can walk around to each artist as they share about what they had made.

– To make it more official, create something that the students can wear to designate that they are the artist for the day. This can be something worn around their neck, maybe a crown on their head, or a piece of clothing they could wear over their clothes. Students can then choose to wear the item the whole day if they want too.

OPTIONAL: Create a memory book out of all the drawings and stories that the students were able to create for this project. This can be given at the end of the year to parents or on parent-teacher nights as a gift. This book, then, is an object that holds memories for your students and their time in class, just like the memories they had created while doing this activity.