This mini-unit will incorporate a picture book illustrating how a family from China celebrates the Lunar New Year. That book will then be compared to others and lead into several writing and art projects. For a cross curricular unit, these activities could be coordinated with classroom teachers.

This lesson will be presented over a number of weeks in art class to second grade general education classes.

Student goals: Students will:

• be able to create a family portrait using markers and/or colored pencils that shows their own family unit in a traditional or celebratory setting.
• explore the meaning of a family unit.
• compare the traditions of a Lunar New Year celebration to holiday traditions that they celebrate with their own families.
• compare this story with a companion book about celebrating the Chinese New Year in the United States.
• write a story about a family celebration inspired by their portrait.

Inquiry questions:

• Who makes up a family unit?
• What are some of the traditions shared by family members?
• What are the importance of holidays and how do they bring families together?

Materials: The space could be either the art room or classroom tables/desks. Materials needed would be white, colored and metallic paper, pencils, markers, scissors, cardboard and glue. Resources would be the books, video and sound clips, and sample projects for student examples.