Television is so different today compared to when I was young! Back in the day, we had one tv that got three major network channels and one PBS station for free. Cable was available in certain areas (not rural) at a cost. Television services have come a long way! Now, there are so many options to choose from and being able to sort it all out requires some level of comparison and analysis. This On Your Own: Investigating Streaming Services project requires students to do just that given specific budget parameters. This real world activity shows what many of them take for granted because their parents are paying the bill and they have no idea what’s involved!
Category: Family
Hexagonal Keyword Links
Several years ago I learned about the teaching strategy called Hexagonal Thinking. There are many variations on how to utilize the concept in class, but the one I want to focus on is the Hexagonal Keyword Links for FACS Content. This is a great brainstorm, review or assessment activity to use with your students to see how they apply the information related to topics you are covering. Read on to see how Hexagonal Keyword Links works and all of the ready to use examples. As always, if you have ideas for others, please let me know.
Problem Based Learning: Parenting Dilemma
Problem based learning projects are a great way to engage your students and incorporate some rigor. How, you ask? Problem based learning projects incorporate
many, and sometimes all of the the 4 C’s; Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Creativity. The Family Medical Leave Work Dilemma takes a real world problem inspired by a Washington Post article and provides just enough information for students to come up with a viable solution. If you’ve ever wanted to try problem based learning in your family or parenting classes, why not start with this one?
Fishbowl Game
Do your students sit and stare at you? Is getting them to talk a challenge–especially at the start of a new semester or unit? One way to combat that and include
some friendly competition is to incorporate the Fishbowl Game! This game has become one of my favorite activities to engage students and get them to relax and open up. This minimal prep game can be used to introduce new content, vocabulary words, holiday fun and more. It’s a great team building exercise that can also be used with adults if you have to share teaching ideas among your faculty!
Inflation & The Family
Día de Muertos Activities
Looking to add a little cultural diversity into your classes? The Día de Muertos Activities will help you plan for November 1st. The activities presented represent a variety of different ways to introduce and teach about this special day using both technology and hands-on methods. Choose what will work best for your students and your courses!
Safe Sitter Breakout
Arlene DeJoy Meckes (from Twins & Teaching) and I teamed up to bring you this Safe Sitter Breakout. This assignment is perfect for engaging students, especially middle schoolers around the importance of safety while babysitting. The beauty of this breakout is two-fold…one, it is completely digital, so there’s no need for physical locks and boxes. Second, it is an individual breakout so students do their own work, at their own pace. Check it out!
WIC Healthy Meal Challenge
In an effort to add gamification components to her courses and create memorable learning experiences for her students, Jennifer Estes, a North Carolina FACS teacher, created this WIC Healthy Meal Challenge. You’ll have to check out this lesson as it promotes student engagement, risk taking, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving, in addition to covering Jennifer’s course standards!
The Brain & ACES Hyperdoc
Family Life Cycle Stages & Case Study
If you teach about the family, you no doubt include a few lessons or a unit on the family life cycle. In my class, I focus on each stage and do an in depth study around each stage. However, I have to introduce the stages of the theory and have done so in a variety of ways. Normally, I do an iron chef intro, but this year, due to a smaller class, I had to create a different strategy. I will include both versions in this Family Life Cycle Stages & Case Study post.