How Do I Love You?: Family, Feelings, Poetry, and Writing
Grades: 1 and 5 Subjects: Literature, Writing, Speaking, Art Time: 2–3 sessions
Use the selected edition of How Do I Love You? by P. K. Hallinan. The original lesson focuses on feelings, family, illustration, and poetry. Students may describe a family, household, or caring relationship without being required to disclose private family circumstances.
Learning Objectives
- Identify feelings and relationships represented in a literary text.
- Connect illustrations and words to meaning.
- Write and revise a short poem using descriptive language.
- Share a completed piece appropriately with an audience.
Procedure
- Read aloud: Read the selected text and discuss words that communicate affection, care, or appreciation.
- Word bank: Grade 5 students build a word bank of precise feeling words. Discuss differences among similar words.
- Buddy work: Grade 5 students can read with Grade 1 partners. Older students should support reading rather than simply complete the younger student's work.
- Grade 1: Students draw an illustration and dictate or write a sentence about a caring relationship, using a teacher-provided sentence frame when needed.
- Grade 5: Students draft a short poem about love, care, gratitude, or family. The poem may be based on the student's own experience or a fictional speaker.
- Revise: Students check word choice, sentence construction, spelling, punctuation, and whether the writing communicates its intended idea.
- Share: Students may read aloud, display the work, or share privately with a partner.
Assessment
Grade 1: completed illustrated response with a meaningful sentence. Grade 5: revised poem demonstrating purposeful word choice and evidence of editing.
Differentiation
Offer oral dictation, drawing, sentence frames, word banks, audio access, and private sharing options. Do not require personal family disclosure.