Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach

View information from a variety of perspectives.

Translate images and ideas into different formats.

Participate in interpersonal and group activities.

MAIN IDEAS/UNDERSTANDINGS:

Acts of generosity to friends and strangers are important values in many cultures and

religions.

Stories of hospitality are used to teach values.

Actions toward strangers, especially during hard times, reveal the character of individ-

uals.

Hospitality stories are an important part of the cultural and literary legacy of famine-

era Ireland.

MATERIALS:

Activity sheets with edited passages from “Mrs. Fitzgerald and the Milk” and “A Meal

for a Stranger.”

Pencils, paper, and crayons.

DO NOW ACTIVITY (Individual assignment):

Read an edited version of “Mrs. Fitzgerald and the Milk.” Answer the following questions.

1. Why was Mrs. Fitzgerald well known?


2. What happened that surprised Mr. Fitzgerald?


3. What is the lesson or moral of this story?

MOTIVATION ACTIVITY (Full-class discussion):

Did you or someone you know ever do a good deed for someone else? Tell us about the

good deed and why you did it. How did this act of generosity make you feel? Why?

TRANSITIONAL QUESTION:

Do you feel generosity is an important value to teach children? Explain.

LESSON ACTIVITIES (Full-class and group assignments):

·Teacher reads aloud “Mrs. Fitzgerald and the Milk.”

·Students should write down words that describe Mrs. and Mr. Fitzgerald.

·Why was Mrs. Fitzgerald well known? Why did Mr. Fitzgerald want to keep all of the

milk? What happened that surprised Mr. Fitzgerald?

·Make a list of terms that describe Mrs. and Mr. Fitzgerald on the board. Which of the

Fitzgeralds would you rather have as a neighbor? Why?

·What is the lesson or moral of this story?

·Introduce the story “A Meal for a Stranger.” It is from a time in Ireland known as the

Great Hunger when the potato crop failed repeatedly and there was much starvation.

·Discuss the terms starvation and famine. Is there hunger and famine in the world to-

day? What can we do about it? Would you share your food if you had very little but a

stranger had none? Explain.

·Working in pairs or teams of four, students should read and discuss an edited ver-

sion of “A Meal for a Stranger” and answer the following questions.

1. Whom did the woman find in her kitchen?

PLANNING 73