Provide a metaview, lifting students into a wider view of the concept. Use another medium (not reading or writing) to connect students' personal knowing to the concept (i.e. visual arts, music, movement, metaphor, etc.) Involve learners in reflective production that blends the emotional and the cognitive.
Family Relationship Charts
Objective: Students will see how the concept of transformation works in relationships that change over time.
Activity: Have students create a series of family relationship drawings or charts. The designs should go from the family before the birth the child in the class, to the family as it changed right up until current. The idea is for the students to see how the relationships in the family changed as new members were added or grew older. Emphasize that the charts should not only show the names of family members but should also show the flow of authority, etc. You could point out how sometimes a crisis in a family can significantly change who has authority and/or power. It might be some students will note who has authority ( a parent, for instance) and someone else who wilds the real power (a grandparent, aunt or other relative). This, of course, did occur in medieval Europe as sometimes the kids were surpassed by their barons or the church in terms of personal power.
