TEACHER’S GUIDE

THIS IS HOW
WE DO IT
One Day in the Lives of Seven
Kids from around the World

By Matt Lamothe
9781-4521-5018-5 · $18.99 HC
F&P Text Level Gradient: P
Lexile® Measure: NC 810L

This guide consists of classroom extension activities and discussion opportunities that can be used when reading,
teaching, or discussing This is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from around the World. The discussion
opportunities and classroom extension activities in this guide are designed to be used in kindergarten through 3rd grade.
The Common Core Anchor Standards that can be addressed using the discussion questions and activities in this guide are:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.1
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1
Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details
in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.1
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for
the answers.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.2
With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2
Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2
Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson,
or moral.

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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2
Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson,
or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear
(e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7
Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7
Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its
characters, setting, or plot.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create
mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.5
Know and use various text features (e.g., headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key
facts or information in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.5
Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons)
to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.5
Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given
topic efficiently.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.3
With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information
in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.3
Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.8
With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources
to answer a question.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.8
With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources
to answer a question.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.8
Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.8
Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources
and sort evidence into provided categories.

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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.3
Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about
the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.3
Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.3
Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe
actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and
clear event sequences.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Use these questions as whole class discussions, reading check-ins, or writing prompts.
1. Look at the illustrations of the homes where the different children live. Are any of the houses similar to one
another? In what ways are some of the homes the same? In what ways are they different?

2. Read the descriptions of the different breakfasts eaten by the children in the book. What food items appear
in many of the breakfast menus? Why do you think that these food items are popular in many countries?

3. What is the difference between how Romeo in Italy and Daphine in Uganda get to school every day?
How do you get to school every day?

4. Look at the illustration of the children’s teachers on the page entitled “This is my teacher.” What items do all
of the teachers have in their classrooms? Discuss what items your teacher uses in your classroom to help you
learn. Are there similarities between your teacher and the teachers showcased in the book?

5. Read the descriptions of how the children learn during their different school days. Discuss how your day
at school compares to some of the other school days described in the book.

6. What types of chores do you do to help your family? Look at the page entitled “This is how I help.” Do you do
any of the same chores as the children in the book? Why do you think that the children have different types of
chores to help their families?

7. Look up “Rumaal Chor” in the glossary. How is this Indian game similar to the game “Duck, Duck Goose”?

8. In addition to reading, writing, and math, many schools include curriculum about values and social skills.
Check the glossary at the end of the book for the definitions of “value education” and “ethics.” What is the
purpose of these classes taught in India and in Japan? How does your school address the teaching of values?

9. The book features numerous illustrations of each topic, from foods to children’s homes. Why do you think the
author ends the story with just ONE illustration?

10. What message or lesson do you think the author of This Is How We Do It hopes readers might take away
from the book?

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ACTIVITIES
Use these activities to extend students’ learning with This Is How We Do It.

1. WE’RE OFF TO SCHOOL!

This is How We Do It shows how each of the seven children travel to school. Have students create a map of how they
get to school each day. Share the following instructions with them:
• Pretend you are in an airplane looking down on the place where you live. What shapes are the buildings,
roads, and trees?

• Draw and label these shapes. Include a red line that traces your route to school.

• Share your map with the class. Discuss how your route to school is similar to or different from the routes of
the children in the book.

2. WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Many of the children featured in the book have nicknames. For example, Ananya from India also goes by the
nickname Anu. Lead students in an activity exploring their names. Share the following instructions:
• Research the history of your name. Does your name have a special meaning? Are you named for someone
important to your family? Do you have a nickname?

• Gather this information and prepare a short oral report about your name to share with your class.

3. WHERE IN THE WORLD DO THEY LIVE?

Instruct students to select one of the children featured in This is How We Do It and create a layered paper model of
the selected child’s “place in the world.” Share these instructions:
• Draw a large circle the size of a dinner plate (trace a plate if you’d like!) on white paper. Color and label the
circle to represent the Earth. Remember to include land and sea on your drawing of Earth.

• Next, draw a circle that is just a bit smaller than the Earth circle on a new piece of white paper. Draw the
continent on which your child lives. Label the continent.

• Draw a third circle on a third piece of white paper. This circle should be just a bit smaller than the continent
circle and should feature a labeled drawing of the child’s country.

• Draw a fourth circle on another piece of paper. Your fourth circle should be the smallest circle and should
include a picture of the child’s home.

• Stack the circles with the largest circle (Earth) on the bottom and layer the continent, country, and home
circles on top. Staple the circles together at the top.

• Meet with a partner who chose a different child for this task to share your “place in the world” models.
Discuss the similarities and differences between your models.

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4. ON THE MAP
This How We Do It features seven children from seven different countries. Have students create a world map that
shows the countries where each of the children live. Share the following instructions:
• Create a key for your map that contains symbols or colors for each child and their home country. For
example, if a child lives in Canada you might choose a maple leaf as their symbol. The maple leaf should be
drawn in the key and labeled with the child’s name and country. The maple leaf should then be drawn on the
country of Canada on the world map.

• Use these symbols when labeling your world map with the children’s locations.

5. RISE AND SHINE!

Discuss how getting ready for school each day is part of the morning routine for most children. Explain that some
children’s schools require children to wear school uniforms, while others let children choose what they wear to
school. Have students create paper dolls by following these instructions:
• Find the page titled “This is what I wear to school.” Select one child’s school clothing to recreate for a
paper doll.

• Trace an outline of a child on card stock and cut it out. Next, using small pieces of construction paper or
fabric, trace the different items of clothing using the outline of the child.

• Cut out each item of clothing and then use a glue stick to attach the paper or fabric clothing to the paper
doll. Display your paper dolls in their school clothing in your classroom.

6. HOME SWEET HOME

Explain how shelter is a basic need for people all around the world, and point out that the children in This is How
We Do It live in different types of apartments and houses.
• Look carefully at the page entitled, “This is where I live” to find information about the kinds of homes in
which the children live.

• Notice the different styles of houses and the different materials used to build each house. Choose one type
of house from this page to build a model of.

• Use a brown paper lunch bag as the starting point for your model of your selected house.

• Gather information and details from the text and illustrations

on the page featuring your chosen home.
Use construction paper, crayons, or markers to decorate the
outside of the paper bag with your details.

• Next, stuff the paper bag with paper scraps, fold the top inch
of the bag over, and staple the bag shut.
This will make your model of the child’s house three-dimensional.

• Have students set up a village of international homes in your

classroom. As an extension to this activity, you may want to have
students create paper bag models of their own homes to add to
your village display.

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7. A DAY IN THE LIFE

Instruct each student to select one child from This is How We Do It to follow through the story.
• Where does your selected child live? What do they eat for breakfast and dinner? What types of things do
they do for fun? What is a school day like for this child?

• Use the information you have collected to compare the child’s life to your own. Create a Venn diagram by
drawing two overlapping circles. List things that are unique to your selected child in one circle and list things
that are unique to your own life in the other circle. In the overlapping portion of the two circles, list things that
you and your selected child have in common.

• Share your Venn diagram with a partner and discuss the similarities and differences you discover.

8. LET’S GO OUT TO EAT

Remind the class while everyone eats breakfast and dinner, not everyone eats the same types of foods for their
meals. Direct students to create their own restaurant menus using the following instructions:
• Pretend that you run a restaurant that features international foods.

• Design a menu for your restaurant using information about the foods eaten by various children in
This is How We Do It.

• Fold a piece of white construction paper in half to make your menu. Divide your menu into breakfast and
dinner items.

• List the foods you would find in each category and include a description of each dish. Use the glossary at the
end of the book to learn definitions for some of the food terms used in the story.

• Include prices for each item. Finally, decorate the cover of your menu with the name of your restaurant.

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9. LOOKING AT LANGUAGES
Ask students to look at how the children in This is How We Do It spell their names in various alphabets, and then
have them explore spelling their names in different languages by following these instructions:
• Find examples of the following alphabets: Cyrillic, Devanagari, Persian, and kanji characters.

• On a piece of paper, label the top of your paper with your name in the alphabet you normally use.

• In the book, find the page titled “This is how I spell my name,” and try writing your first name in the other
alphabets shown on this page.

10. CONNECT THROUGH THE MAIL

Have students design a postcard to send to someone in their family, a pen pal, or even the author of This is How We
Do It. Share the following instructions:
• Check out the website www.thishowwedoitbook.com for great resources for communicating with other
children.

• On one side of the postcard, create a colorful drawing of something you like to play either inside of the house
or outside.

• On the other side of the postcard, write a message that describes what you like to do for fun. Remember, if
you ask a question in your postcard, the person who receives it will be motivated to write back with an answer!

ABOUT THE GUIDE CREATOR

This guide was created by Leigh Courtney, Ph.D. She teaches in the Global Education program at a public school in San Diego,
California. She holds both master’s and doctoral degrees in education, with an emphasis on curriculum and instruction.

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