My Ideas for the Famiy Tree Project

These are my ideas about our coming up family tree project. Let me now what you think are the best or if you have any better please let me know!
We will take a vote as a class and on-line if you parents want to get in on this action :) on which activities we will do.
Be thinking. . .
I am excited to see which route we will take in learning, just like our ancestors had to choose their route!

Maps and Geography
It is rare to find a family tree which doesn't include any immigrants, though some people may have to go back hundreds of years to find them. Turn history into a fun detective project by working with students to seek out the real-life adventures of their ancestors, and plot their travels on a map.
Master map can be created for the classroom which highlights all countries which students discover in their family trees.

MUST DO TO PASS: Need to flag our current events map with pin and name
bonus: Mini Maps can be created to show family migration or immigration

-Another fun project entails having the children construct a fictional journey to visit all of their living relatives. Trace epic journey through America or the world on world map.
Including the names and locations of their fictional hometowns, and one major event.
Can include the logistics and cost of making the trip to visit.
This can be associated with time- introducing the ideas of ecomony. . . the great depression. . . poverty.

Science/ Genetics
-Genealogy can be used to teach science and health through a genetics or family health history project. Students can look for genetic features, such as eye color or nose shape, that have been passed down in their family; research any common health problems or genetic disorders which are prevalent in their family tree;

-Or we could study the methods in which genetics can be used to trace a person's origin. Introduce Mendell's Pea Pods . . . Connect with Middle Ages Technology

-Since health can be a touchy subject in some families, you can also approach this lesson with a well-documented family from history, such as a royality, presidential family, famous peoples through time and their impact on how there personalities help shape history.

Health/Social studies class double up kids?
-A visit to the cemetery to envoke emotions about ancestors- talk about the past and connect with society? not sure about this idea? any parent volunteers to help to take class?
BONUS to visit family grave sites and pay respect?


Literature Arts
-Family tree projects should always begin at home, by interviewing and recording the recollections and stories of living relatives before they are lost forever.
Ask any genealogist, and you will be hard-pressed to find one who doesn't regret spending more time talking to relatives while they were still alive.
Teach students the proper techniques and proprieties of conducting an interview, and work with them to come up with a list of questions that go beyond names and dates and, instead, pull out the stories that will never be found in written records.

-Oral histories can be collected not only from family members, but also from neighbors, friends, and community members. If you live in a small community, you could even work with students to create a book of collected stories from the area. I would love to do this one.

Encourage students to talk to any living relatives who may still have immigration stories to tell. Or visit sites like ellisislandrecords.com to view real life immigration records, and ship histories. Discuss the possible motivations for a family's migration, including how to connect events in history with the movement of ancestors.

Must Do to Pass:Every student must conduct an interview, get one real story, beef it up, and help create our class book.

Math/Keyboarding double up kids
Graph the demographics of your classroom. Create a survey for entire school and graph that. Use Spreadsheet application to incorporate workshop.
We will do this one as a class when they have given their report and flag which country they are from.

What a success !!!

Thank you so much for everyones help with the Knight to Remember!
I have seriously had so many emails thanking me for putting together that night.

I coudn't have done it without the hard work and effort the kids put into their learning.
Their high energy and willingness to participate made the night a complete success.

If you click on the link to the right that says- PICS of the Knight to Remember there are about forty pictures that I captured. I only wish I would have taken more.

The password is springcreek if you want any of the pictures. I suggest just right clicking on the pictures you want and saving to your computer or email for free. . . :)

Thanks again for all of you wonderful parents at home who helped! I look forward to doing this project again next year.