National Gallery of Canada
The Roots of My Family
Represent family history visually by requiring your young artists to create family trees that express balance and symmetry. Pupils examine works of art, research their family histories, and put together large family tree posters.
Curated OER
We Are History: Family Stories
Students examine their own family heritage and share family stories with the class. They differentiate between primary and secondary sources, and bring in and write about three artifacts from their family. They conduct an interview...
Curated OER
Family Tree
A unique twist on a family tree project is a fun alternative to the traditional family tree drawing. This 3D family tree would make a great display for back to school night or open house. Presenting all the important people in their...
Curated OER
Family Life in the 1830s
Students compare and contrast family life today with family life in the 1830s. They conduct research on Old Sturbridge Village, read primary source documents, and develop a list of generalizations comparing/contrasting families of the...
Curated OER
Creating Identity Posters
Students discover the identities of their classmates. In this tolerance lesson, students create individual posters showcasing their identity, history, and family background. Students examine the posters to get a better...
Curated OER
You Mean I Am Part of History?
Fourth graders open the lines of communication between family members and to gain a historical understanding about family history. They research and interview their grandparents and parents and create a research paper.
Curated OER
My Family Tradition
Students examine different family traditions to further explain social patterns. They complete a graphic organizer using educational software.
Smithsonian Institution
Art to Zoo: Life in the Promised Land: African-American Migrants in Northern Cities, 1916-1940
This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...
Curated OER
What is Your Story?
Students listen to Picnic In October and Memory Coat to explore the concept of memoirs. They interview a family member and write a personal memoir that reflects their own family history.
Curated OER
Family Structures
Young scholars organize information about their family into a family record. For this research lesson, students collect information about their families and organize it chronologically.
Curated OER
Travel Through Time with a Family Member
Students interview a family member. In this interviewing lesson, students choose a family member to interview and write about. Students create a PowerPoint about the person including a timeline, photographs, and a narrative about their...
Curated OER
Culture Collage
Students investigate their cultural heritage and make observations on how much influence their past has on their current values and lifestyle. They brainstorm a list of things that represent a certain country or cultural heritage and...
Curated OER
What We Learn From Women and Girls
Role models are all around us! Young learners celebrate Women's History Month by selecting two female role models in their lives, and writing or drawing a short description about why they admire that girl or woman.
Curated OER
The Importance of the Past
Students, in groups, study why the past is important by sharing personal past experiences. They discuss why all human pasts are important, as well as the importance of their local or family history.
Curated OER
A Brief History of Fairfax County
Students brainstorm a list of things they already know about the history of Fairfax County, Virginia. After reading a primary source document, they discuss the similarities and differences between their prior knowledge and what they...
Curated OER
Journey
Students complete a variety of enrichment activities that focus on the book, Journey, by Patricia MacLachlan. They create a photo album that shows their own family history.
Curated OER
Cultural Awareness/Sharing Traditions
Students examine and explore cultural traditions that make their own families unique. In groups, they discuss traditions, write about the similarities and differences in the group, and interview other students.
Curated OER
Living History- An Intergenerational Philanthropy
Students gather information from a senior friend to write a biography. In this living history books lesson, students organize information to complete a book about their senior friend. Detailed teacher instructions for completing the book...
Curated OER
Personal Experience Narratives
Help your middle schoolers identify personal experience narratives in their own lives through telling stories themselves and from family members or other adults. They study personal experience narratives in Swapping Stories and compare...
Curated OER
Naming Traditions
Students get to know each other better and research their family and community history. After students research their own and their parents' names, they notice names in literature, history, and other studies and know more about these names.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Women of the Movement: Civil Rights Movement in Alabama
Many know of Rosa Parks involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, but who were other female leaders? The lesson focuses on female Civil Rights leaders and their achievements. Scholars complete research, participate in group discussions,...
Curated OER
The Family: Louisiana Family Folklore
Students determine that all families create and pass on folklore. They research stories of their own names and draw parallels between their own and others' naming traditions. They infer characteristics of their communities' history...
Museum of Tolerance
Where Do Our Families Come From?
After a grand conversation about immigration to the United States, scholars interview a family member to learn about their journey to America. They then take their new-found knowledge and apply their findings to tracking their family...
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Interrogation of Immigrant
Imagine being interrogated by someone you don't know about minute details of your life. Imagine that the interrogator is matching your responses to the answers of other family members. Imagine how you would feel knowing that the...