Help learners discover more about their backgrounds. This family history activity includes links to sites about heraldry and family names. Begin by sharing your family history with the class and then allow students to do some internet...

Students examine the history of Heraldry from medieval times in preparation for reading the novel "Freak the Mighty." They view and discuss examples of shields and discuss the color system and how shields were divided. As a culminating...

Students create a contemporary coat of arms and illuminated page. They study contemporary artists who combine text, symbols and images in altered books and create an altered book page of their own.

Students design a personal coat of arms which depicts themselves and explain their shields to the class in an informal presentation.

Fifth graders put their coat of arms on a HyperStudio card. They explain in three paragraphs why they selected the pictures.

Students create a family tree. In this ancestry lesson, students research a country that one of their ancestors is from. Students interview a grandparent and map out a family tree.

Students design a tee shirt that depicts some aspect of their family history.

In heraldry, the griffin is a fabulous animal, with the head and forefeet of an eagle, and the body, hind legs, and tail of a lion. The head is represented with pricked ears, symbolical of its vigilance. In mythology, the griffin was a...