PBS
Family History: On Your Honor
What is your history? Scholars work with their own families to create a unique story of the courage and bravery of their ancestors. The third and final part of the series culminates in a creation of not just a family history, but a...
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.
BW Walch
Unexpected Family History
The history of the northern states' involvement in the slave trade is not widely known. This resource uses the PBS documentary, Traces of the Trade, and the nonfiction book, Children of the New England Slave Trade, to examine this aspect...
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
Where Were Your Ancestors in 1871?
Here is a nicely designed lesson on ancestry and family history. In it, learners read an article entitled, "Where Were Your Ancestors in 1871?" Then, they make up a series of questions to profile their family and their community 100...
Park City Historical Society & Museum
Oral History Interview Questions Worksheet
What is an oral history interview? What goes into the planning and what should be said? Why is it important that we know and learn from oral history? This is an excellent worksheet to support your young historians as they conduct...
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
"Me and My Family Tree"
Students explore genealogy by reading a family history book in class. In this family tree lesson, students read the story Me and My Family Tree by Joan Sweeney and discuss their own family history. Students identify what the term...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan on Family History and Past Generations
Second graders listen to The Keeping Quilt and through class/small group discussion relate this story to beliefs, customs, and traditions of their own families. They make a class quilt based on these discussions.
Curriculum Corner
Family Coat of Arms
Make doing homework a family affair with a get-to-know-you worksheet that brings families together to create a coat of arms. With the assistance of their parents or guardians, pupils complete the coat of arms with drawings of their...
University of North Carolina
Oral History
There's no better way to learn something than to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. A handout on oral history, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, explains how to conduct interviews and use the information...
Curated OER
All in the Family
Students develop family genealogy charts in search of noticeable genetic relationships between relatives. They research their family and write a reflection on the genetic relationships between individuals on the chart.
Student Handouts
Coat of Arms
What would be on your family's coat of arms? Complete a template with the images that represent your family. Decorate the coat of arms and display in your classroom after your class has finished.
Curated OER
The Family Tree
Students make a family tree. In this family activity, students brainstorm what the word family means, interview their family members and grandparents, create a family tree, list their family's favorite foods and write an essay describing...
Curated OER
British Royal Family Tree
Students explore the rules of succession and how succession to the British throne works. Students arrange the royal family members in succession order. They explore the concept of lineage by constructing the British royal family tree.
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...
PBS
African American History: Climbing the Wall
Imagine the challenge of trying to trace your family genealogy if no records were kept of births and deaths. Where would you look for information? What types of documents could provide you with the information you seek? History...
Curated OER
What is History? Timelines and Oral Histories
Students consider how we learn about the past and discuss how the framing of history is always done by the person who is telling it. They construct a personal and class timelines, compare two or more accounts of the same event and record...
Curated OER
How to Make Homework Meaningful
Enrich classroom experiences and engage young learners by assigning purposeful, student-centered homework activities.
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
Wartime Memories: Learner Template
Here is a wonderful template for learners to use as a way to show what they know about WWII. Each slide is prepared with three to four photos of wartime memorabilia for your class to research and write about. There are nine slides total...
Curated OER
How to Celebrate Kwanzaa on Your Campus
An article details everything you need to know about celebrating Kwanzaa at your school. An opening-day ceremony starts the seven-day holiday celebration followed a daily routine that includes a greeting, candle lighting, reciting an...
Curated OER
Women's Achievement Quiz
How much do you or your class know about various achievements made by women thorughout history? Here is a set of 10 questions with answers all related to the accomplishments of women in science, politics, civil rights, and law.
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...