Family History

The students are busy working on one of my (and usually their) favorite research projects of the year...Family History & Immigration!  The basic components of the project include:

-a family tree traced to great-grandparents
-a 50 question interview of one family member, preferably an older relative
-their surname meaning
-a family story with photographs
-a detailed write up with charts of immigration to the U.S. by one ethnic group (Irish, Italians, Germans, etc.)

Although each requirement of the project is the same, the students do have the option of creating either a museum-style tri-fold poster, an iMovie documentary, or a scrapbook, based on personal preference.  I created a tri-fold project of my family to use as an exemplar for the students.  Creating my own project was also helpful for me to 'iron out' any kinks in the project before I asked the students to create their own.

 The culmination of this project will be an evening for the students to showcase their research to their families...

Having an authentic audience with whom to share their projects gives the students more incentive to create quality projects.  Once they are complete, I will put together a video montage with pictures of the projects and from this event!  Can't wait!!