Family Tree Web Project
Blog or Wiki Address: http://shaybennett.blogspot.com/
Subject Matter: Family Heritage
Grade Level: 5th Grade
Lesson Objective:
Learners will demonstrate the ability to research their family’s heritage through the use of the internet and they will share a Power Point presentation on what their research has uncovered along with demonstrating their ability to write, create, and present using electronic media.
Description:
This lesson will enable the learners to access the internet and use software programs to research their heritage along with information they have gathered from their parents. With the information gathered from the learners’ research, they will write an essay describing the history of their family. The learners will then create a Power Point Presentation to briefly explain the history they uncovered in their research.
Subject Matter Content Standard:
1.0 Writing Strategies
Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays. The writing exhibits the students’ awareness of the audience and purpose. Essays contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and conclusions. Student’s progress through the stages of the writing process as needed.
1.4 Create simple documents by using electronic media and employing organizational features
(e.g., passwords, entry and pull-down menus, word searches, a thesaurus, spell checks).
Grade Five
Website Addresses Used as Resources: (2-3)
- About.Com – Presentation Software. This site describes how to create a family tree presentation with Power Point. - http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/classrooms/ss/family_tree.htm
- Ancestory.com – This is a site set up for researching the histories of people through the use of public records. http:// www.ancestry.com/
- Myheritage .com – This site is another research site that utilizes public records to find out information about people and their history. It is also where you can find a Family Tree builder. http://www.myheritage.com/family-tree-builder
Student Research Questions:
- Who am I?
Subsidiary Questions
What is a Family Tree?- What information can we find out about my family tree?
- Where did my parents come from?
- Where are my grandparents from?
- Where are my great-grandparents from?
- If they are from a different part of the country or the world, what was the history of their location?
- What kind of life did my ancestors live?
- How do we live our lives differently than our ancestors?
- What do you think the future holds for your descendants?
Assessment:
The use of the internet enabled students to research the history of their families and the locations of their ancestors. The Power Point program enabled technology to be brought into the classroom and the students through the knowledge gained from use, are able to reach a goal in putting together a presentation on their family history. The knowledge on the use of power point will carry them through many more subjects in future years.
Assessment will be made through monitoring the use of the computer and internet and the information that is found.
