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Go to Mid-America Speakers for more information about Carrie Ann Cook, Speaker.
The Multi-Media Family History
Applied to the Classroom
Lecture Saturday, September 12, 2008,
Crystal Bridges Museum and Bentonville Public Library
Please note that more information is provided here than time for coverage will allow.
I. Introduction
a. Having an AA and BS in Elementary Education, with classroom experience in elementary and Vo-Tech levels, a life-long genealogist, lecturing locally as well as nationally, the speaker is here to help you.
b. Adaptability should be a watch word. With enough though and preparation, any idea can be adapted to your grade level and student learning levels. Don’t just teach research methodology: Take this idea and teach a truly unique cross-curriculum unit each time – make the student’s research be a leading focus.
1. Easiest = bring in family pictures already IDed & ordered
2. Easy = bring in pictures, ID and organize
3. …make a list of several generations
4. …research dates for generations, gather supporting media
5. …tie research into general history and round out the “characters” of the story
6. Hard = Flip end to end, use numbering system, cross-reference
7. Hardest = Go further more generations, compiled data, publishing
c. Why bring family to the classroom? Get Real!
1. Connect with new students as you depart from “book learning”
2. Personal investment into their education: This unit isn’t about Jack and Jill; it’s about Mom and Dad.
3. Cross-Curriculum
4. Handled correctly can improve self-esteem
5. Citizenship: Builds on/introduces to community, and can strengthen teamwork
6. Citizenship: It gives the teacher a transparent way to model optimal citizenship to older learners through case study.
7. Easily fits a wide variety of teaching methods
8. May also involve parents and community
9. By succeeding in this unit, students will generally improve their self-esteem and strengthen their sense of self.
10. Upon completion students will have been exposed to many positive things (research, role models, further socialization, teamwork, etc.) that further strengthen their knowledge base you will be working on.
11. Don’t leave behind those with skeletons in their closets though – the things they bring out of this unit will help them as well – special care needs to be taken though.
II. Multi-Media (Publish)
a. Audio
1. Podcast
2. Stand Alone Recording
b. Video
1. Caught on tape
2. Digital
3. YouTube
c. Written
1. PowerPoint – presentations & scrapbook
2. Producing Websites & Using Social Networks
3. Blogs, Email, Elists, etc.
4. Written or verbal reports/books
Ø Report/Case Study
Ø +Show & Tell
Ø +Prepared Speech
Ø Class Compiled Book
Ø +Dress as an ancestor (October is Family History Month)
Ø +Class day back in time (specific such as 2001, an era such as the 1970’s, or more general such as pioneer or Victorian)
Ø Family Book
Ø +Chitaqua (guest speaker, class trip, or class participation)
d. Still Photos
e. Maps, etc.
III. Roadblocks and how to avoid them
a. Adoptee, Single parents, etc.
b. Lack of tools – computer/internet, camera, recorder, etc.
c. Privacy online and participation
d. Copyright online and participation
IV. Lessons/Categories
a. Comb compiled/compiling student family histories for examples of whatever you are studying.
b. If something upcoming in the curriculum doesn’t appear to be covered, encourage students to “dig” for more information.
c. If nothing is available, have readily prepared lesson plans that fall within the class’s time period of genealogies.
d. Emphasize how generic examples tied into individual families (in general).
e. This may seem like a lot of extra work, but every time the unit is taught, it will get easier.
f. Best time saver for stock lesson plans: Pool resources! Find other teachers who will share their plans, ideas, or split up some of the initial preparation. Be sure this relationship is two way. Beyond teachers, see if local historians and/or genealogists can be of assistance in the same way. This may even bag you a guest speaker in character, or the beginnings of a Chitaqua.
By Subject
1. English Language Arts – discuss lingo and slang. Match or research sayings with their definitions and place in a period of time. Such as “The greatest thing since sliced bread” – discover when mechanically sliced bread became available: Civil War soldiers may have said this, but not Pilgrims.
2. Library Media - Biographies and how they are organized in a collection as well as introduction/practice with worldcat.org or books.google.com
3. Foreign Language – compare/contrast words in ancestor language and/or take a survey on how many other languages are present in American English
4. Social Studies – study your class text by supplementing with genealogy information. i.e. “what did Y2K or WWII, mean to my family?”
5. Math – try un-graded exercises with chalk & slate (alternative wipe board or make blackboards in art with slate paint); create word problems that have genealogical basis: Sally’s Pa is excited about his homestead, it is 140 acres. According to the Homestead Act of 1860, he must pay $0.25 per acre. What is the bill for the entire homestead?
6. Science – level appropriate discussion of DNA (make models – art), with parental permission – participate in one of the free DNA projects (scratch kit, mail, evaluate statistics of report, etc.)
7. Physical Education and Health – have a game from home week and play them all, show and tell about what is known about the game. Have historical back ups.
8. Music – Bring the history of the song into focus, also a great time to learn state song, etc. i.e. The Caissons Go Rolling Along [(written in 1907) 22 Jan 1918 for orch.; 26 Feb 1918 for mil. band; 27 Feb 1918 for piano (w/words); re-pub. in 1921], by Edmund L. Gruber, 1879-1941 – World War I
9. Fine Arts – check to see if anyone in any families were artists. Don’t discard folk art and crafts such as quilts, woodwork, pottery/china painting, and basketry: Explore examples, if available; try techniques used; discuss why ancestors may have used that media (pencil/charcoal, pen, oil, found items, etc.). If no examples available choose a time period most students’s genealogies reach to and pick something/one of that period to study or try.
V. Expand your classroom – outreach
a. Resources & groups
b. Discover resources within the school
c. Getting parents involved
VI. Conclusion - Q&A
a. Overview any skipped handouts if time allows
b. Summary
Page Last Updated August 02, 2011