Where I Come From
Introduction
In this lesson, students take research into their heritage a step beyond the construction
of a family tree, traveling through cyberspace to find out what's happening in
their ancestral homelands today and explore their sense of connection to these
places in their past.
Guiding Question: What parts of the world has your family come from? What is life
like there today? What are your feelings about these places your family once called
home?
Learning Objectives
After completing this lesson, students will be able to:
- Identify the countries and cultures that are part of their family
heritage.
- Locate these places on a map.
- Report on life in these places
today.
- Characterize their sense of attachment to these places in their past.
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
1
This lesson plan consists of four learning activities that you can use together
as a unit or adapt separately to your curricular needs.
2
Review the suggested activities, then download and duplicate any online materials
you will need. If desired, you can bookmark specific web pages so that students
can access relevant online materials directly. (See Selected EDSITEment Websites for a guide to locating online materials.)
3 For guidance on presenting and exploring lessons on family history, visit The Learning Page
at American Memory, which includes America
Dreams and other resources on immigration and ancestry in addition to many more
topics.
Suggested Activities
A Family Travel Log Mapping
Your Past What's New in the Old
Country? A Place to Call Home
A Family Travel Log
Begin by having students talk to a parent about the countries
and cultures that are part of their family history. Ask students to create a family
"travel log" with one page set aside for each place where members of their family
have lived in the past. Encourage students to ask their parents for information
about their family's experiences in each of these places and to record these facts
on the appropriate pages of their travel logs.
Mapping Your Past In class, arrange for students
to research the places their families have come from using the online resources
of the Xpeditions website.
- Have students use the Atlas section of the site to find and print out
maps of the places that are part of their family history, which they can then
add to their travel logs and mark or color to show where their ancestors lived
(if they have this information).
- Students can also use the "Flags
and Facts" feature of the National
Geographic Map Machine to gather background on the history and geography of
the places their families come from, and include this information in their travel
logs as well.
- You might also have students mark the places that are part
of their family history on a whole class world map, to help them discover geographical
connections.
What's
New in the Old Country? Next, have students
find out what life is like in their ancestral homelands today by reading online
news reports from those countries and cultures. In addition to political and breaking
news, online news sources offer sports reports, feature stories, entertainment
news, and even weather forecasts. EDSITEment provides links to online news reports
from virtually any part of the world, many of which are available both in English
and in the language of the originating country. Use these links to find news sources
for the students in your class: Africa
Americas Asia
Australia
Europe As they "visit" each country or culture through these news sources, have
students collect souvenirs for their travel logs -- pictures, advertisements,
charts, cartoons, news clippings, and surprising facts. Then have them organize
their souvenirs to create an online (or conventional) travel album, a virtual
tour with commentary, or as a series of emails from imaginary relatives to family
members in the United States. Share these projects in class, inviting students
to compare their impressions of homelands they share and comment on the differences
(and similarities) between life in other regions and their lives in the United
States. A Place to Call
Home Finally, have each student choose one country
or culture from their family history for extended study, setting aside time each
week when they can deepen their acquaintance with this part of their heritage.
(Students of similar heritage might conduct this research in small groups.) In
addition to online news sources, students can use library resources to learn more
about the history and geography of their chosen region, and can interview family
members to learn about traditions that link them to this place in their past.
Have students keep a journal or digital diary as they explore, where they can
collect additional "souvenirs" and reflect on their feelings about their ancestral
lands. What stirs pride in their cultural heritage? What gives them a new perspective
on who they are? After four weeks, have students organize their research to produce
an essay or computer presentation that introduces others to the place they have
studied and highlights what makes it feel like a place they could call home.te
their message to you) telling a distant relative about life in a sod house on
the plains.
Extending the Lesson
Continue your travels through family history by having
students explore their literary heritage create anthologies of stories, poems,
songs, and folktales from all the countries and cultures in their past. Divide
the class into small groups that share a similar heritage, or have each group
gather examples of a single genre from several cultures and report on similarities
and differences they discover. Resources for the study of world literature are
available through EDSITEment at Asia Source,
AskAsia, African
Studies WWW, the Bucknell
Russian Studies Department, the Center
for the Liberal Arts, the Goethe
Institute, Ile en ile,
LANIC (Latin American Network Information
Center), Lire les femmes
ecrivains et les litteratures africaines, NativeWeb,
and SARAI
(South Asia Resource Access on the Internet).
Selected EDSITEment Websites African
Studies WWW Asia Source
Standards Alignment
View your state’s standards
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