Discovering Family Roots
Suggested sources:
Canada’s History: Voices and Visions (Unit 1 Chapters 1-4, Unit 5, Chapter 25)
The Peopling of Atlantic Canada CD, also Teacher’s Guide (Discovering Family Roots)
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This assignment asks the students to research their family roots. Family structure takes many forms, and there are a number of ways to accommodate each student’s own situation. As an example, adopted children and children from one-parent households may not be comfortable working on a family chart. Instead of writing or displaying a chart, maybe a recorded or digital version of the family history would be more practical. The teacher may wish to contact some parents beforehand to determine the “comfort level” of the student and family in completing the assignment, particularly in the case of adopted and foster children.
If the parents are divorced and the student now has a stepparent(s), they may want to make two trees, or research only Mom’s or Dad’s side of the family. Accommodation could be made for non-traditional relationships as they exist in the home.
In essence, students should be encouraged to complete the family roots assignment at his or her own comfort level, using the information they have gathered to gain a wider perspective on Canadian history and their place as Canadians.
The project should be assigned early in the term, and be ongoing over a period of weeks or months. Instruct the students to gather as much information as they can from relatives or close family friends. Use this as a starting point. Seek out the names of ancestors, and where they lived. There may exist some written form of family history, or a family bible with names and pertinent dates. In addition, the suggested internet sites may be helpful in seeking further information.
Assignment:
1. Research your family roots. Seek the origin of your family name and what it means. Is your first name similar to anyone else in your family? After tracing your family history back as far as you can, from what part of the world did your ancestors originate? How did they make a living? If your family traveled from another continent, from where did they come? Do any of your classmates have a similar background?
Students with a First Nations background should provide a detailed family profile. Has your family played a special role in the history and life of your community? Have any of your relatives served on the Grand Council or in any other leadership roles? Talk to your family elders about any important memories or stories they have about your family and the community. How have these memories and stories been preserved and passed down? Do they relate to any particular situations and events of the past?
2. The teacher can use pins or markers on a map of the world to identify places from which ancestors of class members originated.
3. Students could do a PowerPoint demonstration for the class, telling their family’s story, and the family’s journey through the past to where they are today.