Geneaologies+Strategy

!GRADE LEVELS to! 3-5 to! 6-8 II Time, Continuity, and Change III PeopLe, PLaces, and Environments IV IndividuaL DeveLopment and Identity Students can chart their family history by generation levels, rather than by trees, to identify who was alive at what particular time and to examine how that person connected to state, national, and world events. A generational level shows siblings, cousins, and stepsiblings in parity rather than in linear relationships, thus helping students value a variety of different family configurations represented in classrooms. Generational levels can help students understand that everyone comes from somewhere and that groups of people connect with one another. Younger students might make connections to where people in their family lived by mapping their location and migration patterns. By using this tool, older students can see how their family connected with historical migration patterns. Students might also use this strategy to explore eminent families in American political history, including the Adams and Kennedy families of Massachusetts, the Bushes of Texas, the Tafts of Qhio, and the Lees of Virginia. These families have long traditions of public service and political stewardship across multiple generations. It also is beneficial for students to research families that are less well known but that have also contributed to the political, social, economic, or cultural history of the United States over many generations. PROCEDURAL RECOMMENDATIONS • Provide a model family featuring a famous political family in the United States. Ask students what the family indicates about the commitment of some families to public service. • Demonstrate how to construct generational levels using members of your own family. • Invite students to bring information abollt their family to class to make a generational-level chart. As an alternative, have students ask school staff members if they can use their families on generational charts, or have students select notable families from recent or distant history to place on the chart. • Direct students to match each generational level to four different historical events that each person on the chart experienced-one local, one state, one national, and one international. • Have students create a HyperCard® stack featuring each member of the family, a brief biography of him or her, a picture of him or her, documentation about his or her life, and a description of how he or she relates to the rest of the family. "Hot buttons" on each card link the family member to others at different levels. • Provide students without access to H yperCard® another variation of this activity. Have these students collect written and visual artifacts from each generation. These might include letters, postcards, telephone directory listings, birth announcements, and photographs. Have students place each artifact in a separate envelope or folder., These artifacts become "clues," requiring students to organize information about the people selected. • Using blank outline maps of the world and the nation, show how the students' family members migrated to different places and how and when they settled in the area in which they now reside. Compare the personal migration story to major migration patterns in U.S. or world history. Have students research the migration patterns of members of their family or of the family they selected for tl1eir generational chart. ApPLICATIONS AND IDEAS A sixtl1-grade class examines the story of the Harrison family. Each time students open an envelope, tl1ey are given a clue describing another generation of the family. They arrange these people in order from th..§earliest family members to the most recent and place any supporting documentation near their name. When they finish, they consult the answer key in the last envelope. The content of each envelope is described in Table 19.1. I. Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison I II. Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison II III. Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison III A. Berkeley flyer 1. Postcard of a Berkeley bedroom IV. Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison IV V. Postcard of Benjamin Harrison V VI. Postcard of William Henry Harrison A. Grouseland flyer 1. Picture of Grouseland's main hall VII. John Scott Harrison picture A. Brief biography oOohn Scott Harrison VIII. Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison A. Description of Benjamin Harrison; his first wife, Caroline Scott; and his second wife, Mary Dimmick B. Postcard of the Benjamin Harrison home C. Benjamin Harrison home flyer 1. Picture of the Harrisons' Victorian parlor IX. Family tree of the Harrison family IABLE19.l.""" ...!HE HARRISONFAt:'!ILY ENVELOPE # DOCUMENT 1 Description of Benjamin Harrison; his first wife, Caroline Scott; and his second wife, Mary Dimmick 2 Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison III 6 Postcard of Benjamin Harrison V 7 Benjamin Harrison home flyer 9 Grouseland flyer 10 Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison II 12 -: Postcard of a Berkeley bedroom 13 John Scott Harrison picture . 14 Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison IV 15 Picture of the Harrison's Victorian parlor 16 Postcard of William Henry Harrison 17 Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison I REFERENCES AND RESOURCES EVIDENCE Describes the nuclear family of President Benjamin Harrison Makes the connection between Benjamin Harrison II and Benjamin Harrison IV Makes the connection between the President and his ancestors Describes the Harrison ancestral home and the Harrisons who lived there Illustrates the Victorian presidential home in the Midwest Illustrates a conservative revolutionary Describes the Victorian President and his family in the Midwest Describes the only man to be both the son and the father of a president Describes the family of William Henry Harrison Makes the connection between Benjamin Harrison I and Benjamin Harrison III Illustrates the Federal home of William Henry Harrison Illustrates the Georgian home of the Harrison family Illustrates the father and son of two presidents Makes the connection between Benjamin Harrison III and Benjamin Harrison V Illustrates the social context within the time period Illustrates the President of the United States Begins the Harrison family dynasty in Virginia that will emerge as Colonial gentry Shows the members of the Harrison family Pederson, P. V. (1998). The four-generation project: An inclusive activity for the social studies classroom. Social Studies, 89, 158-160. Wolfarth, J. (1998). Inuit social studies: A variant on a common theme. Teaching & Teacher Education, 14, 565-577. TABLE 19.1 THE HARRISON FAMILY ~ ENVELOPE # DOCUMENT EVIDENCE 1 Description of Benjamin Harrison; his first wife, Describes the nuclear family of President Benjamin Caroline Scott; and his second wife, Mary Dimmick Harrison 2 Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison III Makes the connection between Benjamin Harrison II and Benjamin Harrison IV 3 Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison Makes the connection between the President and his ancestors 4 Berkeley flyer Describes the Harrison ancestral home and the Harrisons who lived there 5 Postcard of the Benjamin Harrison Home Illustra!es the Victorian presidential home in the Midwest 6 Postcard of Benjamin Harrison V Illustrates a conservative revolutionary 7 Benjamin Harrison home flyer Describes the Victorian President and his family in the Midwest 8 Brief biography of John Scott Harrison Describes the only man to be both the son and the father of a president 9 Grouseland flyer Describes the family of William Henry Harrison 10 Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison II Makes the connection between Benjamin Harrison I and Benjamin Harrison III 11 Picture of Grouseland's main hall Illustrates the Federal home of William Henry -' Harrison 12 Postcard of a Berkeley bedroom Illustrates the Georgian home of the Harrison family 13 John Scott Harrison picture Illustrates the father and son of two presidents 14 Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison IV Makes the connection between Benjamin Harrison III and Benjamin Harrison V 15 Picture of the Harrison's Victorian parlor Illustrates the social context within the time period 16 Postcard of William Henry Harrison Illustrates the President of the United States 17 Brief biography of Benjamin Harrison I Begins the Harrison family dynasty in Virginia that will emerge as Colonial gentry 18 Family tree of the Harrison family Shows the members of the Harrison family REFERENCES AND RESOURCES Pederson, P. V. (1998). The four-generation project: An inclusive activity for the social studies classroom. Social Studies, 89, 158-160. Wolforth, J. (1998). Inuit social studies: A variant on a common theme. Teaching & Teacher Education, 14,565-577.