Family Heritage Project

Our class is starting a Family Heritage Project. Some of the big ideas
we will be learning about are: Geography, Ancestors and Families. We know
that families can include lots of different people: brothers, sisters, aunts,
uncles, adopted parents, birth parents, step relatives, significant partners
Because this project is a collaboration between home and school your child
will need your help, and help of other family members. We will be learning
general things about family heritage in class, but the specifics about your
family will need to come from your home. I am sending this packet home
now so that your family can take advantage of the Thanksgiving Break to
gather information. These conversations can take place face to face, or
through letters, email or phone calls.
Another skill that I am teaching in this assignment is time management.
To help guide your child in learning this skill I have assigned due dates for
each piece. Please make sure that your child uses their time well, and dont
put off the assignment until the night before it is due. Each assignment
NEEDS to be completed by the assigned dates. These pages will be bound
into a keepsake book for your child to treasure, please make sure that they
do their personal best and work is completed neatly. I hope that this
homework will involve lots of interesting conversations and a memorable
experience for your family.
Due Dates:
Friday, December 16

Thursday, December 22

Friday, January 20

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Where do I Come From?

World Map

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nd

Personal Time Line

Names of Relatives
Grandparents Biography
Parents Story
Scrap Book

Friday, January 27

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Family Recipe
Whats in a Name

Other Pages: included in the packet we have provided a few other pages for
your child to complete them by December 18 I will include them in the
book. They are titled Parents Story, Whats in a Name and a Scrap Book of
Primary Sources (family photos and important documents). There is also an
opportunity to extend the Names of Relatives assignment into a Family Tree.
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Our Family Heritage Celebration will be Friday, December 18 . We will

celebrate by inviting family members and sharing our projects and country
reports. The class and I look forward to seeing you on this special day!
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Instructions
Because the culminating event of this report is to bind it into a book
that will be treasured, the writing in the report should be neat and legible.
Reports may be hand written or typed. The writing/typing is to be done by
the children, so please plan accordingly.
Where Did I Come From:
This will be a list of relatives who came to America and the countries
they came from.
World Map:
This will be a map of where in the world your ancestors are from. The
map will help them answer questions about their family origin.
Personal time line:
This will be a list of the most important events of your child's life. We
will do the finished pieces in class. This is to help focus your child's memory
on events they may not remember.
Grandparent's Biography:

This is the life story of a person at least two generations older than your
child. If no grandparents are available, you could tell the story of your parent
to your child. If you feel you are unable to do this, your child could
interview any older family member. The intent of this assignment is to learn
more about the life of a grandparent and to better understand what life was
like in an earlier time. This biography doesnt need to be long, only
highlights need to be included. Everyday events are therefore just as
valuable as dramatic events. I have provided some suggested interview
questions. Required questions are underlined.
Names of Your Relatives:
This is a list of relatives. A beginners family tree if you would like to
extend this into a full family tree you are more than welcome to.
Family recipe:
For our Family Heritage Celebration each family will bring a favorite
family dish. Hopefully you can prepare it with your child's help. This is the
recipe of that dish. If this could be typed up and emailed to your teacher that
would be fabulous as I would like to make a class recipe book.
Other Assignments:
Mother and Father's Story:
This can be a funny or interesting story from your life. The intent is to
pass on a family story to your child. This story may be shared in class.
Whats in a Name?
This details the story behind your childs name.
Scrap Book of Primary Sources (family photos/important documents):

If you have family photos/important documents that you would like to

include feel free to make a page or two on letter size paper (this could be
scrapbook style).

Name:_______________________________________________________

Where Do I Come From?

We've been learning in class that many people came to America from
somewhere else. Sometimes it was recently; sometimes it was a long time
ago. Find out where your mom's and your dad's relatives lived before they
came to America.

Mother's Relatives (grandparents, great-grand, etc.)

1. Name of relative:____________________________
Country of origin:_________________________________
2. Name of relative: ______________________________
Country of origin:_____________________________
3. Name of relative: ______________________________
Country of origin:______________________________
4. Name of relative_______________________________
Country of origin:_____________________________

Name:___________________________

Father's relatives (grandparents, great-grand, etc.)

1. Name of relative: _______________________________

Country of origin:_____________________________
2. Name of relative: ______________________________
Country of origin:______________________________
3. Name of relative: ______________________________
Country of origin:______________________________
4. Name of relative________________________________
Country of origin:_____________________________

Name:__________________________________________

World Map
Put an X on the map to show where your family is from
(you may mark the many places your family comes from).
Put an O on the map to show where you live.
I live in the town of ______________________________,
which is in the state of ____________________________,
which is in the country of __________________________.

For the following questions please choose one family

member who came to America from a different country.
My family member _______________________________
is from ________________________________________.
He/she came to America in the year__________________.
He/she came here because _________________________

Name:_________________________________________

My Personal Timeline
Your child's life is filled with important memorable events. They may
be interesting, funny, or exciting. Events like special birthdays, firsts (teeth,
steps, bike ride), moves, trips, births of a brother or sister, family reunions,
getting a pet, etc. We will be making a time line of these events and will
need to have a minimum of four events with which to work. Please place
events in chronological order from the earliest to the most recent. Provide
only one event per year starting with I was born...

Year

___________Event_________________________

________________________________________________
Year

___________Event_________________________

________________________________________________
Year

___________Event_________________________

________________________________________________
Year

___________Event_________________________

________________________________________________
Year

___________Event_________________________

________________________________________________
Grandparents Biography

Find a grandparent or family friend to interview who is at least 2 generations

older than you. There are eleven questions you must ask, underlined below.
Beyond that you may add, delete or change any of the other questions. The intent
is to ask questions of the grandparent to enrich your child's understanding of that
person. Its also an opportunity to learn what life was like in another time, as well
as to learn more about a loved one.
To do this interview, you may want to provide your child with a tape recorder
so they can do the writing at a later time. Or you may want to take notes for
him/her. If your child does the interview over the telephone, you may want to
listen in on another phone and take notes for your child. When your child writes
up the story try to help him/her write it as a narrative (story), and not just as
answers to the questions. I hope this will be fun for your child. We know it will
be fun for his/her grandparents.
Step 1 Write notes on these two pages.
Step 2 Use the lined paper provided to write a story in complete sentences, or it
can be typed (by the student).

Possible interview questions:

What is your full name (first, middle and last)?
What year were you born?
How old are you?
Where were you born?
Where did you grow up?
Did you have brothers and sisters?
How did you get to school?
What did you wear to school?
What did you like to learn about?

What did you like best about school?

Who was your favorite teacher, and why?
What do you remember about second grade?
What were your chores at home?
Did you have favorite books or stories?
Did you have a radio or TV?
How has technology changed in your lifetime?
What did you do for fun?
What games did you play?
Did you have any hobbies?
How did you meet your husband/wife?
When did you get married?
What is your happiest memory?
Were there any events that changed your life?
What was different about growing up then and now?

Name:__________________________________________

Names of Relatives
Find out the names of your relatives.

Sisters:__________________________________________
________________________________________________
Brothers:________________________________________
________________________________________________
Mom: __________________________________________
Dad:____________________________________________
Step mom: _____________________________________
Step dad: ________________________________________
Grandma (Mom): _________________________________
Grandpa (Mom): _________________________________
Grandma (Dad): __________________________________
Grandpa (Dad): __________________________________
Aunts: (Mom's sisters):_____________________________
________________________________________________
Uncles (Mom's brothers):___________________________
_______________________________________________

Name:__________________________________________

Cousins (Mom's side):_____________________________

________________________________________________
Aunts (Dad's sisters):______________________________
________________________________________________
Uncles (Dad's brothers):____________________________
________________________________________________
Cousins (Dads side):______________________________
________________________________________________
Anyone else that we havent listed above :______________
_______________________________________________
________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

Name:__________________________________________

Family Recipe
Is there a recipe that your family makes that has been
passed down through the family over the generations? If
not, do you have a favorite recipe? Please type and email to
teachers if possible so we can make a class recipe book.
Include ingredients, directions and history (if you have it).
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

Name:__________________________________________
Parents Story
My parent's full name is:
_______________________________________________
His/her birthday is:
_______________________________________________
His/her birthplace is
______________________________________________
This is a story about my parent when he/she was younger:
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

Name:__________________________________________
What's in a Name?
Why did your parents choose your name?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
If you were named after someone, who was it?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
What nicknames do you have and how did you get them?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Do you like your name? Why or why not?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________