Family History Project
 

This grading rubric will be used for the project.

To begin this project, students work with their family for a week to gather resources using this information checklist and fill out family group sheets.

Roline Askew (CPS librarian/genealogist) will introduce students to genealogical research and work with them through the next step in the project.

Students will learn to use resources to expand their family group sheets. Those resources include those at the bottom of this page and the CPS Library subscription to Ancestry.com.
Examples of what students may discover during this project:
  • For each of the events covered by U.S. History PASS Objectives:
    • What members of my family were involved?
    • How were my family members involved?
    • Where did these family members live?
  • Famous or infamous relatives.
  • What artifacts do you or your family have that is part of history?
    (Examples: Grandpa's gun, Grandma's ring, medals, family documents, family pictures, etc.)
  • Who's name (or middle name) is carried through generations?
  • Family stories that you might write, record, or podcast.
 
Forms used during the project:  
Here's a little taste:
"Every surname is a story in itself. It may tell you where your forebears originated, what their work was, or their social status. It may even tell you the color of their hair or complexion, if they were bald, or had bandy legs, or were thin or tall, short or fat . . .

"While some of our surnames have remained virtually unaltered for centuries, others, distorted and changed by local dialects and alien tongues, bear little resemblance to their original spelling or pronunciation."

"Genealogy is part history and part mystery. As we search for clues to unlock the past, almost by accident we learn much of the history of the time and place in which our ancestors lived. The more we know about conditions when and where our ancestors lived, the better able we are to think of ways to learn more. Thinking is key."