FAMILY STORIES PROJECT

Rationale: The What and The WhyStudents will engage in a project

based learning activity in which they have a choice in creating products such as storytelling or poetry for

digital publication by collecting family stories, they can interview family

members about family artifacts and create a living museum, a photo

gallery or videos.The reason why I chose this project is

because throughout my years of teaching, I noticed that many of my students had no knowledge of their

family’s history. I feel possessing this knowledge is essential to shaping self-identity and awareness. I also like the idea of this project because it forces families to do something that we are

now often too busy to engage in – conversation.

The focus on exploring their family history is an experience in which self-

perceptions can be affirmed, challenged or reinvented.

“Strike the Imagination”: Story

of My Grandmother’s IronPass it around! Feel the

weight of it!Explain the process of heating the iron on the

stove.It was used during the Spanish Influenza of

1918.You had better duck! A

flying iron was a deterrent against coming home

late!Part of my history.

Driving Question

How can family stories help us in shaping our self-perceptions and identity?

Inquiry

Inquiry: Set Team Goals

• What are roles of the team members?

• How will students collaborate during meetings? What is the format of the

meetings?• Who will do what?• Will teams have daily

meetings?• What is the goal of

the project?

Inquiry: Planning• What tools and resources will be

used?• Who will be interviewed and/or

what artifacts will be collected?• How will data from interviews

be captured? What preservation methodology will

be employed?• How long will interviews approximately take? How many

will you conduct?• What supplemental texts (if

any) can be utilized as a resource?

• What is the plan for accomplishing the goal?

• Will genealogists or museum educators need to be contacted

or visited?• How will the project be presented (what’s the format?)

and evaluated?• Planning Deadlines?

Inquiry: Questioning

After students determine interviewees and/or

artifacts, what interview questions do students want

to ask family members?Review: open versus closed

questions.Question and challenge

assumptions.Students must be prepared to return to interviewees to ask additional questions.

Inquiry: Finding and Evaluating Sources of Information

Corroborating family Interviews EBSCO.com Photographs archives.govFamily records library

Inquiry: Application

• Conduct interviews via video, mobile

recording• Find artifacts• Take pictures

• Meet with genealogists and museum

specialists for advice or guidance.

• Meet to analyze data.• Finalize group product.

Application: CreationWriting digital stories/poetry

blogsCreating videos

Designing classroom museums

Product

Product

Product

ReflectionWhat did you learn about yourself throughout the process?

What worked? What didn’t?How was the collaboration process?

If you could describe the experience in one word, what would it be and why?

Sources

John, L. (2015, May 1). Why We Changed Our Model of the "8 Essential Elements of PBL" (by BIE) Project Based Learning. BIE. Retrieved September 20, 2015.

John, L. & Mergendollar, J. (2010, September). Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning. Retrieved September 20, 2015.