Family Tree Project: Teaching Students About their History & Heritage

As we approach Thanksgiving, it is common to discuss the first settlers, Native Americans, and the history of America. Since the first settlers, the United States has been a multi-cultural nation. What a great time to discuss, explore, and research the ethnicities and cultures that makes us unique.

As part of studying the different cultures of America, encourage students to investigate their own heritage. Where did their ancestors come from? To which ethnic groups did their ancestors belong? Set up a "Heritage" corner in your classroom. Have students bring recipes, stories, photographs, etc. that relate to their family's heritage to share with their classmates.

As you know, making learning personal, keeps students interested! Use these resources and interview questions to help students build their family tree and map their family's story. They will be working on geography, history, and research skills, all while learning about themselves.

Treasure Hunt: Map Activity & Science Experiment

Take students on an adventurous treasure hunt with this thrilling mapping exercise and science experiment! This activity will have students working on reading comprehension, mapping skills, following directions, writing, and science. Bonus! Get free downloads below.

Cast Your Vote! An Election Activity for the Whole Class

Teach students about the voting process with this fun and cross-curricular activity for the whole class. While you are teaching about U.S. government, elections, and the voting process, this activity will help students have a hands-on understanding of the process. Students will create candidates, make campaign slogans, give speeches, cast votes, and so much more. Bonus! Get free downloads below.

The Penny Project

Find a penny, pick it up. All day long you'll have good luck! This project has your students doing just that–collecting pennies while gaining research skills and meeting the standards. This project is perfect for any time of the year, but would be a fun project to introduce around Presidents' Day when your students are learning about Abraham Lincoln and/or George Washington. Bonus! These activities are great for primary students, but can easily be adapted for your older students.

What you'll need:

• Letter-Size Manila Folder - one for each student, or divide students into groups of two

What to do:

1. Reproduce this Lincoln patter <free download> for each student or group to cut, color, and past to the front of their penny folder.
2. On the inside of the folder, have students trace a penny, making 25 circles. You can change this based on the project you choose to do, see below for details.
3. Have students start collecting pennies. Challenge students to
   a) find a different penny for each year, for the last 25 years; b) to find a penny from 25 different years.
4. As students find pennies, tape or glue them in place. Encourage students to put their coins in order of year, oldest to newest.
5. Students should write the year under each coin.

Meet the Standards

• Display the coins in a timeline. (CC.W.2.a)

• Research five of the 25 years that their coins represent.
• What is one significant thing that happened in each of the five years? (CC.W.8)
• Make a timeline showing highlights from each of the five years. (CC.W.2.a)

• Ask students to find a coin from the year they were born. Then ask:
• Who was president that year? What are some similarities and differences between that president and the current President? (CC.RI.5)
• Research to find what the latest technology during President Lincoln’s time was. Compare that to latest technology from the year you were born? (CC.RI.5)

• Challenge students to find the oldest penny. Offer a reward (of your choice) for the student who finds the oldest coin. Then have students:
• Write a report highlighting events from that year. (CC.W.2)
• Make a timeline showing highlights from that year (CC.W.2.a)
  
• Have students find a penny from significant times in history. Hold student's attention by making the specific dates both educational, fun, and relatable. Based on their research or prior knowledge, students will know what years to find. (CC.W.7)
  Examples:

• Barack Obama inaugurated as 44th president (2009)
• The book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone came out (1998)
• Space shuttle Challenger exploded (1986)
• Ronald Reagan inaugurated as 40th president (1981)
• First cellphone was used (1973)
• Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his, “I Have a Dream Speech” (1963)

Bonus Research Question:
Why does Lincoln face a different
direction on the penny? (CC.W.8)

As students collect research and complete other Lincoln projects they can keep everything in their Penny Project Folder.

Tip: Because this project is perfect for Presidents' Day, you could have students do this same project with George Washington and quarters. Split the class in half so that some students create a Penny Project Folder and some students make a Quarter Project Folder.

Abraham Lincoln Freebies 
Use the free worksheets below to build student's knowledge of Abraham Lincoln. As students complete the worksheets have them add each to their Penny Project Folder.
All About Abe - Reading Comprehension Worksheets
Abraham Lincoln's World - Research Skills Worksheet, Using an Almanac
Equality Freebie - Critical Thinking Worksheet

Pilgrim Pen Pals

You and your students will love this unique writing exercise! This activity meets the writing standards and will align with your history lessons about the pilgrims, Native Americans, the Mayflower, and the first Thanksgiving. You can even use this activity to assess students' understanding and knowledge.

Instructions: Imagine you were a passenger on the Mayflower. Now that you are in America and have started making a new home, write a letter to friend back in England. Tell about something that has happened since you left nine months ago.

Tip: Diversify this lesson by having some students write from a Native American’s point of view. These students can write letters or diary entries to show their understanding, which will give a complete perspective of the events during this time period.

Meet the Common Core State Standards with this Activity

Enlarge

• Students should begin by reading informational text to gain knowledge about this time period. (CC.R.I.10) 
• Have students use the parts of a friendly letter correctly, including: date, greeting, body, closing, and signature. (CC.L.2)
• Ask students to write their letters as narratives. They should  develop imaginary, yet realistic, experiences using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. (CC.W.2 and CC.W.3)
• Give students time to research, reflect, and revise their letters. (CC.W.10)
• Require students to do additional research. Have them draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis and reflection while writing their letters. (CC.W.7-9)
• Students should explain events, ideas, or concepts, including what happened and why, based on specific information they find. (CC.R.I.3)
• Help students use technology to type and publish their letters. (CC.W.6) 
• Students can type and print their letters, then display them on a bulletin board display (see Bulletin Board details below). 
• Students can create a Fakebook account for their fictitious pilgrim. Learn more about Fakebook.
• Students can write a text message conversation between two pilgrims, a pilgrim and a Native American, or a pilgrim and his friend in England using this SMS Generator.

Students will have a blast writing Pilgrim Pen Pal letters & I love meeting the standards! via @remediapub { Tweet This }

Bulletin Board: Pilgrim Pen Pals

Create a bulletin board to display students’ letters.

Use this pattern to make a pilgrim boarder.

Cut construction paper strips 3”x18”. Fold in half. Fold in half again. Place pattern on paper, trace, and cut while still folded. Open and decorate the pilgrims. Students can do this fun activity after all of the hard work they’ve put into their letters.

Need step-by-step activities to improve writing skills?

We've got you covered! Our Writing Basics Series has 8 books to help you improve one writing skill at a time. Including our Writing Letters, which is filled with lessons that teach skills needed to write business, invitational, thank you, and friendly letters.