Introduction
Implementation
Project
Objectives
Activities
Introduction
First Families (FF) 2001 is a unique historical and cultural record of Australia.
It is a database collection of stories about people in Australia, past and present.
It is accessible to all Australians through the Internet and welcomes contributions
from everyone. Your first family is the earliest person in your direct family
(mother, father, grandmother etc.) known to have lived in Australia. In essence,
students involved in the FF2001 Project will identify their first known family
member in Australia, enter the data into the First families Learning Kit 2001
and only upon family permission, allow the data to go live on the State
Library of Victoria's First Families 2001 web site.
Implementation
The implementation of the FF2001 project will utilize a number of project elements
designed to assist the large number of schools and individuals involved. To
assist schools and specifically teachers, FF2001 Project Mentors can be appointed.
Each mentor can be assigned to particular schools and can be on hand to assist
teachers with all aspects of the project. Regional consultants can also be assigned
to the project to lend assistance. Schools are encouraged to nominate a project
leader who will correspond with teachers within their school and seek any support
required from the FF2001 Project Mentors and Regional
Consultants.
Project
Objectives
To
satisfactorily complete the FF2001 project all of the below objectives need
to be met. These objectives and their subsequent outlines forms the basis of
the FF2001 project. Teachers are encouraged to extend, alter and develop
additional activities in achieving these objectives. Guidelines included
provide a suggested outline of how the necessary objectives may be achieved.
The FF2001 project runs over a ten week period, however, teachers and students may complete the objectives following any timeline they wish as long as the objectives are met within the ten week period.
Students will:
Activities
1. Students will develop an understanding of what is meant by family history.
Teachers will have a variety of ways in which they may introduce the meaning
of family history. One simple suggestion:
Students may be asked to brainstorm the question: "What do we mean by
the terns, family history, family tree, genealogy, oral histories?" This
may be done as a whole class discussion or students may work in groups of 4
or 5 recording the group answers to focus questions around these themes. Students
could use dictionaries, library resources, the World Wide Web, CD-ROMs etc.
to assist them with the exploration of these terms
2.
Students will discuss how they can investigate their family history.
Students will be asked to consider the questions "How do you
find out about your family history? This question is designed to raise awareness
of the ways students may gather information. All of the methods the students
consider should be recorded and listed for future reference. The suggestions
may be recorded on computer in a word processing program such as Word or Clarisworks,
or in presentation software such as PowerPoint (you can also use Hyperstudio,
KidPix, ToolBook, Director or a Web authoring program), on butcher's paper,
on the blackboard, etc. This information should be displayed within the classroom
throughout the project to assist students with their investigation. The activity
may involve a class or small group brainstorm.
Some suggestions students may come up with are; talking to family members, photo albums, passports, letters, migration papers, airline tickets, certificates of births, deaths, marriage and citizenship, war records and memorabilia such as newspaper cuttings, war medals and video clips. (Note: this list is designed to simply provide ideas to engage students)
3.
Students will explore, record and display their own family history.
In the investigation, recording and display of family histories there
are 4 components. These four components provide the products of the project
and can be assessed by the teacher.
3.1 Students will complete a family tree.
The building of a family tree (Traced to the first known family member
in Australia).
Refer to the
Family Tree templates in the Resource section. Select the template students
will use or use your own and introduce how information is to be recorded in
these. In class, students can fill in as much of the template as possible and
then take it home to ask other family members to help. Students are encouraged
to include as much information on each family member as they can. For example
name, birth date, age of death, occupation, place of birth and where they lived
or live now, etc. The Family Tree is an excellent starting point for the collection
of family histories, associated accurate documentation (date of birth, etc.)
and other memorabilia. This activity encourages students to consult their parents
or guardians and raise awareness of the project and its processes.
Other
Activities you may complete:
Search
for family name through specific web sites: There are numerous genealogical
sites on the web which students can utilise. Enter key words into the search
engines to see what is available.
Teachers may wish to build up a list of bookmarks or favorites in their classroom
web browsers so that students are able to easily find related resources.
3.2 Students
will identify their own first known family member
The identification of the first known family member in Australia.
The most reliable method of identifying your first known family member
in Australia is through the Family Tree. Students will gather information through
discussions and interviews with family members. If there are breaks in the family
tree then family stories and anecdotal records may be the next possible option.
It should be stressed that students only need to identify the first known
family member. Refer to the resource section for the sheet on "How to
conduct a family histories interview."
It is important
to note, that the first known family member in Australia must be a father or
mother, or grandparent or great grandparent, and not a brother or sister,
great uncle or aunt.
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3.3
Students will research and complete a traditional story.
A factual or imaginative story of the first known family member in Australia.
Where possible, students are encouraged to base their stories on fact. There
story for entry on to the First Families Learning Kit 2001 CD-ROM is divided
into three parts:
Part 1: Life Prior to coming to Australia
Part 2: Reason why the first family member(s) immigrated
Part 3: Family stories about first family member(s) life in Australia
As part of the collection of the family histories, students are required to
complete a traditional story of their first family migration experience, arrival
and lives in Australia. Where possible, this story should be factual; substantiated
by letters, certificates, diaries, passports, interviews, photos,etc. Valuable
family documentation, should be scanned/copied as soon as soon as possible and
originals returned to the family. Students can use the copied information in
their stories and other presentations. The story may be totally imaginative
(can not be substantiated by fact) or a combination of factual and imaginative.
Students should note whether their stories are based on fact and fiction or
fiction alone. In assisting students to complete this task, the following information
may be considered in the story.
Students can present the story in the form of a written story, a diary, a letter, a cartoon, through sketches, an interview, a newspaper article, a Powerpoint presentation, a Hyperstudio presentation, a KidPix slideshow, a web page etc. For entry onto the First Families Learning 2001 CD-ROM, students can complete a summary version of their story if it is not in a suitable form.
If students have completed their traditional story in a word processor package such as Word or ClarisWorks, they can cut and paste their stories straight into the relevant sections of the First Families Learning Kit 2001 CD-ROM, students can complete a summary version of their story if it is not in a suitable form.
If students
have completed their traditional story in a word processor package such as Word
or Clarisworks, they can cut and past their stories straight into the relevant
sections of the First Families Learning Kit 2001 CD-ROM. This will save a great
dial of time for students. See the Traditional Stories stimulus sheet in
the resource section.
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3.4 Students
will complete a family album.
The construction of a family album utilising all material gathered throughout
the project. Please ensure that you keep all copies of the student work,
hardcopy and electronic copy, as this will form an important part of the celebration
and conclusion of the project and can be used as project products.
Throughout the process of documenting their family trees and traditional
stories, students will gather and record a variety of important information.
The family album is a way for the students to record and present the complete
range of information they encounter and collect throughout the project. It is
a record students can show their families. The album can be presented in a variety
of ways. This may include:
It is
important to note that family albums placed on the Internet are accessible by
all Internet users and hence there are security and safety issues that need
to be discussed will all concerned.
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The students' traditional stories form an important part of the Family album and should be included in the finished product.
4. Students
will compile their first family data onto the classroom spreadsheet.
In assisting students verify and transfer their FF2001 data to the First
Families Learning Kit and the FF2001 Internet Web site it is useful to crate
a paper based spreadsheet which is publicly displayed in the classroom and includes
all of the relevant data fields. The paper based spreadsheet allows the students
to enter the data as it becomes known, provides the teacher with a means to
track student progress and also allows family members to verify the data entries.
Paper based
spreadsheets can be created using butcher's paper and displayed in the classroom
for the duration of the project. In addition, or alternatively, computer based
spreadsheets can be created using software such as Microsoft Excel or a ClarisWorks
spreadsheet. These spreadsheets allow the students and teachers to keep track
of the data they need to obtain and the activities that need to be completed.
Please consult the attached "FF2001 Student Data Entry Spreadsheet"
and "FF2001 Student Task Recording Sheet." These Spreadsheets should
be duplicated on butcher's paper or in an electronic spreadsheet.
It is essential that the family verify the data students enter into the paper-based spreadsheet to ensure the data is accurate. This can be achieved in a number of ways.
For example, upon completion of the paper based spreadsheet and other FF2001 activities, a "Family Day" could be organised where family members are invited to view the student work and verify the data entered into the spreadsheet. Days such as "Parents Days" or Grandparents Day" are an excellent way to engage families in the project and school life.
Alternatively, a printed copy or floppy disc copy of the class data could be sent home for verification and returned to the classroom teacher. If the data is entered into a computer based spreadsheet this is very easy to achieve. Obviously different methods of verification will suit different school communities.
Either form
of spreadsheet, paper based or computer based allows the teacher to monitor
student progress throughout the project. When students have entered all the
data into the spreadsheet and had it verified by their family, they can give
permission for the student's data to go live on the Internet. The spreadsheet
also indicates how the students are going with the other activities associated
with the FF2001 project. Each of the spreadsheets has a column for parental/guardian
permission.
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5. Students
will enter their first known family information onto the First Families Learning
Kit and then forward it onto the FF2001 Web site from the CD.
You are able to install the First Families Learning Kit CD-ROM onto
any classroom computer with a CD-ROM player installed. To Install the Learning
Kit program, load the CD-ROM into the CD player, double-click the "My Computer"
icon on the desktop, double-click the CD-ROM icon, then double-click the "Install"
icon and follow the directions for installation.
Once you have been notified that the installation was a success, use the "Start" button from the left hand bottom corner of the screen, go to "Programs", select the "First Families" folder and select the "First Families" icon, this will launch the program. Click the Enter button to go to the Home Page.
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Project
Booklet written by Andrew H ocking and Michael Orr 