Overview:

Has your class done a project on ancestors? Have you traced your own family's ancestry? Maybe you studied where your ancestors lived and the jobs they did. Perhaps you traced the meaning or origins of your last name.

Did you study about the millions of immigrants who entered countries through famous portals such as Ellis Island in New York or Angel Island in California? Perhaps you interviewed family members, parents or grandparents, or other people in your community to discover their stories. and discovered You've learned about their lives and the history of the events that helped shape their decisions to immigrate.

We invited you to post your projects as you summarize your findings and explore the themes of the events in these people's lives.

Exemplars:

The following schools were the first to take part in this project. Please study their formats as models for your own projects:

Project Title:  3rd Graders Trace The Routes Of Their Ancestors   (Click here to open)

Third graders study ancestors and the immigration of their families through Ellis Island.

The project includes interviews of family members, routes they traveled, and their final destinations. Students summarize their findings using Google Maps. What a concrete way to introduce "global learning" to students! And, what a wonderful way to have youngsters listen to and harvest information from older family members.

Coming Soon:

• Hartshorn Elementary School, Short Hills, New Jersey - 3rd grade project entitled,
  "A Nation of Immigrants," in which students interview their relatives and plot the paths they took for their "new futures" in a "New World"; project coordinator, Sue Goldberg, teacher, Tara Mezzasalma.
  Sample Themes Students Will Explore:
      1) Who in your family was first to live in the United States?
      2) Why did he/she leave home for a new country?
      3) What have you learned by doing this project?
  
  Google Tools Used In Project: Google Search Engine, Maps, and Forms