Overview
At this point, students have been introduced to the Lost Rolls America archive and have a clear understanding of what an archive is and the different media that can be included in an archive. Examples include photos, written stories, interviews, video, audio, text messages, scanned art, and documents. In this class, students will learn about family archives. Then, students will be guided to use the provided tools to begin to research their own family histories, which will be their first step in creating their family archive.
Note to Teacher: For the purpose of this project, please share with students that family can come in many forms: blood relatives, adoptive parents, guardians, and other loved ones.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
● Articulate the importance of tracing their family history
● Trace their lineage back to different parts of the world and be able to identify these places on the provided map worksheet
● Identify the different languages their relatives may have spoken or had to learn if they made a journey to the United States or from another state within the United States
● Recognize the diverse cultures and traditions that their relatives have carried forward over time and that exist in their homes and communities
● Recognize the diversity in their classroom community
● Contemplate how their ancestors’ journeys and heritage inform their lives today
Essential Questions
● In what ways did the journeys of my family members to their current communities influence me? Or, if they have not made a physical journey, how have their pasts nevertheless influenced my current life?
● Do my ancestors affect my life today? And, if so, in what ways?
Common Core State Standards
● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.D
Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented.
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest visually, quantitatively, and orally, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.C
Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
LRA Ed Glossary Board
● Archive: A collection of documents or records that, taken together, provide information about a people, place, institution, or other entity. Often, archives are used to understand a history or culture.
● Family archive: A collection of documents or records that, taken together, provide information about a particular family. Often, such an archive is assembled by the family itself, or a member of the family.
● Family lineage: A line of descendants from a common ancestor.
● Ancestor: A relative, usually more than two generations removed, from whom someone is descended.
● Primary source: A first-hand, original source, account, or piece of evidence that directly documents an event or experience, such as a diary, photograph, or other artifact that has not been altered.
● Secondary source: A source created from primary source materials by someone who did not directly experience or participate in an event, such as a history textbook or a biography.
● Global: Across the whole world, or worldwide.
● National: Something common to a nation, or country, such as a national anthem.
● Local: Situated or operating in a defined area or neighborhood, such as a local park.
Materials for Instructor
● White board, black board, flip chart, or jumbo sized Post-Its for the LRA Ed Glossary Board
● Blank World Map, one per student
● Blank World Map Worksheet, one per student
○ This worksheet enables students to chart how many continents, countries, and oceans their family members may have traveled across to reach their current community. It also includes different modes of transportation: planes, boats, cars, buses, by foot, etc. And it includes languages spoken and languages learned.
Materials for Students
● LRA Ed Journals
ROOM SET-UP
Be prepared to break into student partner groups.
I. Discussion (5-7 min.)
Begin the class by reviewing the definition of archive. If useful, review the Lost Rolls America Story Map, which provides explanations and examples. Share with students that they are each going to create personal family archives. Now that they have an understanding of archives, use the LRA Glossary Board and as a class define family archive. Refer to the definition in the LRA Ed Glossary if necessary.
A family archive is like a time capsule of a family’s history. Let students know that at the end of this project they will create a digital piece they will be able to share with the class and their families. The first step in creating a family archive is for students to become “investigators” and research their family histories. Students will begin with map activities to trace where family members may have lived before their lives in their current communities. Lead a discussion that focuses on why it may be important to research family history.
Entry point questions can include:
● Have you ever thought about where your family members may have lived before moving to their current communities?
● Have you heard stories about your grandparents or even their parents and where they may have lived? (Make sure to share with students that if they have other names or titles for their guardians and relatives that is fine and normal.)
● Have you heard stories about a place where your ancestors lived and can you find examples of how parts of these stories may have been carried down through time to your family’s daily life? For example:
○ foods that you eat
○ family traditions
○ possibly you or another family member speak(s) a second (or third) language
II. Archive Example (10 min.)
To launch the student investigations, begin with an example from the Lost Rolls America Archive.
STEP ONE
Remind students about how this archive operates. Be sure they recall that the public has submitted undeveloped film rolls and, after they are developed, the submitter is then able to choose the photo/s he/she/they want in the archive.
This photo (link below) was submitted to Lost Rolls America only a few years ago, in 2017. Before that, no one had ever seen these photographs, because they were “locked” in an undeveloped roll of film.
Lead students through these steps:
Step One
Project the photo at the following link and have students explore this photo:
Valentina Zavarin 02
Ask students, does this picture look old? If so, how so?
STEP TWO
Read the memories that are written alongside the image. The woman in the center, on the truck, is named Valentina. The photo was taken in Ravensburg, Germany. Valentina is originally from Latvia, where she was born and raised. As a young woman, she traveled from Latvia to Germany to the United States. She settled in San Francisco, California.
STEP THREE
Lead a discussion about the photo. Entry-point questions can include:
1) How do you think Valentina’s family felt when they saw this picture for the first time?
2) How do you think Valentina, who was 80+ years old when this roll of film was developed, felt to see an image of herself as a young woman?
3) Do you think the family learned things about Valentina’s past and her journey to the US from this photo?
4) Do you think this photo helped generate conversations and questions within the family?
STEP FOUR
If possible, project a World Map showing where Latvia and Germany are and trace the journey that Valentina made to the US.
III. World Map Activity (20 min.)
This is the first part of an investigation that students will lead into researching their family’s history. It is fine if they do not know the exact names of towns or cities where their family members have lived, as they will learn these as they carry out their homework assignment following this class. This activity is to inspire students and enable them to see how connected they are to the world through the journeys their families may have taken to their current communities. This initial activity does not require research; it is to capture students' thinking before they research their family history.
Have students sit in groups of three. Share with the class that, using the World Map and World Map Worksheet, they will begin to explore the journeys their family members may have taken to their current communities. These journeys may have been global, national, or even local.
Step One
● Hand out the World Map and World Map Worksheet to each student.
Step Two
● Ask students to locate their family members’ original country or countries on their map and draw a line representing the route they took from that point to their destination. There may be more than one line!
Remind students that family histories may be entirely within the United States; these are equally important historical narratives and should be traced on the national map.
Step Three
● After students have drawn the routes their family members have taken, have them fill out their World Map Worksheet.
Step Four
● Bring the class back together to fill in a blank World Map that represents the diverse journeys made by students’ families. Project the map and have students popcorn the different journeys their family members have taken. Use different colors to trace the different journeys. When you are done, the map will look like an incredible spider web of family histories. Point out to students how diverse the classroom community is based on our family members’ journeys.
Homework (5-7 min.)
Introduce the Family Tree homework assignment. Go over the worksheet with the class and make sure students know that all families are unique. If they need to change any of the family heading titles (e.g., parent could be changed to any title students prefer), they should do so.
Extension Activity: Create a passport!
In this activity, students will create a mock passport for a family member or guardian who is at least two generations older.
Materials for Instructor:
● Passport Montage to project
● Paper, markers, scissors, and glue for students
● Create a Passport! Worksheets