Time Line:
Northern and Southern Hemisphere Dates

Module Description:

This 'What Are My Roots?' module is part of an overall program called Who Am I?

The students begin the eight week climb into their Family Tree by taking a look at their immediate families as well as their ancestors. They try to discover how their families lived years ago and how their ancestors helped shape them into the young people they are today.

In the third and fourth weeks of the module the students try to discover the origins of their families. All the while they will be searching for reasons that their families might have moved from one place to another or possibly stayed right in the same area that the family started in hundreds of years ago. The students will think about ways that cultures are assimilated into other cultures and sometimes lose their identity. They will discuss the importance of accepting and celebrating our cultural diversity.

Was life the same for our ancestors as it is for our students today? This is the topic of the fifth and sixth weeks as they look back in time and make comparisons. They will examine such things as population growth, new inventions, changes in the value of money, clothing and hairstyles.

In the last two weeks of the module the students will think about their responsibilities to all the new branches that grow on their family trees. They will think about the kind of world that they want their children and grandchildren to have.

You will find many discussion questions and classroom activities in each two-week lesson. No one is expected to do them all! We give you many ideas but feel free to use those that are appropriate for your class.

Teachers are encouraged to use their own imagination and ideas within this module. The description is only a guide but other things related to the topic are always welcome.

Module Goals:

Goals for participants are:

1. To identify and appreciate themselves and their culture within their own family lineage.
2. To appreciate the value of communication across generational lines
3. To collaborate with and learn from other students online
4. To become creative and critical thinkers
5. To develop a sense of inquiry and thirst for knowledge
6. To gather and evaluate information from electronic and printed sources

Objectives: - Connecting to your curriculum

Students will be able to:

1. Read e-mail messages and respond to peers
2. Work together in groups within their classrooms and also within groups of online students
3. Use the writing process to inform, express personal ideas and to persuade.
4. Engage in real time interactions using IRC or Kidspace
5. Search for information on the World Wide Web
6. Analyze and interpret data using charts and graphs
7. Classify information into categories
8. Compare and contrast information from several sources
9. Apply information for problem solving in new contexts
10. Evaluate the reliability of WWW resources
11. Express ideas using art, drama or music as well as text
12. Justify and defend their opinions
13. Gather information about their cultural heritage from various sources including communication with older family members and to present it to others

How to Join This Module

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