Posts Tagged ‘pedigree chart’
Today I gave two short presentations for my son’s 5th grade teacher. He teaches two groups of sciences classes. Today I talked about starting genealogy research. Their teacher, Mr. Blair, was very excited after the first presentation and wants to start researching his family! I even caught him looking at Ancestry.com while I gave the 2nd (repeated) presentation to the other science class. That is very exciting for me that he is interested.
The kids in both classes had many great questions about filling out their pedigree chart and family group sheet. They talked about family records they had at home, like a family Bible which contained names of the family members with births and deaths going back to the 1830s! That is a treasure! And the best part…..they all seemed very excited about doing the work.
The kids are now supposed to go home and through Thanksgiving break next week talk to family members and write down the information. There will be an assignment given after the break. I was even asked if I would come back and hear the results of the kids’ research. Of course I said yes!
And if any of the kids from the class are reading this blog – make sure you look at the records on Familysearch.org because those are free records.
Thank you Mr. Blair for giving me the opportunity to come speak today! It is exciting to see young people taking an interest in their family histories.
Related articles
- Kids Genealogy: Where To Begin (examiner.com)
- 2012 Conference Tracking Your Ancestors’ Footsteps (dupagecountygenealogicalsociety.wordpress.com)
- Follow Friday – Genealogy Lists and Message Boards (chicagofamilyhistory.wordpress.com)
Yesterday I posted a great resource called the Research Question file. Here are a few more files from the PBS website you may find helpful when you conduct your research.
Something to Remember Me By A Story about Love & Legacies by Susan V. Bosak with Laurie McGaw is a book about a grandmother going through the early stages of Alzheimers.
The story begins with a little girl baking cookies with her grandmother. As the story progresses, the girl grows up and her grandmother ages. The grandmother promised the little girl her cedar chest when she grew up. The day came when the girl was grown up and married and heard from her grandmother that it was time to come get the chest. Her grandmother was going to move out of her house and into a nursing home.
The girl visits her grandmother and together they sort through the cedar chest. Together they finish cleaning out her house and prepare to move her to the nursing home. The grandmother says she is worried she will forget her granddaughter. The granddaughter gives her a photograph of the two of them together and writes on the back “Something to remember me by.”
The girl visits her grandmother at the end of her life and instead of seeing the woman she remembers, she sees a woman with a blank look on her face. After sitting with her grandmother and telling her how wonderful she is, the grandmother smiles and turns toward her nightstand. Inside is the photograph of the two of them.
Read the book to find out the ending.
Today you are going to interview your mom and write a short story about her. Grab a piece of paper and a pencil and jot down these questions. Some you can just look at your mom and know the answer, but the point of this exercise is to learn to interview relatives and gather information.
- What is your full name?
- What is your maiden name?
- Where were you born? What city and state? What hospital?
- When were you born?
- What are your parents names?
- When were they born? Where?
- What are your siblings names?
- When were your siblings born?
- Who did your siblings marry?
- Are you right or left-handed?
- What is your eye color? Hair color? Do you wear glasses?
- If your parents are married, when and where did they get married?
- What is your job?
- Do you have a nickname?
- Growing up did you live in a house or apartment?
- Write down the date of your interview and the address where you are living. Keeping a log of addresses when you take interviews or find documents can help you locate new information.
Now that your family tree or pedigree chart is complete, the next step is the family group sheet. You can download and print that here.
To fill in this sheet, put the names of your parents at the top in the appropriate spaces. Fill in as much of their information as possible.
Below them is a space for children. Add you and your siblings, if you have siblings, to this bottom portion. List the children in birth order.
When this sheet is complete, you can print more sheets and work backwards. The next sheet should be your dad’s parents and list him as one of the children with his siblings. The following sheet should be your mom’s parents and list her as one of the children. Continue working backwards filling in as much information as you can find.