The document outlines a project-based learning activity focused on exploring family histories through storytelling, poetry, and digital publications, aiming to enhance students' self-identity and awareness. It includes steps for planning, conducting interviews, and creating final products while emphasizing the importance of family conversations. The project encourages collaboration and reflection on the learning process and the value of personal narratives.

1. FAMILY STORIES PROJECT

2. Rationale: The What
and The Why
Students will engage in a project based
learning activity in which they have a choice
in creating products such as storytelling or
poetry for digital publication by collecting
family stories, they can interview family
members about family artifacts and create a
living museum, a photo gallery or videos.
The reason why I chose this project is
because throughout my years of teaching, I
noticed that many of my students had no
knowledge of their family’s history. I feel
possessing this knowledge is essential to
shaping self-identity and awareness. I also
like the idea of this project because it forces
families to do something that we are now
often too busy to engage in – conversation.
The focus on exploring their family history
is an experience in which self-perceptions
can be affirmed, challenged or reinvented.

5. “Strike the
Imagination”: Story
of My Grandmother’s
Iron
Pass it around! Feel the
weight of it!
Explain the process of
heating the iron on the
stove.
It was used during the
Spanish Influenza of
1918.
You had better duck! A
flying iron was a
deterrent against
coming home late!
Part of my history.

6. Driving Question
How can family stories help
us in shaping our self-
perceptions and identity?

7. Inquiry

8. Inquiry: Set
Team Goals
• What are roles of the
team members?
• How will students
collaborate during
meetings? What is
the format of the
meetings?
• Who will do what?
• Will teams have daily
meetings?
• What is the goal of
the project?

9. Inquiry: Planning
• What tools and resources will be
used?
• Who will be interviewed and/or
what artifacts will be collected?
• How will data from interviews be
captured? What preservation
methodology will be employed?
• How long will interviews
approximately take? How many
will you conduct?
• What supplemental texts (if any) can
be utilized as a resource?
• What is the plan for accomplishing
the goal?
• Will genealogists or museum
educators need to be contacted or
visited?
• How will the project be presented
(what’s the format?) and evaluated?
• Planning Deadlines?

10. Inquiry:
Questioning
After students determine
interviewees and/or
artifacts, what interview
questions do students
want to ask family
members?
Review: open versus
closed questions.
Question and challenge
assumptions.
Students must be prepared
to return to interviewees to
ask additional questions.

11. Inquiry: Finding and Evaluating Sources of
Information
Corroborating family Interviews EBSCO.com
Photographs archives.gov
Family records library

13. Inquiry:
Application
• Conduct interviews via
video, mobile recording
• Find artifacts
• Take pictures
• Meet with genealogists
and museum specialists
for advice or guidance.
• Meet to analyze data.
• Finalize group product.

14. Application: Creation
Writing digital stories/poetry
blogs
Creating videos
Designing classroom museums

17. Product

18. Reflection
What did you learn about yourself throughout the process?
What worked? What didn’t?
How was the collaboration process?
If you could describe the experience in one word, what would it be
and why?

19. Sources
 John, L. (2015, May 1). Why We Changed Our
Model of the "8 Essential Elements of PBL" (by BIE)
Project Based Learning. BIE. Retrieved September
20, 2015.
 John, L. & Mergendollar, J. (2010, September). Seven
Essentials for Project-Based Learning. Retrieved
September 20, 2015.