DAY OF UNIT &

NAME OF
LESSON/ACTIVITY
Day #5: Discovering Our Roots
Through Family Trees
By: Katie Sovine
FEATURED
STANDARD
Common Core State
Standard
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of
tasks, purposes
Corresponding CCR Anchor Standard
(ALSO THE ANCHOR TEXT) Write routinely over
extended time frames (time for research, reflection,
and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting
or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and
audiences.
PURPOSE OF
ACTIVITY
Day #5 of our unit will be focused on family and
relationships. Much of our human identity is formed by
our upbringings. Our parents, siblings, and heritage all
combine to make up a major part of who we are. This
lesson is intended to help students realize this truth
and to reflect on how family has affected the identities
of the characters in their books and more importantly,
their own identities.
This lesson is sequenced to be on day #5 for
various reasons. The first, students will already be in
book groups and far enough in to their novels to
consider family ties and affects. The second, students
will have already worked with discovering their own
identities, so this lesson will challenge them to
elaborate on the methods in which they all came to be
the person that they are.
Connected Learning Principles: 1) Peer-
supported Learning (working in book club groups to
compose character family trees), 2) Openly-networked
(post trees to blogs), 3) Interest-Driven (personal family
trees)
Piecing together family trees of characters will be
helpful for special needs students, especially ELLs. It
will be a diagram that organizes characters and helps
to reveal character development. Also, the online
program is easy to use, but also allows for students to
challenge themselves by creating elaborate family
trees.
MATERIALS Internet
Computers
Family Tree Generator
(http://www.myheritage.com/)
Pen/pencil
Paper
Book club novels
PROCEDURES 1. DO NOW Prompt: Reflect on how your family
has impacted your identity. Do they shape the person
that you are today? Do any certain memories stand
out to you? (10 Minutes)
2. Have a class discussion about the DO
NOW. Talk about how identity is shaped by heritage
and upbringing. Allow for students to share their
memories and thoughts on the topic. (20 Minutes)
3. Show students the family tree website and have
all of them create an account. (10 Minutes)
4. I will explain to students the instructions for their
in-class assignment. I will write these instructions on
the board while students are grouping up with their
book groups: Create a family tree of the characters in
your book through http://www.myheritage.com/. Then,
write a reflection on how the familial ties has shaped
the identity of the protagonist in your stories. Use
quotes to support your explanations. (5 Minutes)
5. Students will have time in class to work on the
family trees for their characters. This is a group activity
and I just need the link from one student in each group
to be submitted for grading. (35 Minutes)
6. Once I notice that groups are wrapping up their
trees, I will explain the homework for the weekend.
Students will be asked to create their own family tree
and to write a reflection about how the members of
their family and their upbringing have contributed to
their identity. Instead of incorporating quotes, they will
have to include at least three memories in their
reflections. (7 Minutes)
7. Allow for students to ask questions about the
assignment. (3 Minutes)
ONGOING
ASSESSMENT
Students will submit their DO NOWs for completion
points. Students will not be formally graded on their
literary family trees, but I will observe their ideas and
keep track of participation. The personal family trees
will also be graded for completion. The main purpose of
all three of these activities is to get students thinking
about how relationships affect human identities, in fiction
and in real life.
REFERENCES
1. http://www.myheritage.com/