1. Storycorps Lesson Plan: The Family History project
By: Katy McCorkle, Sarah Schwartz, sydney menges
Edit 2000 MWf 12:20-1:10

2. The goal
Create a family-oriented history project for students, wherein they build connectivity to their home environment while also learning about their history along the way.

3. Rubric Interview at least 5 adults in family, community, etc.
Ask them about an important historical event or occurrence within their lifetime and their recount of such matters (could be 9/11, Vietnam War, desegregation of schools, etc.)
Record observations and upload interviews to Storycorps
Listen to 2 other classmates interviews through Storycorps and compare results to own
From all interviews, draw a timeline of events and make little notes about what student has learned along the way
On presentation day, have all students share their timelines to create one massive history timeline
From this students will truly be able to visualize all forms of history and be able to make connections outside of a textbook scenario

4. Inclusion of Meaningful Learning
Active Learning: Students will come in with a set of questions to ask a family member that they will expand on as the interview proceeds, all while interrelating what they learn into a conceptual timeline in their head, allowing them to visualize events and where they fall in history.
Constructive Learning: Students won’t be asked to learn from a textbook but instead, as they interview relatives, they will expand upon their mental models of what actually happened- make history seem more relatable and realistic.
Intentional Learning: Students will make a goal to learn about their family history, while also learning about cultural history. Students are to apply what they learn in the interview to what they have learned in class with the intention of formulating a timeline in the end.
Authentic Learning: Kids are to shift their understanding of history from a purely objective standpoint to one in which they realize these events happened in real life. There could be a specific emphasis on talking to the parents, for they have the most up to date idea of what is going on in the world now.
Cooperative Learning: Students can talk to two adults at the same time, that way they can get different view-points on similar topics. It will help expand their knowledge of the events. They will also be working together with classmates to make giant timeline of understanding as end result.

5. Presentation
Students will make historical timeline on their own to assess understanding of their interviewees and the project as a whole
Students will be asked to take it a step further to combine their information to make one large map of history

6. Perks to This Lesson Plan
All students will come together in a unique way to collaborate and expand upon knowledge of history
Can provide cross cultural perspective depending on backgrounds of different students
Allows students to realize how much can occur in one year
Final product is a huge visual for students to refer back to throughout the school year- point of reference to be hung in the classroom
Could be a first day of school type activity