Welcome back!
The caffeine question of the day is this: What is your favorite tea? Personally, I like chai tea and earl gray, but chai tea is definitely my favorite between the two! Comment your answer below!
This week we are talking about using sources such as Ancestry.com as a way to enhance student research within the classroom. Specifically, we are going to talk about how to maneuver around Ancestry.com and ways to incorporate it into your lessons.
Shall we begin?
If you’re not familiar with Ancestry.com, have no fear, for I am here! After opening the site, you are given the option to either sign up for a free 14-day trial or for a subscription, these range from $24.99-$49.99 a month. After signing up, you are then sent to the homepage where you can search for people, create a family tree, look at popular records, etc. This is where the magic happens. Just like its name, Ancestry.com is the ancestry connector for all to use. Here, you are able to search for records such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, military records, and immigration papers. The purpose behind Ancestry.com is to allow members access to family records in order to help them understand their heritage and culture. The way they do this is through the multitude of records found on their site that members are then free to research through, add missing information, and create family trees. This then allows for those found within records to have somewhat of a voice as their story is then accessible for those to see. This site is a great entry-level source for students to use when beginning to conduct research. So the question remains….
How can you use it?
Researching and studying genealogy is not only helpful for the site to gain more information that will then create more accessible records for the public, but it also helps students practice their researching skills while also learning about their own family history while doing it! By creating a 2-week long family tree project, students are able to have free range of who they would like to research in their family and continue to see where the tree leads. While learning how to research through the help of articles does help students with understanding what is needed from them, using sites such as this allows for them to have hands-on practice time that can make a bigger impact on their education. This is seen in the results of students staying engaged while researching their favorite grandfather and his military accomplishments, or learning that their aunt on their mother’s side is originally from a different country. Along with this newfound interest in having free range of research, students are able to use the skills they worked on during this project on future papers and projects.
When I was in high school, researching was a very straightforward path. As a result, I never knew or even thought of using platforms such as Ancestry.com for research papers. In the end, some of my papers were pretty dull when I look back at them. It wasn’t until I interned for the Mississippi Department of Archives & History that I was able to really dive into the belly of the Ancestry.com beast and learn about other ways I could research individuals.
Using platforms such as Ancestry.com allows for students to learn more about the ways they can research in a way that is more hands-on and personal to the students. It allows them to express their individuality in ways that are educational and engaging. As a result, students will be able to not only help with accessibility to records on these sites but will also have a skill set prepped and ready for their future 10-page college research paper.
Interested in more ideas relating to incorporating Ancestry.com in the classroom, or want your ideas heard? Be sure to leave a comment below!
Until next time!
THE CAFFEINATED HISTORIAN 