HASS · Year 1 · Family History and Traditions · Term 1

Constructing Family Trees

Students create simple family trees, identifying immediate and extended family members and their relationships.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HASS1K01

About This Topic

This topic introduces Year 1 students to the concept of lineage and personal history. By exploring their own family trees and stories, students begin to understand how the past is preserved through people and oral traditions. This aligns with AC9HASS1K01, focusing on how families can be similar and different, and how they change over time. It provides a foundational understanding of chronology and heritage within a context that is personally meaningful to the child.

Students learn that history is not just in books but lives within their own homes and communities. This topic is particularly effective when students engage in active storytelling and visual mapping. Moving beyond a static worksheet to share stories and physically build connections helps children grasp the abstract concept of generations. This topic comes alive when students can physically model the patterns of their family connections through collaborative sharing.

Key Questions

1. Who are the people in your family? How are they all related to you?
2. What does a family tree show us about our family?
3. How can you find out more about the people in your family?

Learning Objectives

• Identify immediate family members (e.g., parents, siblings) and extended family members (e.g., grandparents, aunts, uncles) within a family structure.
• Classify relationships between different family members (e.g., 'mother of', 'child of', 'sibling of').
• Create a simple visual representation of a family tree, accurately placing at least three generations.
• Explain how a family tree visually displays connections between people.
• Demonstrate how family structures can be similar and different using examples.

Before You Start

Identifying People and Their Roles

Why: Students need to be able to recognize and name different people and understand basic social roles before identifying family members and their specific relationships.

Basic Communication Skills

Why: Students must be able to verbally express simple ideas and listen to others to share information about their families and understand relationships.

Key Vocabulary

Immediate Family	This includes the people you live with most closely, like your parents and siblings.
Extended Family	These are relatives who are not part of your immediate household, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Relationship	This describes how people in a family are connected to each other, for example, 'mother', 'son', or 'cousin'.
Generation	This refers to all the people born and living at about the same time, viewed as a stage in the lineage of a family.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

A family tree must look like a traditional nuclear family.

What to Teach Instead

Families in Australia come in many forms, including kinship groups, foster families, and multi-generational households. Using inclusive, student-centered discussions allows children to define their own 'family' and see that all structures are valid and valued.

Common Misconception

History only happens to famous people.

What to Teach Instead

Young students often think history is 'the olden days' involving kings or explorers. By sharing personal family stories, students realize that their own lives and their ancestors' lives are part of the historical record.

Active Learning Ideas

Think-Pair-Share: Family Treasures

Students think of one story or object that is special to their family. They share this with a partner, explaining who it came from, then present one interesting fact about their partner's family to the class.

20 min·Pairs

Inquiry Circle: The Human Family Tree

Using a large floor space and wool, students work together to place labels like 'Grandparent', 'Parent', and 'Child' to create a giant web. They move along the lines to see how everyone is connected to a previous generation.

30 min·Whole Class

Role Play: Interviewing an Elder

Students take turns playing the role of a 'history detective' and a 'family elder'. They practice asking open-ended questions about what life was like when the elder was six years old.

25 min·Pairs

Real-World Connections

• Genealogists, professionals who research family histories, use family trees to trace ancestry for individuals and families, often helping people discover relatives or historical connections.
• Social workers and counselors may use family trees to understand a child's support network and family dynamics when providing assistance.
• Historians sometimes construct family trees for notable figures to understand their influence and connections within society during specific historical periods.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

Provide students with a worksheet showing several individuals with their names and a single relationship (e.g., 'Sarah is the mother of Tom'). Ask students to draw a line connecting them and write 'mother of' or 'child of' to show the relationship.

Exit Ticket

Give each student a small card. Ask them to draw a simple family tree for their own family with at least three people, labeling each person with their name and relationship to them (e.g., 'Mum', 'Me', 'Grandpa').

Discussion Prompt

Ask students to share one thing their family tree shows about their family. For example, 'My family tree shows I have a grandma who lives far away' or 'My family tree shows my brother and I have the same parents.' Listen for accurate use of relationship terms.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I handle family trees for students with sensitive backgrounds?

Focus on 'the people who care for me' rather than strict biological lineage. Active learning allows students to define their own circles of support. You can use 'Family Circles' or 'Community Trees' to ensure every child feels included regardless of their family structure or history.

What if a student doesn't know their family history?

Encourage them to focus on the present and the stories they are creating now. They can also 'adopt' a historical figure or a local community elder's story to explore. The goal is to understand the concept of passing down information over time.

How can active learning help students understand family history?

Active learning shifts the focus from memorizing names to understanding relationships and change. Through role play and structured sharing, students hear diverse perspectives and realize that while every family story is unique, the concept of belonging is universal. This peer-to-peer exchange makes the abstract concept of 'generations' concrete and relatable.

How does this topic link to First Nations perspectives?

It provides an opening to discuss Kinship systems. You can explain that for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, family extends to include broader community members and Country itself. This broadens the student's understanding of what 'family' means in an Australian context.