HASS · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Constructing Family Trees

When students explore family trees, active learning makes abstract concepts like lineage and time feel real. Hands-on activities help them connect personal stories to broader ideas about history and belonging. This approach builds empathy and historical thinking through concrete examples from their own lives.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HASS1K01

• 20–30 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

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.

Who are the people in your family? How are they all related to you?

Facilitation Tip

During Family Treasures, circulate and listen for students to name specific objects and explain who taught them about it.

What to look for

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.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Inquiry Circle
• 30 min · Whole Class

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.

What does a family tree show us about our family?

Facilitation Tip

When constructing The Human Family Tree, encourage students to ask classmates about their relationships before placing them on the shared chart.

What to look for

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').

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Activity 03

• Role Play
• 25 min · Pairs

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.

How can you find out more about the people in your family?

Facilitation Tip

For Interviewing an Elder, model open-ended questions like 'What games did you play as a child?' to guide students toward storytelling.

What to look for

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.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should start with what students already know about their own families before introducing new vocabulary. Avoid overwhelming them with too many terms at once. Research shows that personal narratives make history more memorable, so invite families to contribute stories or objects that students can bring to class. Keep the focus on relationships rather than biological definitions to ensure inclusivity.

Students will confidently identify family relationships and describe how families preserve history through stories. They will use key vocabulary like mother, father, grandparent, and cousin accurately in discussions and drawings. By the end, each child will have created a simple, personal family tree that reflects their understanding.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Family Treasures, watch for students to assume all families have the same structure or traditions.

  Use the sharing circle to explicitly ask each student to describe their family's unique customs or living arrangements, normalizing diversity.

• During The Human Family Tree, watch for students to think history only involves famous people or distant events.

  Prompt students to connect each person on the tree to a story or object shared during Family Treasures, showing how their own lives are part of history.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share
• Inquiry Circle
• Role Play