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By combining the Multiple Intelligences theory with modern technology, this new twist on creating a family tree parallels a student's ancestry with important events in history

Like many teachers, I assigned a family tree project to my students, hoping they'd be able to identify with important dates in history by relating them to their own ancestry. However, I found that by requiring the usual timeline and accompanying research paper, I had some students proclaiming the project "stupid" while others found it interesting. Intrigued with this diversity, I drew upon Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences and suddenly my classroom came to life with excited students discussing their families, world events and little-known tidbits from history. By focusing on the strengths of my students, I accomplished my goal of making history exciting for them as they developed expository writing skills. Here is how I re-structured that old, "stupid" assignment.

Ordinary meets extraordinary. I began the ordinary way - interviews with older members of the family. They could use face-to-face interviews, phone conversations and sometimes even e-mail as primary sources for their research. We found that the grandparents and relatives over the age of 50 had the most to share. This led to some students finding aunts and uncles they never knew they had. One student even located a lost bible with birth, marriage and death dates going back to the early 1800s.

I asked the students to put their information on index cards - one card per relative. They listed the ancestor's name and any other known information such as the dates and places of that person's birth, marriage and death. Then, each student assembled the cards by generations onto a poster board. Starting with the oldest family members at the top of the poster, they added cards until they reached their own card at the bottom. Aunts, uncles and cousins were also glued onto the poster board and this gave the students a better idea of where everybody fit into the big picture. Once the family was organized, we drew vertical lines (for parents and grandparents) and horizontal lines (for brothers and sisters) to show relationships. We placed husband and wife cards directly next to each other without a line and drew a box around them.

The interesting part. Next, we started the "interesting" part of the project. I showed my students an overhead chart of Howard Gardner's Intelligences and explained each one. After I went over the chart (each had his or her own copy), I told them to rank intelligences from one (favorite) to seven (least favorite). Then, each student listed his or her name and most favorite intelligence on a green card, the second favorite on a yellow card and least favorite on a red card. We arranged these in a traffic-light pattern on the bulletin board so everyone could see the diversity. Most of my seventh grade students favored the physical intelligence - not surprising at all! A majority of the rest preferred the visual intelligence.

Given that information, the students used their first or second intelligence preference to develop a project that explained one or two topics relating to their family tree. This time, the computer lab served a much better purpose - research. I told the students to get creative and look for out-of-the-ordinary facts, such as a notable sporting event that occurred on a wedding date, holiday traditions from the country of birth, etc. I helped them by providing a chart of possible projects related to each intelligence.

Anything but a report. Armed with knowledge of Multiple Intelligences and a chart of possible projects, the students began their research. Given my students' limited knowledge of web research, I asked for parent volunteers to help on the days we went to the computer lab. This turned out to be an excellent decision - three parents and one teacher is a good ratio for a class of 24 students. They learned to cut and paste from the Internet and found immigration records that told which ship their ancestors traveled on. When their research was complete (we used two days in the computer lab and one day in the library), they had a week, including a weekend, to assemble their project. I encouraged them to avoid the usual three-page report with bibliography.

When they turned in their projects, I was amazed by their ingenuity. Some (visual intelligences) created a collage of pictures from family albums and added arrows with information. Others (interpersonal intelligences) combined their ancestors and developed a skit, complete with authentic costumes from grandma's attic. Be prepared for the musical intelligences to produce an "Ancestor Rap," but make sure you hear it before they present it to the class. My favorite project was the PowerPoint(TM) presentation that one student put together using her logical intelligence. I'm sure her parents had a hand in explaining how to embed the information and save it to a CD-ROM. However, she learned many things from the project, not all of them related to her ancestors and their place in history. Hopefully, if you have a student who prepares a PowerPoint presentation, you will also have a knowledgeable tech-support person in your school who can help set it up so the entire class can see the presentation on a large screen. I allow two or three days for presentations, depending on the size of my class and the nature of their projects.

Creating an ideal family. Even the student who has no extended family to interview or the adopted child who feels insecure about revealing this to the class can participate in this project. I suggest they create their ideal "family" by developing their own hybrid family tree. I let the student decide if they'd like to reveal the true nature of the family tree. So far, only one student has opted not to reveal that he was adopted.

Appreciation of each other's differences and similarities builds tolerance in a diverse classroom. By combining an emphasis on Multiple Intelligences and use of the computer, a simple family tree project can turn into a multilevel presentation and multicultural learning experience for the entire class.

E. Renee Heiss is a teacher of child development and a former Language Arts teacher. She is past president of the Burlington County (NJ) Genealogy Club.