History Early Stage 1: Personal Family History

Looking for an activity idea for Early Stage 1 History?

Here’s one for both Early Stage 1 outcomes in the Australian History Syllabus which also draws on use of sources, empathetic understanding, communication, and continuity and change.

Content: Identify and record similarities and differences between families. Compare and contrast various family groups through photographs and stories and identify differences between past and present.

Part I:

1. Students bring in to class a current family photograph.
2. Students identify their family members in the photo; i.e. dad, me, grandma etc.
3. Students swap photos and identify similarities and differences between their families. If the students don’t have originals you could encourage students to circle the differences directly on the photo. These could include who is in the photo but also fashion and location!
4. Repeat step 3 so that students have an opportunity to see a variety of different family groups.

Part II:

1. Students bring in a family photo from soon after they were born and compare with their photo from Part I. You could also ask students to bring in a family photo from before they were born!
2. Students place photos in order (past v.s. present) and then identify family members in the each photo.
3. Students spot the difference between their own photos and explain why there are differences. This part may need quite a bit of teacher direction to guide students, but it aims to support students in understanding the differences between past and present.
4. Students swap their photos and identify similarities and differences between families.
5. Repeat step 4 so that students have an opportunity to see a variety of different family groups.

This activity could have an accompanying worksheet, as some of the steps may need to be broken down and include leading questions that guide students’ thinking. Or, this activity could be carried out in a class group as part of a discussion.

If you have some tips from how you cover personal and family history content with Early Stage 1, please share below!