Ask students to study their family trees and create their own using construction paper and poster board. Cut out a brown tree base and provide the students with green leaves to add to the branches. Write the name of the student at the base of the tree, and then write the names of relatives on leaves. Glue them on their respective family's side of the tree. Display these in your classroom.
Allow students to choose a famous family in history like the British Royal Family or a President. Research this family using books from the school library and reliable sources from the Internet. Have students fill in a simple form for a family tree using this family's lineage. They should prepare a short presentation about the history of their chosen family and present their created family tree to the class or a partner.
Learn about students' family history and tie it into a geography lesson for your class. Ask students to research their family tree and discover where there ancestors came from. Purchase or copy a large map and place it on a wall in your classroom. Provide students with a push pin and ask them to place it in the location their ancestors came from. Give them as many pushpins as they may need to represent all countries or cities of their family. Bring the class together and discuss all students' family geographical history.
After students create their family tree, develop a writing assignment based on the trees. Ask students to choose one deceased member of their family and pretend he is still alive. Have them write a pretend letter to this family member telling him about their life today. They should include what life is like compared to what that family member likely encountered in their day and age. Provide students with proper letter-writing format.