Genealogy Program Write-Up
As promised, I'm reporting on the genealogy program I presented for my tween-age library patrons. I was so excited to finally be doing this program after having it planned for so long! Here's a quick run-down of what we did:
First off, I introduced myself and told them briefly how genealogy was my hobby and how long I've been working on it. I had a short PowerPoint presentation prepared to cover basics such as: what genealogy is, why it's something we should care about, how to get started on it, online resources and websites that help with research, and what you can expect to find on those sites. I suggested interviewing relatives - parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and great-grandparents if they have any still living. I included some tips for interviews (be patient, be respectful, make copies of your work and save everything) and some sample questions they could ask their relatives. Just for fun, I had photos of my own ancestors scattered throughout my slide show, to give it a kind of old-time feel (also, I just like having any excuse to look at my old family pictures!).
After the PowerPoint, I had them do a couple of activities. I handed them some baby name books so they could look up their names and their meanings, and I had a copy of Chase's Calendar of Events on hand for them to look up historical events that occurred on their birthdays, and to look up famous people who share their birthday.
Last, we did a craft project. This program was for kids 9-12 years old, so I needed a craft that didn't seem too babyish. I wanted to show them how to set up a basic family tree. I finally settled on having them make a family tree scrapbook page. Using a regular 8x11 piece of card stock, a tree shape, various colored leaves cut with the library's die-cut machine, and some blank rectangles, we crafted our pages. I showed them my sample page that I'd made up ahead of time, but encouraged them to make their pages their own, use color schemes they liked, and to just be creative and have fun with it. Here's a picture my sample page:
I had a stash of gorgeous printed card stock and it looked awesome when I used some for the leaf cutouts. I encouraged them to leave their rectangles blank like I did, and fill in the names when they were home and could ask their parents what needed to go where. We had enough room on the pages to put a rectangle for themselves, their parents, and each set of grandparents. Nice and simple.
First off, I introduced myself and told them briefly how genealogy was my hobby and how long I've been working on it. I had a short PowerPoint presentation prepared to cover basics such as: what genealogy is, why it's something we should care about, how to get started on it, online resources and websites that help with research, and what you can expect to find on those sites. I suggested interviewing relatives - parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and great-grandparents if they have any still living. I included some tips for interviews (be patient, be respectful, make copies of your work and save everything) and some sample questions they could ask their relatives. Just for fun, I had photos of my own ancestors scattered throughout my slide show, to give it a kind of old-time feel (also, I just like having any excuse to look at my old family pictures!).
After the PowerPoint, I had them do a couple of activities. I handed them some baby name books so they could look up their names and their meanings, and I had a copy of Chase's Calendar of Events on hand for them to look up historical events that occurred on their birthdays, and to look up famous people who share their birthday.
Last, we did a craft project. This program was for kids 9-12 years old, so I needed a craft that didn't seem too babyish. I wanted to show them how to set up a basic family tree. I finally settled on having them make a family tree scrapbook page. Using a regular 8x11 piece of card stock, a tree shape, various colored leaves cut with the library's die-cut machine, and some blank rectangles, we crafted our pages. I showed them my sample page that I'd made up ahead of time, but encouraged them to make their pages their own, use color schemes they liked, and to just be creative and have fun with it. Here's a picture my sample page:
I had a stash of gorgeous printed card stock and it looked awesome when I used some for the leaf cutouts. I encouraged them to leave their rectangles blank like I did, and fill in the names when they were home and could ask their parents what needed to go where. We had enough room on the pages to put a rectangle for themselves, their parents, and each set of grandparents. Nice and simple.
 |
| Table of craft supplies, ready to go. |
All in all, I felt the program went great! Ten kids registered, and out of that, six showed up. A few were on the quiet/shy side, but they warmed up eventually and enjoyed themselves. I also had a couple of chatterboxes who had lots of questions and comments throughout. All good. I'm calling my first attempt at combining my hobby with my professional life a success.
Comments
Post a Comment