Tracing your roots

Olia | Aug 05, 2026Aug 04, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this ESL lesson on genealogy are to:

• talk about personal identity, ancestry and family origins;
• debate concepts and challenges of genealogy;
• watch a video about a person tracing her family’s roots.  

In this lesson, students debate the factors that impact people’s identity (e.g. nationality, friends and family), interpret quotes about ancestry and watch a video about a woman who traces her family’s origins. They share their personal connections to their family history and come up with aspects and challenges of genealogy. Students evaluate potential deal-breakers in DNA testing terms, discuss responses to unexpected test results and share personal stories about their family heritage. They can also do an extra vocabulary task where they read a text and match useful words (e.g. maiden name, deceased, heritage) to the definitions. 

WARM-UP AND VIDEO

This ESL lesson on genealogy starts with a warm-up. Students give examples of how different things (e.g. genetic makeup, nationality, friends and family) might have an impact on their identity. At this point in the lesson, they can do an extra vocabulary exercise to revise useful vocabulary. In the task, students read a text about Prince Harry’s family’s genealogy. They match words (e.g. genealogy, census records, maiden name) to the definitions. Then, students say who the text is about. Moving on, they read quotes about the importance of knowing your roots and explain what they mean. Afterwards, students discuss whether the ideas they express are relevant today and whether they reflect their own views on family, ancestry and identity. They then watch a video about a person tracing her family’s roots. Next, students come up with one positive and one negative reaction people might have to the video.

DISCUSSION

In this part of this ESL lesson on genealogy, students discuss questions about their personal connections to their family history and ancestry. They then come up with as many examples as possible for categories related to tracing family history (e.g. reasons people trace their ancestry). Afterwards, students imagine that they’re about to order a DNA test. While reading the company’s Terms and Conditions, they come across several statements (e.g. your DNA sample will be stored indefinitely). Students discuss whether each one would be a deal-breaker for them and explain why or why not. Following that, they imagine they receive different DNA test results (e.g. you have royal ancestry). Students discuss how they might react and what they might do next. Finally, they discuss points about family history, heritage and generational legacy.

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