Curated OER
How To Interpret an Oral History
In this history learning exercise, students will learn how to interpret an oral history. Students will complete a chart with basic information about the interview and answer 3 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Gather Your Own Oral History
Students investigate the concept of oral history. They read chapter 10 of a history text that is provided through the school and the teacher should search for a text to provide the background knowledge. Students define and practice the...
Curated OER
According to Tradition
Students analyze a historical document. They review oral histories as a tradition of storytelling in Native cultures and listen to an excerpt from The Life and Traditions of the Red Man. They write an episode or story that has been...
Curated OER
The Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies
Students investigate the concept of foot soldiers with oral history. They are provided with primary and secondary resources. Students differentiate the terms of oral history versus the written record of history. They have class...
Curated OER
Oral History Memoirs of American Experiences in Japan
Students identify the process of producing an oral history/documentary. Students analyze and synthesize information and memoirs as a valuable tool for exploring the past using primary resources. Students differentiate facts of historical...
Curated OER
The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush: Native American Life
Students read," The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush" by Tomie dePaola and discuss the way legends are passed down orally. They then create their own legend and illustrate it on a simulated "Buffalo Skin" made from brown paper.
Curated OER
Could You Make an Oak Basket?
Students listen to an interview with Lucreaty Clark, a White Oak Native American basket maker. They analyze the interview and record their observations on a worksheet. Students consider information that can be gleaned from an audio...
Curated OER
What We Can Learn From Oral History
Students read oral history accounts of the 1930s and 1940s from "The Greatest Generation" books. They discuss how the common good and civil society was strengthed by these men and what they did for America. They research another time...
Curated OER
Conducting Oral Histories
Students discuss and conduct oral histories, and prepare questions for interviewing special classroom guest.
Curated OER
How to incorporate local history into your Arkansas History class
Fifth graders explore their local history through research and then providing reenactments about the history.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Folklife Center
Set up to assist American families in tracing their family histories, this extensive guide explains how to begin the process, to conduct research, tp take oral interviews, and to locate and analyze documents.
Curated OER
History Matters: "I Started Filling Rifles"
You can listen to or read an interview with a woman who was a strike supporter during the Colorado Coal strike. In this interview she recalls how she helped save women and children during the Ludlow Massacre in April, 1914.
Library of Congress
Loc: From the Home Front and the Front Lines
Exhibition consisting of original materials and oral histories drawn from the Veterans History Project collections.
Other
Earliest Voices: Gallery From the Vincent Voice Library
This site addresses the advent of the voice recording. The introduction talks about the country at the time of this invention, the feelings of people on the topic, and early recording itself. Included are voice recordings of such...
Other
Story Corps: Every Voice Matters
StoryCorps is a national oral history project that records and preserves stories of people around the country. Select recordings are broadcast weekly on NPR, with an archive of stories available for playback at the StoryCorps online...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian: Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide
The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide by by Marjorie Hunt is an excellent resource for collecting family and community cultural information. It provides step-by-step information on how to plan and conduct...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery and the Making of America: Freedom & Emancipation
Using primary documents, oral histories and other historical resources, learn about the African American reaction to emancipation and to events from the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.
Duke University
Duke University Libraries: Finding Primary Sources
Finding primary sources can be difficult and confusing at times. This site provides a list of history databases, rare books and manuscripts, and research guides for those looking for primary resources such as diaries, letters,...
Other
Exploring Diversity: Rural Roads, City Streets: Italians in Pennsylvania [Pdf]
A great lesson plan that offers primary source materials to understand Italian immigration to Pennsylvania in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Other
Milwaukee Public Museum: Indian Country: Oral Tradition
The Milwaukee Public Museum provides this introduction to the Native American oral tradition and oral literature of the Great Lakes region. Describes common themes and characters, including trickster characters and windingo (ice...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian: Engaging Students With Primary Sources
This reference guide is designed to highlight the benefits of using primary source materials in any classroom and to provide the teacher with practical suggestions and examples of how to do this. It includes a bibliography and links to...
Other
Digital Library for Earth System Education (Dlese)
This resource provides materials for teachers on a huge array of topics. Search site by topic, grade level, and desired output (such as lesson plan, case study, assessment or tutorial). Site is focused on earth science, geography, and...
Other
Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation: Family Histories
Follow the stories of six Americans with different backgrounds who wanted to know more about their ancestors' journeys to America and used immigration and genealogy records to complete their family histories.
PBS
Pbs Kids Afterschool Adventure!: Operation: Martha's Stem Stories Activity Plan
Welcome to Martha's STEM Stories! STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. You may already know that doing STEM means testing ideas, collecting data, making calculations, and drawing graphs and charts-but you...