Scholastic
Smart Quotes Mini-Lesson
Prepare for an interview project with a set of worksheets about asking questions and quoting people. After completing a grammar exercise about quotation marks, kids write out the questions they want to ask their interviewee, and record...
Curated OER
Listening for Leschi: Voices from the Past
Students interview a family other than their own to learn about oral history. In this oral history lesson plan, students also create a newspaper article about Leschi and pretend they interviewed him back in the past.
Curated OER
Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition: Corridos
Learners create and perform Corridos which are oral tradition ballads. In this Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition instructional activity, students interview family members using a predetermined list of questions. In...
Stanford University
Voices of the Struggle: The Continual Struggle for Equality
As part of a study of the Civil Rights Movement from 1868 to the present, class members examine first person narratives, the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, and other significant events in civil rights history. They then...
Annenberg Foundation
Native Voices
The Navajo people build their dwellings with the doors facing the rising sun in the east to welcome wealth and fortune. Pupils learn about the traditions of the Navajo people in the first part of a 16-part unit. They explore American...
Curated OER
Growing up in Las Vegas; Memories of Childhood in the Neon City
Young scholars investigate the history of Las Vegas through conducting interviews. In this oral history activity, students locate and speak with older residents of Las Vegas in order to gain a better understanding of the city. Young...
Curated OER
A Heritage Study: Using Information Resources to Research Family History and Traditions
Students research their family history through ethnographical study. They locate information through a variety of sources, interview people, write a report and present an oral presentation to the class.
Curated OER
Arkansas Photographs as Research Tools
Middle and high schoolers look at historical photos and written materials, and they develop questions which they use to interview an elder in their community. Learners are divided into groups and given sets of historical family photos...
Curated OER
Writing and Sharing Community Stories
Learners use interviewing skills to explore and express the culture of their community. In this literacy/writing lesson, students interview a community member as a basis for a biographical writing project. Each class member contributes a...
Curated OER
Oral History: Interviewing Elders
Sixth graders examine oral history traditions. They interview family members about their childhoods and compare them to their own. Students use the collected information to make posters, letters, essays, or poems about their research.
Curated OER
Using Oral History to Understand Immigrant History
Students use oral history to comprehend how life chaned for men, women, and childern when they immigrated to the United States. Students conduct interviews with immigrants in an attempt to interpret hardships, lifestyles, careers, and...
Curated OER
Preserving History for Illuminating Today's Values and Traditions
Young scholars discover the value of oral history by creating their own audio recordings. For this traditions and customs lesson, students listen to a local historian discuss the idea of preserving history through oral traditions....
Curated OER
Looking Back - An Art/English/History Interdisciplinary Unit
Students research historical events of the past century to recognize that society impacts the themes within art and literature. They then interview an individual to develop a biographical narrative, a collage and finally an oral...
Curated OER
Virtual Ellis Island Museum Unit: Oral Histories
Young scholars conduct oral histories of family members to explore their cultural and ethnic heritage after developing a set of research questions.
Curated OER
School Daze - Remembering First, Best, Worst
Students gather and record information in interviews with adults discovering their first, best, and worst school memories, and transfer interviews into memory pages containing the interview information.
Curated OER
War Stories
Students watch the film "The Perilous Fight: America's World War II in Color". Using the film, they work together to develop proper interview questions to use while talking to World War II veterns. After the interview, they research...
Curated OER
Finding Friendship
Sixth graders interview community members associated with the lobstering industry. For this interview lesson, 6th graders carry out interview of members of the lobstering community to determine the folklore and workings of the lobster...
Curated OER
Personal Stories and Primary Sources: Conversations with Elders
Students learn from their elders. In this oral and social histories instructional activity, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the America in which their grandparents grew up. Students conduct interviews...
Curated OER
Oral History and Multiculturalism
Students observe the human or personal side of history by assessing the background to the people in the community who are basically "living" historians. They compare the histories of different ethnic groups to identify areas of patterns...
Curated OER
Questions for Dancers- Interviewing
In this interview learning exercise, students locate someone in their community who does traditional dances. They interview dancers using the questions listed.
Curated OER
Oral History and Interview Skills
Students develop interview skills and learn about US history at the same time. Students research an event from local history. Students prepare a list of questions based on the research. They create a list of interview questions and...
Curated OER
Exploring Community Through Local History: Oral Stories, Landmarks and Traditions
Young scholars explore the history of their local community. In this local history instructional activity, students analyze primary documents to develop an understanding of the local culture and traditions of their local community.
Curated OER
Interviews with the American People "Days of Infamy"
Students compare and contrast statements made by people in "Man on the Streets." They are interviewing them on the current war in Iraq and how they felt on Sept. 11th. These interviews are tape recorded. To see what kinds of questions to...
Curated OER
Massachusetts Oral History Project on the Great Depression
Eleventh graders conduct interviews with a relative or a family friend who lived in Massachusetts during the Depression. They write an essay based on the interview that shows an intimate portrayal of how the lives of the individuals who...