Curated OER
Oral Histories
Students interview local Native Americans to explore their history, culture, and contributions to the region. They contact a local Native American organization, conduct an interview with a volunteer and write thank-you notes.
Smithsonian Institution
Dia de los Muertos: Honoring our Ancestors Through Community Celebration
Oral storytelling has been an important part of every culture. The time-honored practice uses stories as a conduit for a culture's values and customs from one generation to the next. Keep the tradition going with a family interview...
Curated OER
The Great Migration: An Oral History
Learners research the factors which contributed to the great migration and write a well organized research paper using multiple sources. They incorporate quotations into their paper, both direct and paraphrased, in accordance with MLA...
Story Corps
The Great Thanksgiving Listen
StoryCorp provides a resource that captures and preserves the remembrances of family or community elders. Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, class members select a person they want to interview, record the conversation, and then upload...
Curated OER
Coming To America
Students investigate the history of America with the help of children's literature. The story is structured as a timeline that begins at the time of Columbus and progresses to the present. The teacher reads the story with the class and...
Curated OER
Everybody Has a Story
Students read short stories and folk stories to explore oral history and story. They interview elderly family members and/or others in the community and record these stories and histories. They evaluate in a final essay what they have...
Curated OER
Preserving History for Illuminating Today's Values and Traditions
Learners use the processes of oral history and the latest technology to engage in historical inquiry and the preservation of the past. The work in cooperative groups or individually to discover and capture the past by interviewing family...
Curated OER
Discovering Why I Am Who I Am
Students analyze their family history and traditions. For this family history lesson, students identify family members to research and interview their family about the people. Students write their family histories and traditions....
Curated OER
Breaking Barriers with Melba Pattillo
Students are introduced to individuals who made the civil rights movement a success. They examine, analyze and interpret the events and people who had a significant and stirring impact on the course of history through stories, interviews...
Curated OER
Memories of School Days
Students interview, record, and retell school stories of a family member. They research, document, and describe how schools have changed over time.
Curated OER
Migration from the Dust
Students trace their own family's migrations and history. They listen to the story, 'Blue ow.' They design a plate which is shared at an open house.
Curated OER
Picturing Family History
Tenth graders interview their parents for a sense of place. They use the information received to write a poem.
Curated OER
Pioneer America: Legendary Westerners - Can One Person Really Make a Difference?
Fourth graders research famous Americans from the Westward Movement and complete an interview. In this Westward Movement lesson plan, 4th graders work in pairs to research someone who was important during this time period. They prepare...
Curated OER
Amelia Earhart: A Biography
Second graders investigate the accomplishments of Amelia Earhart. They read and discuss a biography of Amelia Earhart, complete a Venn diagram, and conduct an interview with a classmate and write and publish a biography of their classmate.
Curated OER
What’s your Name?
Youngsters work to build empathy, cultural understanding, and a sense of self as they uncover the story behind their own names. They read the book, The Name Jar, discuss immigration and how it feels to be in a new place. Then, they...
Curated OER
Our Brand of Segregation - West Texas
Students explore the concept of segregation. In this oral history instructional activity, students conduct interviews and research primary sources to learn about segregation practices that affected African Americans. Students present...
Curated OER
We the People (Cultural Research)
Fourth graders conduct cultural research, collect oral histories using tape recorders and cameras, and share their ancestral heritage with classmates through family heirlooms and ethnic foods.
Civil War Trust
Genealogy
The Civil War is undoubtedly a part of America's history, but could it be part of your pupils' history as well? Middle schoolers conduct research to discover a connection between their ancestors and the American Civil War. Whether they...
Curated OER
Native American Cultures for Grades 4-5
Students investigate Native American culture by researching the Internet. In this U.S. History lesson, students read online field reports about exploration and the history of Native Americans in the United States. Students create a...
Curated OER
Record Your Own Family Folklore
Fifth graders interview family members in order to record family history in the form of a pioneer story, and also interview a member of the faculty in class. They practice note-taking during an interview, re-reading and editing an...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: Oral and Literary Strategies
Readers are first introduced to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart by making a map of Africa. They will better understand the novel's historical and literary contexts, European and African literary traditions, and how historical events...
Smithsonian Institution
Mary Henry: Journal/Diary Writing
A great way to connect social studies with language arts, a resource on Mary Henry's historical diary reinforces the concepts of primary and secondary sources. It comes with an easy-to-understand lesson plan, as well as the reference...
Curated OER
Primary Grade Historians
Students read and analyze books about elders and develop a set of interview questions. They define respect and ways to show respect to elders and conduct an interview with elders. Finally, students write an oral history of a senior...
Curated OER
Social Studies: Heroes in American Culture
Students examine heroes and discuss their characteristics, values, and actions. They produce Powerpoint presentations on real-life and fictional heroes. Students interview veterans for an oral history project.