Oral history has brought a multitude of lessons, stories, and factoids to our current knowledge of the past. Let us continue to use oral history traditions through a lesson that encourages pupils to discover and appreciate where they came from. Here, scholars interview family members to learn more about woman, men, and memorable stories from their family's past.  

Concepts

family history, interviewing, storytelling, oral history

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Invite family members to come and share a story with the class
• Print a list of brainstormed interview questions for those that need additional support creating them 
• Encourage learners to record the interviews to add a visual or auditory component to the lesson

Classroom Considerations

• Portions of the lesson are assigned as homework
• The activity is the third of nine in a series that focuses on family heritage

Pros

• The lesson and worksheet's directions are written in detail 
• Plenty of space is available for pupils to write responses from their interviews directly on the worksheets 
• Class members have the freedom of thinking and asking their own interview questions

Cons

• Does not include quilt pieces 

Common Core

W.3.4 W.3.7 W.4.4 W.4.7 W.5.4 W.5.7 W.6.4 W.6.7