Integration Idea of the Month -- March, 2001

This month's lesson plan provides you with resources for conducting an oral history project in your classroom. An oral history is the gathering of a person's spoken memories of his or her life. Women have played an important role in shaping this country, and by conducting an oral history, students can see how women's roles have changed over the years and what life was like during an earlier historical period.

Curriculum Area: Social Studies

Standards Addressed: The National Council for the Social Studies

• Strand 1, Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity.
• Strand 2, Time, Continuity and Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ways human beings view themselves in and over time.
• Strand 3, People, Places and Environment: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments.
• Strand 4, Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity.

Technology Skill Level: Low to high depending on how much technology you include in your project.

Student Grouping: Individual and Group

Time: At least a month

Materials:

• The Internet
• Digital Camera
• Tape Recorders
• Presentation Software

Procedure:

Part I: Off the Computer

1. Have each student select a woman to interview. This woman can be a parent, grandparent, neighbor or contact your local senior center. Go to http://www.bostonfamilyhistory.com/ora_main.html for information on:

2. Brainstorm interview questions with the whole class or go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/oralhist.htm and choose questions from their generated list.

3. Have students contact the person they would like to interview and schedule a time for the interview.

4. Conduct the interview, either in person or on the telephone. Students may either write down the responses to the questions or record the interview on tape.

5. After the interview is complete, take a picture of the person being interviewed with the digital camera.

Part II: On the Computer

6. Group students into groups of four.

7. Together, in each group, have students review the collected information and write a short biography (one - two paragraphs or more depending on age) based on the responses.

8. Students will then use these responses to create a group slide show.

9. Each student is required to complete one slide. Each slide should contain the picture of the interviewee and the short biography. Each group will have a four-person slide show.

10. When all of the slides are complete, you can print them out and create an oral "herstory" book that can be copied for all of the interviewees. You could also have an oral "herstory" party where students present their slide show for all the interviewees and the class.

Extension:

Ask interviewees for old pictures that they have. Students can scan these pictures for use in their presentations.

Instead of taping the interview, students might want to videotape the interview and create a movie using video editing software like Apple's iMovie. Go to http://www.apple.com/education/dv/ for more information about incorporating video into your curriculum.

Additional On-line Resources:

http://www.genealogy.com/201/lesson8/course8_01.html - a lesson for conducting an oral history

http://www.familywonder.com/6to8/a/19991014Grandparent.html - a lesson for young children on how to interview grandparents

http://www.rootsweb.com/- a genealogy site filled with resources

http://www.baylor.edu/~Oral_History/Family.html.- Ten Principles of Oral History for the Family Historian

Return to the March, 2001 Sun Associates Newsletter

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