Process

There are several steps that we must take in order to ensure that we do a good job in completing our quest to put together our book of oral histories and our family genealogies.

Let's start with the basics. You may be confused as to what exactly an oral history is. To learn more about the usefulness of oral histories and how to obtain them, check out the websites below:

http://www.usu.edu/oralhist/oh_howto.html

http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/1minute.html

Now that you know a little more about oral histories, let's use some resources to give us some inspiration for getting started on our books.

To get us excited about interviewing our elders, we will read and discuss the following 8 books as a class:

* Annie and the Old One, by Miska Miles

*Love you Forever, by Robert Munsch

*Nanny Upstairs, Nanny Downstairs, by Tomi DePaolo

*Kevin's Grandma, by Barbara Williams

*Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney

*Knots on a Counting Rope, by Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault

*Song and Dance Man, by Karen Ackerman

*Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox

Next we will watch and discuss a couple of movies that will prepare us to interview and write about older people.

*"The Mailbox"- -Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

*"It's so Nice to Have a Wolf Around the House"- -Utah State University

It's also important to know a little background information about the time periods that we are interested in learning about. Besides the information in your textbooks, there are also other resources where you can learn about different historical eras and events:

http://history1900s.about.com/cs/majorevents/ This website contains brief information on some of the most major events that occurred in the 1900s.

http://www.multied.com/dates/Main20thCent.html This website lists practically every important event that occurred from 1900 to 1999.

http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/schools/brisas/sunda/decade/quiz.htmThis website has a quiz that you can take to test your knowledge of the 20th century before you embark to learn more about the time period by collecting the oral histories. This should inspire you to get excited about this project because, although they certainly won't know all of this information, they can probably elaborate on some of it for you and tell you some exciting stories about some of these events!

Now we're ready to start preparing our questions that we will use in collecting our oral histories. We will work as a class to come up with some extra questions that we are interested in asking, and of course you can come up with individual questions of your own that you would like to ask. But to get you started, check out these websites for some questions that could be helpful:

http://nimbus.ocis.temple.edu/~rkarras/65list.htm

http://www.youthsource.ab.ca/teacher_resources/oral_question.html

http://www.youthsource.ab.ca/teacher_resources/oral_specificq.html

Once we finish our questions, it's time to start our interviews!

Week 1 of Interviews:

Using your questions that you have prepared (and after reviewing the websites provided on conducting your interview), you will begin by interviewing a parent or someone close to you who was born in 1960 or before. These interviews must be complete by the end of the week so that we can begin transcribing them for our book.

Week 2 of Interviews:

This week we will transcribe the interviews that you did with your parent or close elder. We will individually type up our oral histories using Microsoft Word. After we have all finished typing up our reports, we will do peer editing. You will exchange papers with one other student. Feel free to give constructive suggestions that will improve the report so that our book will be the best it can possibly be. Remember--only positive or constructive feedback is necessary! We are all working as a team! After we have finished peer editing, you can fix whatever corrections you need to make using Microsoft Word. Your completed reports are due to me by the end of the week.

Week 3 of Interviews:

This week we will take a field trip to a local retirement home. Here you will use your questions much as you did in Week 1 of Interviews to complete your second oral history. Each student will interview one person. At the end of the week when we have finished our oral history interviews at the retirement home, we will write thank you letters to both the individual you interviewed in Week 1 and the individual you interviewed at the retirement home.

Week 4 of Interviews:

You will edit your interviews from the retirement home just as you did in Week 2 of Interviews. Your completed reports are due to me at the end of the week.

Week 5 of Interviews:

Next we will begin thinking about our family geneaologies. Check out the following websites to get you started:

http://home.earthlink.net/~howardorjeff/instruct.htm

http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/5283/genekids.htm

We will also read and discuss the following books as a class:

My Backyard History Book, by David Weitzman

Roots for Kids, by Susan Provost Beller

Week 6 of Interviews:

This week we will conduct or family history interviews. Using the websites above and class discussions as a guide, interview your family members to get a general idea of some of your family history.

Week 7 of Interviews:

Using the information gathered from conducting your family history interview, you will do one out of the following three things (based on whatever interests you most):

1. Type a 2 page report about your family history

2. Construct a "Family Tree" (see the websites listed above) dating back as far as you can go

3.Timeline:
Supplies: A pencil and four sheets of paper.
Directions: Begin with a parent or a grandparent and write down their birth date and place of birth. Then write down the next major event, date and place it occured in the person's life. Do this for each event until either you get it to the persons death date and place or up to date.
Example:
1970- On Septemeber 23, 1970 Jeffery Thomas Johnson was born at Jesse Holman Jones Hospital in Springfield, Robertson County, Tennessee.
1976- (Not sure of actual month or day) Jeffery had to be taken to the hospital because he cut his wrist. He had pushed his hand through a cracked glass while in his club house. He ended up having to have 80 stitches.

*Regardless of which item you choose, this part of the project is due to me at the end of the week.*

All of your hard work up to now deserves a major thumbs up! Now that you have learned all about how to conduct oral histories, you've saw a first-hand perspective on events and eras of the past, and you've learned a lot about your family history, it's time to put together our book. The remainder of the unit will be used to work together to decide how we want to layout our books. Once the layout is complete, we will get the book printed and distribute it to the city archives, the library, and each of you will get a copy of your own. You should be proud of all of your hard work! Congratulations on completing your quest!!!