Students from participating classes conducted their own oral history projects. Projects ranged from interviews of community members, to family histories, to a student’s own personal reflections on historical events. Doing oral history is a rewarding way to make connections to the past. It takes a lot work to conduct a good oral history — but is well worth the effort.

The benefits of doing oral history projects in the classroom include:

• Makes history come alive by making a personal connection to history
• Allows students to engage in interpersonal relationship with elders
• Addresses State Goals for reading, writing, listening, speaking, research, technology,
  and learning environment.
• Addresses State Goals for critical thinking, inference, analysis.
• Places “ordinary” or unknown people into history.

Click here to download (PDF) the “Talking History” Activity.