Art of Oral Biographical Documentation
Oral history is a key component of the unit and time is given to examine the process. One resource is the Foxfire project. 20 In 1966, a teacher in Georgia realized that lecturing high school students proved ineffective in building language and writing skills. Students participated in listening and writing activities demonstrating the skills of dictation, interviewing, transcribing, and journaling. The project was extremely successful a series of books provide examples and outline the process for teachers and students. The focus of this unit is peer biographical writing and all activities should lead to using carefully selected resources to gather information about students.
More Modeling: Equipped with the value of biographical information methods in which to convey a personal story, students will begin the interviewing process by modeling. Lisa Morehouse 21explains the interviewing process and its benefits in an article. We will use this as a guide for the modeled interview as well as the peer interview. I will invite a staff member, preferably someone who has contact with all the students, and conduct an interview. I will include information from other sources, such as writings from the teacher or accounts of others who know the subject personally and professionally.
The subject will be asked to provide names of people whom we may consult. I will discuss a contract regarding how the information will be used, and seek the subject's approval of the information collected. We will review skills learned from interviewing and oral history as a continued review of ways to gather useful information. Students will evaluate and offer feedback at the completion of the interview and begin to organize questions to present to their peers.
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