Selecting a Topic

Click here for sample topics.

As in most projects or papers, the most difficult task is to actually deciding what you want to do. What questions do you want answered? What content to you want to cover? What skills do you want the students to gain? These are the defining questions to address when you select the topic of your oral history project. There are two basic approaches to determining the topic your class will cover.

A secondary, but nonetheless important factor, is student interest. The topic should heighten the enthusiasm of the students taking part in the activity. Although the teacher has made the decision as to what the topic is going to be, the idea of student choice should not be forgotten. There can be many points that involve student planning, from choice of group, selection of person to be interviewed, format of final product, etc.

The teacher in this approach will need to have multiple approaches to consider. Once the initial plan is determined, however, the additional work will be minimal.

Some sample topics and approaches are listed below. They include