Got Roots? Doing an Oral History Project

What Is It?
Using Primary Sources in the Classroom

Objective: Language Arts: Students will…

Develop a clear, focused main idea (Grade 10 Writing Competency #1)
Demonstrate completeness (Grade 10 Writing Competency #2)
Make connections among ideas, paragraphs and sentences (Grade 10 Writing Competency #5)
Exhibit standard conventions (mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling) (Grade 10 Writing Competency #8)

Procedure:

Bring in an historical object for which students will not know the purpose. Your local historical society may have objects that they will lend.
Set up the scenario.

“I have an object here that was used in ________. Your job is to write a paragraph explaining what you believe this object was used for and who used it. You may want to tell a little bit about the history of the object. When you are finished, you can tell me what you think the object is. Then I’ll tell you what it really is, who used it and we’ll see if any of you are correct.”

(This could also be done using a historical piece of fashion that the students are unfamiliar with.)
The students will then write two or three paragraphs about the object. The length and sophistication of the paper is dependent upon the grade level of the students.
Students will then share their “guesses” by reading their papers to the class.
The writing process can be further carried out by having the students change papers, proofread, return to the students and rewrite.

Material: A unique object or fashion that the students will not know about.

Evaluation: Sample Writing Rubric

	Criteria				Points

	1	2	3	4
Organization	Sequence of information is difficult to follow.	Reader has difficulty following work because student jumps around.	Student presents information in logical sequence which reader can follow.	Information in logical, interesting sequence which reader can follow.	__________
Content Knowledge	Student does not have grasp of information; student cannot answer questions about subject.	Student is uncomfortable with content and is able to demonstrate basic concepts.	Student is at ease with content, but fails to elaborate.	Student demonstrates full knowledge (more than required).	__________
Grammar and Spelling	Work has four or more spelling errors and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has three misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no more than two misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.	__________
Neatness	Work is Illegible.	Work has three or four areas that are sloppy.	Work has one or two areas that are sloppy.	Work is neatly done.	__________
References	Work displays no references.	Work does not have the appropriate number of required references.	Reference section was completed incorrectly.	Work displays the correct number of references, written correctly.	__________
Total					__________