Speaking of History Doing
Oral History Projects
Overview
Collecting and archiving oral histories is a wonderful way to build community, present proficiency skills in a real-life setting, preserve histories that may soon be gone forever and make these collections available to the entire community.
Speaking of History . . . Doing Oral History Projects is a multicultural and interdisciplinary project built around the practice of collaboration. Schools, public libraries, historical societies and three universities are key players in PBS 45 & 49's plan to bring oral history to grades 4-12 classrooms in our eight-county service area.
Component Parts
Web site: The Speaking of History web site includes four sections: Part One is the "what, when and how" section and includes basic information about doing oral history; Part Two helps the teacher plan his/her project by giving information on how to select a topic, assign tasks and more; Part Three features examples of oral history projects that have been completed (lesson plans and sample histories are available); and Part Four gives some "generic" lesson plans that can be used at a variety of grade levels.
Video The 30-minute Speaking of History video, airing Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 10 am and Friday, Nov. 15 at 10 am, follows teacher Ric Hughes as he implements the oral history project with his students. The premise of the video is that it's easier for a teacher to conduct a project if he/she can model what another teacher does. The basics are provided for both students and teachers.
Workshops Our first Speaking of History workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 10. See page 11 of this newsletter for details. And watch future issues of the TechKnowledgy Newsletter for dates, times and places for workshops on conducting oral history projects with your class.
Lending Libraries We have two video cameras and four tape recorders available for teachers to use with their classes. Contact Ria Mastromatteo at to secure this equipment.
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