Grade 5 · Social Studies · Lesson 34

Oral history interview

ORAL HISTORY is a primary source - a recorded interview with someone who lived through events and can tell you what really happened from their own memory. A textbook tells you a war ended in a certain year; an oral history tells you what the kitchen smelled like the day the news arrived. In this project lesson you will learn the six-step process to plan, record, transcribe, and share an oral history interview, and the ethics rules that protect the people who trust you with their stories.

What this lesson teaches

1Define oral history as a recorded primary-source interview
2Sequence the six steps of an oral history interview in order
3Distinguish open questions from closed yes/no questions
4Apply consent, listening, and ethics rules when interviewing

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