Â鶹´«Ã½Èë¿Ú

Looking for a great way to engage high school students in the art of listening this November? , a new oral-history project from , is a powerful exercise for teachers looking to give students opportunities to use their digital, planning, research, and communication skills in the context of a social studies class, journalism course, extracurricular activity, or integrated unit.

StoryCorps, an organization whose mission is to record and archive the stories of Americans from all backgrounds, will work with high school students across the country to preserve voices and stories of grandparents and other elders -- in any language. Incredibly, these interviews have the option to become part of a lasting record in the Ìý²¹³ÙÌý³Ù³ó±ð .

Everything educators will need to enlist students ages 13 and over can be found in StoryCorps’ new : guidelines, lesson plans, permission forms, and more. All that is needed to participate is a smartphone and the free StoryCorps mobile app, available from the and via . (The activities can be adapted for students who do not have access.)

Classroom Activities

1. Students can listen to classic StoryCorps recordings to familiarize themselves with recorded interviews, such as this .
2. As students prepare for interviews, ask them to consider the qualities of great questions as they review StoryCorps' "." Two other resources that might help students prepare are The American Folklife Center's "," and "" from the Regional Oral History Office at the University of California, Berkeley.
3. , will help students write and upload archive-quality titles, summaries, and keywords for their recordings.
4. Teachers may involve students in follow-up and reflection activities using questions and suggestions from the Toolkit. To extend the project, find other potential activities in Â鶹´«Ã½Èë¿Ú’s "Living Legends: Oral-History Projects Bring Core Subjects to Life" and "Empowering Students Through Multimedia Storytelling."  

More Oral-History Resources for Parents and Educators

• Twitter:
• , Facing History and Ourselves
• , Oral History Association