Grandparent Interview

Students will interview a grandparent and write a news article based upon their interview. They will also do research on historical events to develop questions to be asked during the interview.

A lesson plan for grade 7 English Language Arts

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• demonstrate an ability to assemble questions prior to an interview
• demonstrate an ability to ask follow up questions after listening to a response to an initial question
• write a news article based upon questioning techniques
• organize information from an interview into paragraphs
• read interviews with people about historic events
• use a graphic organizer to organize the presentation beforehand
• determine additional uses for this information
• become acquainted with an historic event based upon an interview with a family member
• read about an historic event
• search an electronic encyclopedia on the event
• respond and evaluate another student’s presentation holistically
• draw conclusions from the research

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

7 hours

Materials/resources

copy or notebook paper

Technology resources

Computer with desktop publishing (optional)

Pre-activities

Students will find out which event their grandparent has lived through. If the student does not have a grandparent in town or close by, s/he may either do the interview on the phone, or choose another relative. If neither of the above is possible, they may choose a neighbor or friend of the family.

Students will read the background information one of the following events in history.

• bombing of Pearl Harbor (1941)
• assassination of John F. Kennedy (1963) or Martin Luther King (1968)
• explosion of the Challenger (1986)
• landing on the moon (1969)
• experience with immigration to the United States
• another significant national or international historic event

They will go to the library and select books, news articles, review electronic and print encyclopedias on the event. After reading and taking notes from a minimum of three sources on the event, students are ready to begin writing interview questions.

Activities

Activity 1:

• Give the students the following problem: “You are a reporter for a local newspaper that is doing a special edition on the anniversary of the historic event. You are to interview a grandparent (or another relative who lived during that time) and write a newspaper article on the event from this person’s perspective. These will be assembled in a special edition of the newspaper.”
• Students will pair up and brainstorm a list of at least twenty questions from information they have gathered from the pre-activity.
• They will then practice the technique of follow-up questions after listening to an answer. The purpose of the follow-up question is to get additional in-depth information.
• Give students a deadline for the writing of the article (perhaps one week).

Activity 2:

• Students will have to decide how best to record information during the interview. A small tape recorder with a microphone would be best, but most students will not have access to one. Therefore, teachers will have to teach note taking techniques so students learn to focus on important words rather than every single word that is said.
• Practice in class how to record notes during an interview. Have students interview each other in groups of two to practice this technique. While they are practicing note taking, they can also practice asking follow up questions.
• Tell them their homework for tonight is call to set a time for the interview. Make sure they know the following etiquette about setting up an interview.
  
  • call and be polite
  • tell the interviewee directly what you are doing and the topic you will be asking about
  • set up a specific time to visit that person

Activity 3:

Assessment

Have the students as a group develop a rubric for a way of evaluating the final products before they start the final product. This way they can keep the group’s expectations in mind while they are producing. On a scale of one to four, my students came up with criteria for each. By walking them through how to evaluate a product, they will see that there are criteria that people use to judge presentations, writing and other products. You as the teacher should judge the student on his/her performance based on what you know about them. Did they give 100%, turn it in on time, and try hard? Then they get an A. Did they goof off and do a shoddy job, but they finished? Perhaps a C or lower. Did they not do the product? Then it is non-gradable and they must do it outside of class time either after school or at home. I have found that if students have confidence that their product will be seen by others and judged by others, they will do it.

They came up with the following evaluation criteria, but I encourage teachers to walk their students through their own criteria. It not only allows them to write and create according to expectations, but helps them see that evaluation is not just in the eye of the beholder.

Followed Directions Accurately:

• 4 - The presentation included all aspects of the assignment: an interview (rough draft, notes, raw information.)
• 3 - All of the aspects of the assignment were completed, but there are a few flaws and some details left out.
• 2 - The student completed the assignment, but it was hard to understand at times and somewhat sloppy. Left out details.
• 1 - The student tried to work on the assignment, but the final presentation showed a lack of attention to detail, and was done sloppily.

Easy to Read and Follow:

• 4 - Overall the presentation was easy to read, the organization has a logical flow, and was interesting.
• 3 - Overall the presentation was pretty easy to read, but there are a few questions that came up because some ideas are unclear.
• 2 - The assignment was completed and all parts included, but there were some problems with organization and confusion.
• 1 - The presentation was completed, but it was confusing and the presenter showed little concern for his/her audience’s ability to follow it.

Supplemental information

Many publications suggest a family interview as an activity for middle school aged children. I have expanded this idea from a suggestion in the 1992 North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Communication Skills.

Comments

This lesson will take approximately 7 hours plus homework.

This lesson plan is from the collection of the Tried *n* True lesson plans from the Department of Public Instruction.