Overview
In this class, students will prepare to document their first family story for their archive.
Students will:
● Review and make additions to their interview questions on their worksheets
● Practice interviewing techniques with a partner
● Write up a list of items to photograph to include in their Family Archive
● Practice using the PixStori app they will use to create their Family Archive
Note to Teacher: This is an activity-heavy class and it can be easily divided into two class periods.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
● Synthesize the information they have collected and use it to create thoughtful questions for their interview
● Continue to practice “active listening” attributes
Essential Questions
● Can a family archive that explores the past be of value in the present?
LRA Ed Glossary Board
● Interview: A conversation-based meeting where one person (or more) asks questions to another person to learn personal or other information from them. (In this context, students should not be thinking about a job “interview,” which places emphasis on proving oneself.)
● Interviewer: A person who asks questions of another individual, often part of a planned conversation with the intent of gathering information.
● Interviewee: A person being interviewed, answering questions in response to an interviewer. Often, the responses are about themselves or about a topic they are familiar with.
● Narrative: An account that tells a story or explains an event or experience, or a series of events or experiences that are connected.
Materials for Instructor
● URL links to LRA Ed PixStori samples
1. How I started with my family history:
https://www.pixstoriplus.com/search/tiles/hzxqn6wjqbrHJwL9A
2. Dad starts his own business:
http://bit.ly/DadStartsBusiness
● Quick Tips for Interviewing Worksheet
● Computers for students to register with PixStori Plus if they have not done so prior
● Teachers should click the button below to register for a PixStori account on behalf of their class or group
Materials for Students
● Students should have the following worksheets they have already completed so they can refer to them:
○ You’re an Investigator! Worksheet
○ Quick Interview Tips Worksheet
○ Interview Artifacts Worksheet
● LRA Ed Journals
○ To look back at their notes when needed
● PixStori Plus website on classroom computers
I. Discussion & PixStori Examples (6-8 min.)
Share with students that they are ready to begin preparation for their first stories in their Family Archive. Explain the PixStori software and show students the examples of PixStori family archives. Lead a discussion about the examples. Possible entry questions include:
1. How I started with my family history:
● What encouraged the narrator to begin to archive his family history?
● Has his story inspired you to explore a new area in your family history?
2. Dad starts his own business:
● Why did the narrator choose to archive this story about his dad?
● How does this story represent a specific time in history?
II. Interview Preparation
Explain to students that it is time for them to review what they have created in the last three classes in order to prepare for their Family Archive creations. Remind them that as “investigators” they will now use their research to finalize their interview preparation.
Remind students that unlike the LRA archive, they will be the archive curators and will be able to shape the narrative.
STEP ONE
Have students place their LRA Ed Journal on their desks along with all of their filled-in worksheets: Family Tree, World Map, World Map Worksheet, and You’re An Investigator Worksheet. Students have already chosen their interviewees, and now they will review their work and finalize which family story they would like to capture first in their Family Archive.
STEP TWO
Pass out the Interview Worksheets. The worksheets will guide students to choose pre-written interview questions and develop their own personalized questions. At the same time, students should begin to fill in their Interview Artifacts Worksheet with the different documents, photos, and artifacts they would like to photograph for their Family Archive. It would be a good idea for students to ask the interviewee to bring these items to the interview.
STEP THREE
Discuss the Quick Interview Tips Worksheet
STEP FOUR
Have students brainstorm their ideas with a partner.
II. Homework
Create archive.