Teachers: Click here to find the original lesson specifically focused on the Thanksgiving holiday. This version is very similar but focuses on practice listening anytime of the year!

Overview

Based on StoryCorp's The Great Thanksgiving Listen, students will record an interview with an elder relative, hone interview and listening skills and become part of America's great oral history project.

Subjects

ELA, English, SEL, Social-Emotional Learning, Social Studies, U.S. Government, Civics, Science, Mathematics, Journalism, STEM, Language

Estimated time

Flexible: 20-minutes to a full-class period

Grade level

6-12

Objective

To hone interviewing skills, particularly listening.

To understand that school is a place where students with unique strengths come to grow and learn about themselves and others, something at the heart of StoryCorps.

Warm-up activity

StoryCorps was founded by David Isay as a way to help people share and preserve their stories in order to create a more just and compassionate world. Watch the video above to learn more.

Main activity

Students will use class time to learn the basics of StoryCorp's The Great Thanksgiving Listen project, including basic interviewing skills, feeling comfortable using the app and choosing the questions on the placemat that they will ask family members about over the holiday. Note: You can do this activity after Thanksgiving as well, or any time of the year for that matter!

Directions

1. Watch this short video on The Great Thanksgiving Listen. Print copies of the placemat here and give to your students. Ask them if they need additional copies for their family members and friends.
   1. You may want to send students a link to this lesson, too, or email or print copies of the placemat, so they can email it to family and friends. Check out the hashtag #TheGreatListen via social media channels for helpful tips.

1. Print placemat here. You may choose to have students download the free StoryCorps App and use it with friends or family to record their responses.
2. Explain how your students are going to practice the Great Thanksgiving Listen in class first before recording the real story with a relative, family friend or neighbor.
3. To get started on the right foot, use the "Getting Started" tip sheet. Then read the quote on the top-right corner of the placemat created. It says, "Great conversations start with great questions."
   1. Let your students know that the activity is about how people communicate with one another by telling stories. Help put the person you are interviewing at ease by showing them that you are listening to what they are saying. And don't worry about messing up. As long as you are really listening to the person who is talking (try to ask them a follow-up question or two), it will be a success.
4. Have students choose at least one of the questions from the placemat, which are also copied below. Use the Interview Tips article here, and for helpful sound quality tips, read this article.

• Tell me about your parents or grandparents.
• What are your hopes for the future of this country?
• What is one of your happiest memories?
• Where did you grow up?
• How would you like to be remembered?
• What are you proudest of in your life?
• What advice would you give to your younger self?
• Tell me about a family tradition you have.

Class debrief: Debrief with your teacher and a classmate about the interview. What went well? What were some challenges? Play your interview with another classmate and have them do the same. Who did they interview? How long did the interview last? What questions did they ask? Were there any themes that developed? Did you find it was difficult or easy to listen?

Now that you have recorded your interview and shared it with StoryCorps and one of your classmates, what are your next plans for telling stories? Let us know using #TheGreatListen and @NewsHourExtra (Instagram) or @NewsHourClassroom (Bluesky).

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