Living History: The Interview Guide and Oral History Project for Students

Description

Most kids have never thought twice about picking up a remote control. But someone in their family remembers when the kid was the remote. That detail is small. It’s also a window into how households were organized, what authority looked like, and what convenience meant before it was assumed.

This free 10-page printable guide gives students everything they need to sit down with a grandparent, neighbor, or community elder and conduct a real oral history interview. And it’s without the focus of “what was life like back then?”, but geared towards a specific, story-unlocking exchange that produces the kind of firsthand account that never makes it into textbooks.

What’s inside:

The Interview Guide Pre-interview checklist and an Interviewer’s Pledge that sets the tone before the conversation begins. The Vise-Grip Questions framework helps students identify the competing pressures their subject navigated during a historical moment. Era-specific question prompts are tied to the Moon Landing, the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and 9/11, with two blank rows for family-specific events.

Capture the Story A structured note-taking page organized around Opening Details, Pressure Points, Their Response, and Lasting Impact. An After the Interview reflection section asks students to connect the subject’s experience to their own life. An Official Primary Source Documentation block with signature lines closes the guide because this interview is a historical document, and students should treat it like one.

Pair it with the free companion lesson plan for fully differentiated assignments across grades K–12, suggested interview topics with historical context, primary source analysis prompts for older students, and a PBL extension project that turns multiple interviews into a Living History Archive.

Best for: Grades 3–12 | History, English, or Family Studies | Works as a standalone activity or as part of any oral history, biography, or primary source unit