Heroes Remembered

Objective: Students will record an oral history and write a short biography.

The students will learn about the elements of oral history (social studies) and the elements of biography writing (language arts).

Students will brainstorm a short list (10-15 questions) of interview questions. The class will work to select questions that will help draw out a well rounded oral history from the subject being interviewed.

Working in partnership with either a local retirement home and/or VFW, students will be assigned a veteran or family member of a veteran of WWII, Korea or Viet Nam. Using the digital voice recorders, students will interview their veteran and record the interview process. Students will then download the recordings onto the computer using the voice recognition software.

Using the downloaded information, students will begin to assemble a written biography going through all steps of the writing process. Students will also work on taking parts of the recording and turning them into podcasts using actual pictures (if possible) of their subject.

Finally, students will present both their written biography and their podcast to their veteran.