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Olds in the Twentieth Century
Oral History Lesson Plan
Objectives:
After completing this lesson, students will be able to:
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Define social history and formulate questions about social history topics;
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Compare and contrast social history with conventional history;
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Explain the strengths and weaknesses of using oral histories as a source;
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Analyze, interpret, and conduct research using oral histories;
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Use oral history interview techniques to gather information about social history;
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Interpret changes in Twentieth Century social life in Canada using existing oral histories and by
conducting original oral history interviews.
Time Required:
20 class periods, plus time to conduct oral history interviews outside of class.
Grouping:
Groups of two are preferred for oral history interviews.
Introduction to Social History (3 class periods)
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Using brainstorming techniques, have students to write down all the topics they think of when they hear the word "history."
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Poll the class to see how many students wrote down topics such as leaders, wars, dates, explorers, government activities, famous people, or famous inventions, etc. Find out how many students suggested topics such as family life, recreation, work, clothing, or school.
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Point out that different kinds of historians look at different topics within history. While many history textbooks deal with political and military history, historians also study the lives and activities of everyday people (social
history)
Often, people think the study of history means studying governments, battles, and national leaders. These are important history topics, but historians learn much about history by studying the lives of everyday people as well.
Social history is the history of the everyday experiences and beliefs of ordinary people. Social historians look at teachers, store clerks, factory workers, police officers, the unemployed, children, computer programmers -- all kinds of people you might meet in your own life.
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The number of social history topics is huge because social history looks at every aspect of day-to-day life -- family life, recreation, work, social life, religious beliefs, and more. Most social historians study one group of people (such as Japanese Canadians), one particular area (such as the Prairies), or a specific topic within social history (such as family life).
Class discussion on ways in which social histories may be studied and used to interpret events from the past. For example: Oral interviews,
diaries, ethnographies, letters and correspondences. Oral histories provide a special insight to the past. Oral history is a method of gathering and preserving historical
information through recorded interviews with participants in past events and ways of life. It is both the oldest type of historical inquiry, predating the written word, and one of the most modern, with the advent of recording devices during the twentieth century.
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Notes on oral history and how to conduct oral histories:
[Lesson Plan]
[Overhead]
[Handout]
[Questions]
[Example Interview]
[Conducting the Interview]
[Evaluation]
[Olds Junior Senior High School]
[Top]
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