Mining the Riches of History
Introduction
The word “story” is embedded in the word “history.” The success of things like NPR’s StoryCorps and the Foxfire project of the 1970s suggest that most of us simply love to hear stories—stories and memories of real people. Helping students to learn about a particular era or topic from the people who lived through it can be a powerful and meaningful endeavor.
Oral histories can make history come to life from elementary through high school. This month we’ll take a look at how you might use oral history and personal interviews to practice a number of higher order thinking skills and build history from “stories.”