iEARN BRIDGE Curriculum Enrichment Program 2005                 

Workshop Title: Kindred-The Oral History Project

Target Professionals: English Language; English Literature ,  Literacy teachers, History, Social Studies teachers, Curriculum Coordinators and Head of the Departments.

Time: 6 Hours session from 9:00am-2:00pm

Abstract:

Oral History is a method for historians to discover the impact of events, laws, and ideas on the people of a particular period of history. In the classroom settings it can  provide  an exciting learning experience that is  designed to increase student involvement and improve student insight into historical experiences. Oral History projects can involve students directly in a method of historical inquiry, which includes the organization and presentation of data directly from another person. Oral history is an effective tool that requires students to become active participants in their own learning process. It invites inquiry, stimulates discussion, and transforms abstract concepts into concrete reality.

Kindred is an iEARN Project that uses the oral History methods to aid in the reconstruction of the past and in preserving and documenting culture. It is an extension of the art of storytelling. The Kindred project is based on the belief that each individual has an oral history - an account of where they come from and how they got to be who they are. Communities, likewise, each have an oral history. So, too, do nations, families, and human organizations of every sort.

This workshop is aimed at introducing the teachers to the concept of oral history leading to enlarging and intensifying the experience of being  human and celebrating human experiences. The resources and activities presented are designed  to help teachers be  instrumental for teaching in many ways. They can engage students in activities that inspire them with stories of exemplary lives and  tales of human weakness and wickedness around them. There will be a hands on Oral history project activity during which teachers will discover each others history, they will discover, inform and educate a global audience  providing them the context and perspective that enabled them to make thoughtful decisions about the future.

Teachers will be able to return back to schools with a comprehensive teachers guide on Oral History containing unit plans, activities and curricular resources to engage students in Oral History project right away.

Topics Focused:

- Oral History Topics, Skills and Methods

-Oral History Project- Guidelines

-Oral History Questions

- Hands on experience of a mini Oral History project

- Reporting Oral History researches

-Lesson Plans and Activities for  classroom implementation

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