Lesson 3: Interviewing someone in the community                        Time Needed: ½ to a full day

Grade: 4                                                                                       Unit: Schooling

 

Interviewing Day!

Materials:
Paper with questions
Writing Utensils
Clip board
Camera
Refreshments (optional)
Sheet for writing activity
Poster Sheets

NCSS Standards:
Standard B: History: Time, Continuity, and Change
Time, Continuity, and Change: Help learners apply key concepts such as time, chronology, causality, change, conflict, and complexity to explain, analyze, and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity.
Standard E: Individuals, groups, and Institutions
Help learners to understand the various forms institutions take, their functions, their relationships to one another and how they develop and change over time.

Wisconsin State Standards:
Standard E: Behavioral Science: E.4.5 Identify and describe institutions such as school, church, police, and family and describe their contributions to the well being of the community, state, nation, and global society.

MMSD Standards:
Social Studies Standards:
Compare and contrast individual perspectives and differences.
Demonstrate an ability to interact within a group while performing various group roles.
Language Arts Standards:
Language/Communication:
Contribute to group discussions.
Seek and respond to the ideas and opinions of others.
Use evidence to support opinions.
Discuss and summarize information heard.

Elementary Education Standards:
Standard 6: Connects School and Community- In this lesson the students are interviewing people at the retirement home, which is located in the community, about their schooling experiences.
Standard 14: Relates well with families and communities-The students will have the opportunity to talk with these people and learn from each other on the topic of schooling in a formal (interviewing process) and informal way (over refreshments).

Objectives:
SWBAT conduct an interview with someone in the community. 
SWBAT compare and contrast the differences in schooling in the past and the present.

Context: 
This is the third lesson in the unit on schooling.  The students will take the questions they created during yesterday’s lesson and partake in an interview with someone at the retirement home.  Once the students have completed the interview we will then compare and contrast the school experiences from the past with their own schooling experiences. 

Opening:
Before leaving for the retirement home go over again the appropriate behavior the students will be exhibiting while they are interviewing someone.  The teacher has already typed the questions from yesterday.

Procedure:
1. Since the retirement home is in walking distance, have the students gather whatever they need before leaving school.  Gather them on the carpet and go over the question sheet and tell the students that if they do not get through all of them it’s ok.
2. Go over rules for walking to the retirement home.  Some rules to go over are: the teacher is the leader, stay on the sidewalk, stay together, and wait for an adult to cross the street.  Then begin to walk to the retirement home.
3. Once the students get there have them again gather in an area and allow the person in charge of the retirement home welcome them.  Then after that begin to pair the students up with people who have volunteered to speak with them. Tell the students they have about 30-40 minutes for the interview.  Remind them that when they are done they get can refreshments with the person they interviewed. 
4. Once every student has been paired up the teacher should be circulating around to the pairs to observe and help the interviews run smoothly.  The teacher will also take pictures so that the students will have the picture for a class discussion later.
5. After 30-40 minutes, the students should be done or wrapping up their interviews.  Give another 15 minutes for refreshments so everyone can mingle and get to know each other a little more.  Get the students together and walk back to school.  Give the students a break as soon as you get back to school.
6. After the students have had their break pair the students up and have them share with each other what they learned about the interviewee.  Each student should have a couple minutes to share. 
7. The teacher will then have a writing activity for the students to do.  Each student will get a sheet with a T chart.  On one side the students will write their names and the other side of the T write the interviewee’s name.  Have the students write down everything they can think of what school is like for them. Then on the other side have them write what they learned about school and life from the interviewee.  This will help them begin to see differences in what school was like in the past compared to the present.  They will also begin to see how different life was like for their interviewees compared to their own lives. 
8. After the writing assignment, have the students get in groups of 4 and fill out a T chart on poster board about main ideas they learned about schooling in the past and present.
9. Have each group come up and present to the class.  After every group has had a turn the class will fill out a T chart together to look at overall differences between how school was in the past and how it is now.  This will really help the students continue to distinguish school in the past and present.
10. Go back to the question the students talked about with their partner yesterday (do you think that school has changed over the years and if so how?)  Get the students to discuss this question and use what they learned during their interview to help them make a claim or add more ideas to their original answers.
 
Lesson Closure:
Tell the students they did a great job during the field trip! Have the students make a card to send to the people they interviewed. Before the students leave go around the room and give each student a chance to say something they liked or disliked about the day.

Assessment:
SWBAT conduct an interview with someone in the community. 
The teacher will formally assess the students by having them turn in their interview sheet with the questions answered.  The teacher will informally assess the students by observing them as they conduct an interview. 
SWBAT compare and contrast the differences in schooling in the past and the present.
The teacher will formally assess the students by having the students turn in their worksheet.  The teacher will informally assess the students by listening during their presentations and when they are working in groups.  Lastly, the teacher will informally assess the students by observing who is participating during class discussions.