1. Find out more about your family

2.  We are all going to learn a little bit more about ourselves and our heritage by interviewing an older family member.  When I was your age, I interviewed my grandmother and I learned a lot. She was the oldest person I knew in the family.  Many elderly people have a ton to say, but wont unless you ask.  Brainstorm at least 3 people you think would know a lot about your family.

3.  Grandparents.  Great grandparents?  Great uncle/aunt  Anyone who knows a lot about the history of your family really. Someone may have already done research.  You may also want to do more formal research on the internet, library etc.  What does you family name mean?  (Griffin is Irish meaning great warrior)

4.  Contact the person you want to interview.  Explain what you are doing for the class.  Ask them if they would be willing to be interviewed about family history.  Arrange a time and place for the interview  Set aside about 2 hours for your interview.  Ask interviewer if you can record the interview.  If you can not interview your first choice, go on to the next choice on your list.

5.  Take at least 15 questions to ask, making sure they are open ended and not just “yes” or “no” questions.  Example- you could ask “What is your earliest childhood memory? Yes is not a good answer, this question would get your interviewee talking.  Now let’s brainstorm a few questions together. Everyone take ten minutes to write down ten good questions.

6.  Always start with an easy question to warm up your interviewee. Ask them something that will be easy for them to answer and talk about.  Don’t ask anything they might get offended by. Many older people may feel like some things are “out of bounds”

7.  Don’t cut them off if they get off topic. Let them talk it out and then just edit it later if it isn’t what you want to report on.  Keep in mind follow up questions.  If they say something and you want to know more about it, ask, don’t feel like you can only ask the questions you prepared.

8.  Don’t ask leading or bias questions.  Example: Don’t you feel like texting and driving should be banned?  A better way to ask is “What is your opinion on texting while driving?”  Don’t be afraid to ask for clarification on an answer if you don’t understand what they mean.

9.  This unit is to learn about your heritage!  Most questions should be about family/family traditions/family history!!!

10.  This is NOT recommended. But sometimes are necessary.  Many people will not want to answer long questions via email, so you may not get the best answers, also, phone interviews are hard because it is difficult to record, manually or with a recorder.  However, sometimes you may have a relative that has a great story to tell and you want to interview and share, please talk to me if you are planning a distance interview.

11.  Make sure you thank the interviewee after you speak with them and offer them the chance to review your presentation before you give it to class!

12.  Write down the names of three people you would like to interview.  Contact one and set up a time and date for the interview. (write it down)  Write down at least 12 questions you plan on asking them. (make sure they are open ended questions)  Turn in a copy of this information to me.

13.  Presentations will begin on Monday, everyone must be ready and I will call names at random. If you are not ready you lose 50%  The last of the presentations will be done on Tuesday.  Between now and Monday we will focus some more on grammar.