So+There+You+Have+It

=So There You Have It!=

Student-Conducted Mock-Interviews of Significant Personalities in American History
Lesson Created by Anna Silver, Liberty Elementary School, June 2009

(could completed by all class members at the same time, or could be spaced out over the course of the school year)
1. TSW work in pairs, using available resources to become experts about a significant figure in American History. 2. TSW assume the role of a modern newscaster and the historical figure to record a mock interview, using photobooth program, of the historical figure. 3. The class will respond to the interview by asking questions and writing a summary of important contributions of the figure to American History. 4. TSW use feedback from the class, recordings from photobooth, and other resources as time allows to create an iMovie to publish their projects.

Grade Level Expectations - Fourth Grade
** **0401.2.1 ** Listen attentively by facing the speaker, asking questions, and summarizing what is said. **0401.2.2 ** Use established rules for attentive listening (e.g., do not interrupt, ask questions, provide appropriate feedback). **0401.2.4 ** Formulate and respond to questions from teachers and group members. **0401.2.13 **  Continue to develop group discussion skills and to work in teams. **0401.3.11 ** Develop a topic sentence with supporting details and a concluding sentence to form a paragraph. **0401.4.2 ** Use current technology as a research and communication tool for personal interest, research, and clarification. **0401.7.3 ** Use media to enhance reports and oral presentations.
 * Language Arts
 * 0401.2.9 **Create and deliver an oral presentation on an assigned topic (e.g., book reports, demonstrations, science projects).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">0401.2.11 **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Interpret and use a variety of non-verbal communication techniques (e.g., gestures, facial expression, posture). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">

Technology Components
Photobooth or other device for recording student interviews*recommend using external microphone to reduce ambient noise in classroom; allow students to record while other lessons/activities are going on at the same time. iMovie or other movie publishing software Others as needed: google images, Grolier Online (for research)

Links
Historical Figures Planning Strong Questions So There You Have It! with rubrics for scoring the Interview and Summary Paragraphs Partner Contract Graphic Organizer for research (remember to help students focus on WHAT IS IMPORTANT: record ideas that explain how the person impacted American History. [|cluster web]

Lesson Outline
1. Introduce project. See links for project assignment sheet. 2. Build Background: before and/or during project duration. Assign more proficient students first as models for students with less experience/proficiency in technology, research, and public speaking. 2. Assign students into pairs for the project. Set a timeline for project completion. Suggestion: 2 pairs complete steps 3-5 per month. 2. Discuss partner roles. See links for partner contract. 3. Give pairs time to gather information and complete graphic organizer with significant details and contributions about their historical figures. TSW will also develop a list of important questions to ask the historical figure for use during the interview. See links for the graphic organizer and questions activity. The teacher should intervene as necessary and check the graphic organizer for quality before the next step. 4. Allow students to assume roles as interviewer and historical figure (encourage creativity here!) and record an interview using photobooth program. This could be completed during center time in the classroom. Teacher should intervene as necessary and check for quality before the next step. 5. As a center activity or as a whole class, allow classmates to watch the interview and respond. Response ideas: write a summary paragraph identifying the importance of the figure to American History (written by classmates, not the pair), write or record in photobooth additional questions for the pair. Allow the pair to go back and view/read the questions and respond if possible. 6. WHEN ALL PAIRS ARE FINISHED, TSW use photobooth files, google images, and imovie program to create a quicktime movie to publish their project. I recommend doing this as a whole class, and/or with the cooperation of a computer lab teacher.
 * positive interdependence [|strategies] for cooperative learning
 * interviews - examples:
 * 1) [|biography.com]
 * 2) [|National Geographic] Kids' Videos (search for interviews)
 * 3) [|Teachertube] (search videos for student interviews)
 * questioning strategies: see links page for questions activity. Students should practice often asking and responding to strong questions. To help students develop these questions, see links page for quesitons activity, and focus students on developing questions that are NOT "yes/no". Help students to develop questions that prepare the audience. For example, instead of "Why did you sail?", ask Christopher Columbus this question: "Many people in the late 1400's thought the world was flat and that they would fall off of it if they sailed too far into the ocean. Why did you decide to risk your life and sail west to places even though so many thought it was foolish?"
 * research strategies: using the index of textbooks to find available information, using other resources such as the library and grolier online.
 * using photobooth program to record video
 * writing summary paragraphs with an introduction and a conclusion.
 * Distinguishing between WHAT IS IMPORTANT and WHAT IS NOT when doing research. I help students with this by practicing over the course of a few weeks with a. modeling by providing a question and selecting details that are answers in a given passage (this is what is important to ME). b. providing a question and having students select details in a given passage (this is what is important to US.) c. allowing students to formulate a question, and then find answers to THEIR question. (this is important to YOU). d. Same as c, but with multiple passages. A lesson plan that might be helpful: []