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Educator resource guide for the exhibition StoryCorps StoryBooth, on view Oct 12, 2008–Dec 15, 2013 at The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco.

Oral histories, first-person accounts, and interviews are primary sources—key material for teaching and learning about history through the firsthand experiences of those who participated in events of the past or present. Unlike the secondary sources we find in textbooks, primary sources offer first-person narratives and historical perspectives that can be examined, interpreted, and used as a tool for a more personal, empathetic, and enduring understanding of history. Using oral history projects in the classroom also offers opportunities for students to build self-awareness, as well as to develop speaking, listening, and critical thinking skills.

about this resource

Since 2008, the Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) has worked in close collaboration with StoryCorps, a national oral history project dedicated to capturing and sharing the stories of ordinary Americans. The two organizations have copresented several teacher workshops designed to help educators create and teach with oral histories in their classrooms. Throughout the course of our work together, we have heard from teachers that oral history projects—the stories of family members, immigrant histories, reports from victims of national disasters like Hurricane Katrina, and in particular, the firsthand accounts of survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides—play a significant role in teaching practice across both curricula and grade levels.

Simultaneously, the CJM has been exploring the variety of ways technology—ranging from online gaming to Instagram to blogging—can be used as a teaching tool in both the Museum and the classroom setting. Expanding upon this theme, the CJM launched the Jewish Education and Technology (JET) Institute in summer 2013, a weeklong workshop that brought together Jewish day school teachers and technology thought-leaders to hone best-practices for integrating technology and teaching.

This Educator Resource brings together guidelines for using oral histories in the classroom as a teaching tool, lesson plans for teaching students to develop interview questions and techniques, and a how-to-guide for utilizing simple technology—particularly smartphones, iPads, or computers—to compile and share a class oral history project.

Contents

  • Introduction
  • About the CJM
  • About StoryCorps
  • Online Resources for Oral History
    • General Resources
    • Women’s History Resources
    • Holocaust Resources
    • Human Rights Resources
  • StoryCorps SF Interview Tips
  • StoryCorps SF Great Interview Questions for the Classroom List
  • Step-by-Step Guides for Student Projects, Created by Classroom Teachers
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supporters

StoryCorps is presented in partnership with National Public Radio (NPR) and the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress.

The San Francisco presentation of StoryCorps is generously supported by the BayTree Fund; Gruber Family Foundation; Adobe Foundation; and Members of the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Leadership support is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Major corporate support is provided by Principal Financial Group. Other major supporters include The Atlantic Philanthropies, Inc.; Bloomberg Philanthropies; The Ford Foundation; The Marc Haas Foundation; The Kaplen Foundation;  John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; The National Endowment for the Arts; Open Society Foundations; Pumpkin Foundation and Pumpkin Trust; and Joseph and Carol Reich. Media sponsorship is provided by KALW.

Lead support of the 2012–13 exhibition season is by the Koret Foundation and the Taube Foundation.

School and Teacher Programs at the CJM are made possible by Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Leadership support comes from The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation with additional generous support from Carmen Castro-Franceschi and Paul Franceschi, First Republic Bank, the Morris Stulsaft Foundation, and the Ullendorf Memorial Foundation.

Support for this project comes from The Holocaust Memorial Education Fund of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund.