Examples of how oral history can be used in the secondary classroom are provided.

Students can use their community as a historical base, but they must first learn how to question effectively. Specific strategies for implementing interviews are suggested. Through interviewing, students learn concepts about demography, roles, and social change, and they acquire skills in collecting data, testing hypotheses, and evaluating data.…

Contends that oral history projects are an effective way of teaching history. Provides suggestions on setting up an oral history project, selecting topics, conducting background research, and conducting interviews. Includes a bibliography of resources for both students and teachers. (CFR)

Provides excerpts from five primary sources concerning the lives of women in California from 1850 to 1942. Notes sources and includes discussion questions, as well as an oral history interview. (CK)

Discusses the use of oral history in the social studies classroom and highlights the benefits of using oral history. Describes five ways to collect oral histories: (1) group interviews; (2) individual interviews; (3) surveys taken home; (4) object interviews; and (5) field trip interviews. Includes examples of oral history project themes. (CMK)

Suggests reasons for the lack of material on Asian-American women in textbooks. Presents a study guide to accompany the film "Sewing Woman," a fictionalized documentary based on a series of Chinese American oral histories and the life of a Chinese garment worker. (DB)

Draws a connection between the techniques of storytelling and the content knowledge of history. Notes the many fables, tall tales, and legends that have historical incidents as their inspiration. Outlines some specific functions and steps of a story and provides an exercise for students or teachers to develop their own stories. (MJP)

Encourages the use of narratives and literature to teach social studies and develop students' cultural literacy as suggested by the 1988 California History-Social Science Framework. Applies these ideas to a second grade unit in which students read selected stories and conduct family history research projects. (NL)

Outlines the instructional strategies that overcame the language difficulties of a Hispanic/Anglo third grade social studies class. The class focused on local history in Pasadena, California which required competence in both Spanish and English. Includes instructional materials, graphic organizers, and guidelines for further units. (MJP)