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CURRICULUM OUTLINE
CLASS ONE What is Oral History?
1) Different ways that history is recorded
- Elders' story telling
- Cave painting
- Journals and diaries
- History books
- Radio
- Television
- Video
- Internet
2) Discussion about perceptions of senior citizens
- What do you think of when you hear the phrase "old person?"
- At what age is a person "old?"
- What are your experiences (positive and negative) with elderly
people?
- What might make it interesting to be around elderly people?
3) Video Samples of Oral Histories (one
or all of the video clips can be shown)
- Video clip 1 An eighty year old man recalls
how his grandmother invited "hoboes" into her kitchen for lunch
during the Great Depression, in Cleveland, Ohio.
- Video clip 2 An Asian woman describes her
experience coming to an American school, when she could speak
no English.
- Video clip 3 a Jewish Holocaust survivor
tells of hiding with her parents and other Jews in Poland during
the Holocaust.
- Video clip 4 An African-American man describes life in
East Los Angeles, where he lived with many other ethnic groups
in the 1920s and 1930s; included is a rare instance of discrimination
in that neighborhood, and how it was handled by the residents.
4) Students discuss what they learned from the video
taped oral histories
5) Suggested Assignment(s)
- Write an essay, poem, or short story based on your
perceptions of seniors or a personal experience with an elderly
person
- Write an essay about how history has been recorded
over time, provide examples
- Draw a picture, make a collage, etc. about your
perceptions of seniors, or experiences with a specific senior
- Write (or ad lib) and perform a scene about a senior
citizen or an experience with a senior citizen

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