Community Interview Prep

Grade Level: 7th Grade

Duration: 90 minutes

Class Size: 14 Students

Unit: Exploring Local Heritage (Lesson 3 of 6)

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Learning Objectives (Aligned with Common Core State Standards)

• I can create open-ended questions to gather detailed information from community members.
• I can demonstrate effective listening skills during an interview.
• I can accurately record and summarize information shared by an interviewee.

Common Core Standards Addressed:

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1
  Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.3
  Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.7
  Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.7.3
  Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

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Success Criteria

• Students compose at least 5 original open-ended questions relevant to learning about local heritage.
• Students demonstrate active listening in role-play interviews with their peers.
• Students effectively record interview responses using notes or graphic organizers accurately.

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Materials Needed

• Whiteboard & markers
• Printed Interview Question Planning Templates
• Role-play cards with interviewee/student profiles
• Audio recording devices or smartphones (optional)
• Note-taking graphic organizers (prepared handouts)
• Timer or stopwatch

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Lesson Breakdown

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

• Goal: Set context for interviews and importance of community heritage.
• Teacher briefly recaps previous lessons on local heritage and today's focus on interview preparation.
• Ask: Why do you think interviews are important when learning about a community’s history?
• Discuss why open-ended questions encourage detailed responses compared to yes/no questions.

Strategy: Use think-pair-share to engage all learners and scaffold participation.

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2. Teaching Open-Ended Questions (15 minutes)

• Explain what open-ended questions are: "Questions that invite detailed answers and cannot be answered with a simple yes or no."
• Provide examples vs. closed questions, e.g.:
  • Closed: "Do you like living in this community?"
  • Open-ended: "What do you enjoy most about living in this community?"
• In pairs, students convert three closed questions into open-ended ones using a guided handout.

Differentiation:

• Support: Provide sentence starters (e.g., "Can you describe...", "What happened when...") to scaffold question creation.
• Advanced: Challenge students to incorporate 'how' and 'why' into their questions for deeper inquiry.

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3. Developing Interview Questions (20 minutes)

• Students brainstorm and write 5-7 open-ended questions to ask a community member about local heritage using the Interview Question Planning Template.
• Teacher circulates to support question refinement, emphasizing clarity and relevance to heritage.

Differentiation:

• Support: Use examples of good questions and one-on-one coaching for students who struggle.
• Advanced: Encourage students to think about follow-up questions to dig deeper into responses.

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4. Role-Play Practice (25 minutes)

• Pair off students. Assign one as interviewer, one as community member with a role-play card describing a local heritage persona (e.g., a community elder, local business owner, historian).
• Interviewers practice asking their questions, practicing listening carefully and taking notes on graphic organizers.
• After 10 minutes, switch roles.
• Teacher models active listening behaviors prior to role-play (nods, eye contact, follow-up questions).

Differentiation:

• Support: Students who find speaking difficult can use pre-written prompts and notes to help them.
• Advanced: Students can record the interview and later analyze their questions' effectiveness and suggest improvements.

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5. Debrief and Reflect (15 minutes)

• Group discussion on interview experience:
  • What went well?
  • What was challenging?
  • How did it feel to listen carefully?
• Students revise one question based on feedback and reflect in writing:
  "I found that good questions..."
  "Next time, I will try to..."

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Extension Activities (for advanced learners)

• Research additional local heritage topics they might want to explore beyond the interview.
• Create a mini-guide of interview tips for younger students.
• Prepare a digital presentation (using slides or video) summarizing what they hope to learn from community members.

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Assessment

• Review student’s Interview Question Planning Template for relevance and quality of questions.
• Use an informal rubric during role-play to assess listening skills and note-taking accuracy.
• Collect and review student written reflections for depth and insight.

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Differentiation Strategies Summary

Learner Needs	Supports	Challenge Extensions
ELL/Language Support	Sentence starters, visuals, paired practice	Research local heritage vocabulary
Speech/Writing Struggles	Pre-written question prompts, graphic organizers	Record interview and reflect orally
Advanced Learners	Develop follow-up questions, digital projects	Create interview guides, deeper research

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Teacher Reflection (Post-Lesson)

• Did students demonstrate understanding of open-ended questions?
• Were role-play activities effective in practicing listening and note-taking?
• How engaged were diverse learners and did differentiated supports meet their needs?
• What adjustments could improve interview preparation for the next lesson?

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With this lesson, students gain hands-on, practical skills in interviewing that empower them to explore local heritage through authentic community voices while developing critical communication and listening proficiencies mandated by the Common Core standards.