Community Interviews

Overview

In this 90-minute session, students will develop and practice interviewing skills through engaging with community members about local landmarks and traditions. This is Lesson 4 in the “Exploring Local Heritage” unit and aligns with Common Core State Standards focusing on speaking, listening, and research skills for 7th grade.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1: Engage effectively in collaborative discussions with peers, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1.B: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.2: Interpret information presented in diverse media formats and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue.
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 inquiry.

I can...

Prepare and ask relevant questions during an interview to learn about my community’s heritage.
Take clear, organized notes based on personal stories and historical information shared by community members.
Reflect on how individual experiences connect to broader local traditions or landmarks.

Materials Needed

Interview question templates (printed)
Notebooks or digital devices for note-taking
Projector/screen or whiteboard for mini lesson and examples
Copies of guidelines for respectful interviewing and active listening
Clipboards (optional) for ease of note-taking
Student community interview assignments (list of pre-approved community members or groups to interview if needed)

Lesson Activities

1. Warm-Up & Introduction (10 minutes)

Activity: Whole-class discussion - “What makes a great interview?”
Teacher writes student ideas on the board (active listening, clear questions, open-ended questions, note-taking).
Show examples of interview questions and discuss the difference between open and closed questions.
Differentiation: Use graphic organizers for ELL students to visually categorize question types.

2. Mini-Lesson: Interview Skills & Note-taking (15 minutes)

Teacher models an interview snippet with a volunteer or video clip focused on a local landmark story.
Break down techniques: tone, follow-up questions, respectful body language, note-taking abbreviations.
Introduce interview question template students will use.
Success Criteria: Students identify 3 key techniques demonstrated and take notes effectively during the example.
Differentiation: Provide sentence starters and question banks for students who need language support. Advanced learners create their own follow-up questions based on the example.

3. Guided Practice: Crafting Interview Questions (15 minutes)

In pairs, students draft 5 open-ended questions targeting local landmarks or traditions.
Share questions with the class for feedback and refinement.
Teacher ensures questions are respectful, clear, and open-ended.
Success Criteria: Each student can explain why their questions are open-ended and how they will gather personal stories/historical context.
Differentiation: Students with IEPs may use partially completed question templates. Advanced learners add probing questions to dig deeper into responses.

4. Community Interview Preparation and Role Play (20 minutes)

Students role-play being interviewer and interviewee in triads, practicing asking questions and note-taking.
Swap roles to internalize skills.
Teacher circulates, giving feedback on question clarity, note-taking, and active listening.
Success Criteria: Student demonstrates appropriate interviewing behavior including eye contact, follow-up questions, and notes key details.
Differentiation: Support students with anxiety by allowing practice in smaller groups or paired with a trusted peer. Advanced learners experiment with open-ended “why” and “how” questions to get richer responses.

5. Setting Up Real Interviews & Logistics (10 minutes)

Teacher reviews the expectations and schedule for the actual community interviews (homework or in next lesson).
Students identify who they will interview and discuss consent and etiquette.
Establish note-taking format and guidelines for respectful behavior outside classroom.
Answer student questions.
Success Criteria: Students articulate interview plan including who, what, when, and how they will conduct their interviews.
Differentiation: Assign or suggest community contacts for students who may struggle to find interviewees. Advanced learners plan to record audio/video for richer analysis.

6. Reflection & Exit Ticket (10 minutes)

Students write a short reflection answering:
- What did I learn about interviewing today?
- What challenges do I anticipate in conducting my interviews?
- How can I use what I learned to improve my community heritage project?
Collect responses to inform next steps and provide personalized support.
Differentiation: Offer sentence frames or verbal reflection option for students with writing difficulties.

Assessment

Formative assessment during paired role plays (teacher observes interviewing and note-taking skills).
Review interview questions created by students for clarity and relevance.
Exit ticket reflections to assess self-awareness and preparedness for conducting real interviews.

Differentiation Strategies

For ELL learners: Use visual aids, bilingual glossaries of key terms, sentence frames for questions and reflections.
For students with IEPs: Simplify question templates and provide written and oral instructions. Allow alternative demonstration of skills e.g., oral notes.
For advanced learners: Encourage creating multi-level questions that explore both factual and personal experience dimensions; offer to lead small group interviews.

Extension Activities

Students audio or video record their interviews and create a podcast or digital storytelling project showcasing community stories.
Conduct follow-up research on historical context provided in interviews to present to the class.
Design their own mini-community heritage exhibition using collected stories and photos.

Reflection for Teachers

Note which students show confidence and skill mastery during role plays and question crafting.
Identify who may need additional coaching in follow-up lessons or differentiated tasks based on exit tickets.
Plan to support students in connecting personal stories to broader historical context in next lessons.

This structured, interactive lesson offers students authentic learning by engaging firsthand with their local heritage, while building core literacy and social studies research skills thoroughly aligned to Common Core Standards.

Teaching Instructions