Name: Turner, Lucia

E-mail: seacats@mynewroads.com

Topic: Students' Stories of Arkansas

Grade: 8

Time: 2 in class days.  2 weeks out of class time (adjustable to fit your time)

Ark. Hist. Framework: 2.1.10, 2.1.12,5.1.11

Objective:  Students will create their own Arkansas story books based upon their families' oral histories.

Set: Have the students sit down.  Say to them "I want to tell you a story." Tell students your own Arkansas story.  Then say, "Everyone has a story about their life here in Arkansas.  Some have funny stories and some have sad stories.  But everyone has a story that has helped develop our state.  You are going to write an Arkansas story based on an interview with someone in your family."

Materials: Charley Sandage's Arkansas Stories CD

Key Terms: oral history, interview, specify, research

Key Facts: Serious interviews should be conducted even with family members.

Ask for stories that relate to something specific to the area.

If possible, try to find people who have relationships with the history of the area.

Have students get the stories as descriptive and specific to detail as possible.

Activities: 1. Go over interview techniques with students.

2. Explain to students that once the stories have been informally written up by themselves, they will share their stories within their groups.  The group will then decide on its favorite story.  The group will then have two choices.  One is to turn the story into a written, illustrated book to be read to the class.  The other is to turn the story into a song and draw illustrations representing the story.  The students will record the song on tape to be played for the class while showing their supporting illustrations.

(This can also be assigned as an individual project instead of a group project.)

Closure: Play the Arkansas Stories CD for examples of the songwriting technique, or if you have access to an averkey or a smart board go the website www.arkansasstories.com and show the class a sample written song and illustrations.

Tell the class that the finished projects will be kept (or copied and kept)to form a class set to be shared with the other classes.

Assessment: The finished book or song.

Resources: Charley Sandage's Arkansas Stories CD and website

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