CURRICULUM, MUSIC, AND COMMUNITY | MAKE YOUR OWN MUSIC

Student project:

Parent Interviews

IN THIS PROJECT, STUDENTS WILL COMPOSE open-ended interview questions to use to interview their parents concerning their musical experiences. The students will record their interviews using a tape recorder. Later they will go back and take notes on paper.

Length of time required

1 or 2 class sessions to prepare for interviews, and 1 or 2 class sessions to share findings/results.

Materials

Cassette recorders, cassette tapes, copies of the directions for recording an interview

Objectives

• Students will develop open-ended interview questions.
• Students will conduct open-ended interviews, in which they will ask different kinds of questions — open-ended starter questions, clarification questions, and questions that encourage further elaboration.
• Students will practice the skills of interviewing including asking questions, listening carefully, and taking notes.
• Students will use a tape recorder to collect interview data.
• Students will write a summary of findings based on the parent interview.
• Students will build classroom community through the process of learning about their peers.

Procedure

1. Discuss open-ended questions versus short answer (survey) questions. Link to Some Suggestions for Teaching Open-ended Interviewing

2. As a class or in small groups, brainstorm a list of possible open-ended questions that students might ask parents.

3. Provide a model role-play one or more of the questions, as a way to discuss how to "follow the thread" of the conversation to encourage elaboration and clarification. Link to more information about "Following the Thread" of a conversation.

4. Discuss ways the data collected from this type of interview is different than the data collected from a survey. Explain that students will be using tape recorders for this interview, so they can concentrate on "following the thread" of the interview conversation.

5. Provide each with a copy of the procedures for recording an interview, and discuss.

6. Break students into teams, and have them practice conducting and recording an open-ended interview. Have students listen to their tapes to see how they "followed the thread" of the conversation, and how they might have better "followed the thread" of the conversation.

7. Have each student decide on two or three open-ended questions to focus on in a parent interview, and set a date the interview is to be completed by. Arrange a schedule for checking out the class tape-recorders. (Students may have tape recorders at home that they can use.)

8. Have students listen to their interview tapes (at home or at school), and write a summary of what they learned during the interview. Each interview question should be answered in one or more paragraphs.

9. Provide an opportunity for students to share what they found out in their interviews. Also, provide opportunity for students to reflect on their interviewing skills.

Assessment

Students might be assessed on their ability to ask open-ended questions and "follow the thread" of an interview conversation. They might also be assessed on their written summary of the interview(s).

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