Using artifacts from the past, narratives such as selections from The Greatest Generation, and their own life experiences as a guide, students will conduct interviews with older adults to learn about past events, traditions and individual service in their local community. They then present the information to younger students or community members. Pre-tests and post-tests related to attitude toward older adults will determine if there is a change in learners’ attitudes after conducting an oral interview that focuses on personal experiences in the later half of the twentieth century. 

The learner will:

• compare/contrast family historical experiences with others.
• identify historical artifacts and relate to their places in history.
• describe how our shared past strengthens the social contract and promotes the common good.
• use oral histories to understand events of the 1930s and 1940s.
• define social contract, civil society and common good, and analyze how the behavior of ordinary Americans strengthened all three.
• demonstrate the ability to recognize historically important events which will have an impact on society.
• identify personal contributions to the common good.
• describe characteristics of a good interview.
• conduct interviews about life and community service during a specific time period.
• make connections between historical events, an individual’s personal experiences and contributions to the common good during a specific time period.
• summarize material from an interview into an oral presentation with visual aids.
• use effective speaking skills to share information on the last half of the 20^th century with an audience.
• reflect in writing on changes that the interview experience has made in his/her life and the outcome of his/her service project.

Learner-developed questions on the interpretation of artifacts, reports on stories in literature, letters to future generations, lists of interview questions, interviewee rating sheets, pre and post tests and reflective writings may be used as assessments of learning.

In Lesson One: Back to the Future, the teacher is asked to administer the Elderly Lesson Pre-assessment (Attachment One) to learners two weeks prior to teaching the unit. Also in this lesson, there are many artifacts from the 1950s through the 1990s that are needed for the History Learning Centers. In order to gain access to more unrecognizable artifacts, it is recommended that the teacher visit or contact the local museum. When contacting the local museum, ask if you could have a volunteer from the museum come to the class to help with the various class activities related to artifacts. A wide variety of artifacts that represent all aspects of life for each time period are needed. I would suggest 20-25 artifacts for each time period. I have found that contacting the local museum and/or local community members was very helpful in gaining access to artifacts. When learners are in the centers, I suggest using a timer because it helps to keep the teacher available to answer questions and monitor learner activity. Have learners turn in their questions at the end of the class period. These questions can be used in Lesson Four: The Interview.

In preparation for Lesson Five: Interview Presentation and Reflection, make arrangements with an elementary teacher of American history to have the high school learners visit. They will make presentations about the time period from 1960 to the present which will include information about actions for the common good.