Oral history is a valuable tool for education, community building, and advocacy. Sharing first-person stories from people—in their own words—illuminates issues and events in a powerful way.
Voice of Witness creates oral history resources to support individuals, organizations, and classrooms with ethical storytelling, community-based oral history projects, and human rights education. We have seen firsthand how they resonate with participants of all kinds, inspiring connection and belonging, empathy, and community engagement. All of our lesson plans are free and Common Core-aligned.
Learn more about the benefits of oral history and the impacts of oral history education.
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Palestinian Voices Lesson Plan
This single lesson plan is designed to center first-person narratives and provide an entry point into discussion on the war in Gaza and Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
Lesson Plans • Grades 6-8 • Grades 9-12
Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives Curriculum
The lesson plans help students explore aspects of the “American Dream,” myths and facts about immigration, and encourage students to develop their own responses to this human rights issue.
Lesson Plans • Grades 6-8 • Grades 9-12
Nowhere to be Home: Narratives from Survivors of Burma’s Military Regime Curriculum
In this corresponding curriculum, students will examine the rights of political prisoners in Burma, making personal connections and connections to political prisoners around the world.
Lesson Plans • Grades 6-8 • Grades 9-12
Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives Curriculum
These accompanying lesson plans for Hope Deferred create a point of entry for examining the past and present history of Zimbabwe, a Southern African country struggling with the legacy of colonialism, oppressive political leadership, and a collapsed economy.
Lesson Plans • Grades 9-12 • Higher Ed
Throwing Stones at the Moon: Narratives From Colombians Displaced by Violence Curriculum
These accompanying lesson plans explore the cultural, political, and emotional realities of being forced from one’s home or country of origin.
Lesson Plans • Grades 6-8 • Grades 9-12
High Rise Stories: Voices From Chicago Public Housing Curriculum
This corresponding curriculum guides students in exploring themes of community, displacement, and poverty in the wake of gentrification, all through a lens of listening to voices that have long been ignored.
Lesson Plans • Grades 6-8 • Grades 9-12
Invisible Hands: Voices From the Global Economy Curriculum
These lesson plans provide students a point of entry for understanding economic systems from a human perspective, creating an opening for critical exploration of the ethical, moral, and legal issues connected to these systems.
Lesson Plans • Grades 6-8 • Grades 9-12
Chasing the Harvest: Migrant Workers in California Agriculture Curriculum
The lessons in this unit explore oral history narratives from the men, women, and children working in California’s fields who grow and harvest the food many Americans eat every day.
Lesson Plans • Grades 6-8 • Grades 9-12 • Higher Ed
