Educators
Voice of Witness Student Workbook: Oral Histories of Displacement and Determination
This VOW Student Workbook features two oral history narratives in an immersive, accessible format. Free lesson plans are also available.
Criminal Justice • Cultural and Personal Identity • English Language Learners • Migration & Displacement • Racial Justice
Oral History Podcast Guide
This guide helps educators create a podcast project for their classroom, where students will conduct and edit oral history interviews.
Benefits of Oral History
What is the value of oral history? This resource page explores the transformative power of oral history-based storytelling and its many applications. Goals and outcomes can include education, advocacy, healing and connection, community building, ethical storytelling, and narrative change.
Democracy and Civic Engagement Lesson Plans
This curricular unit on democracy and civic engagement provides students with an accessible way to learn more about this topic through the lens of personal narrative from a range of voices. These stories create a picture of democracy that goes beyond political parties or voting, making space for students to view it in relation to community power, voice, belonging, and resistance.
Oral History Resource Guide For English Language Learners
Voice of Witness’s education program develops curriculum that directly supports students in migrant, multilingual, and English Language Learner communities. This guide contains activities, handouts, and reading strategies to make oral history accessible to students at all language levels.
Cultural and Personal Identity • Education • English Language Learners • Migration & Displacement • Storytelling Best Practices
Lesson Plan: Introduction to Oral History and Ethical Storytelling
This single lesson plan defines “oral history” and introduces principles for collecting and sharing stories ethically.
Lesson Plan: Oral History Found Poem
This two-day lesson plan guides students through creating a sensory, details-focused found poem using an oral history interview as source material.
Arts • Cultural and Personal Identity • Education • English Language Learners • Migration & Displacement • Storytelling Best Practices
Lesson Plan: Journeys and Migration Model Interview
This single lesson plan uses a model interview to demonstrate creating safe and brave spaces by asking open-ended and follow-up questions.
