More Than Just the Facts, Ma'am: An Interviewing Project Using Multimedia

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There's no better way to learn than by talking to people. Even if you're not a reporter, everyone needs good interviewing skills, whether it's to find the answer to a question or to get a job. Interviewing isn't something you can just rush into, however. Kids need preparation, practice and coaching.

This project teaches kids how to conduct an effective interview, then sends them out to talk to people in your center or neighborhood and create a Web page to tell the story.

This example covers the entire process once as a model, and we suggest that you do the same. Once you've completed the entire project in the demonstration phase, do another with the same steps, but let the kids pick their own interview subjects and topics, and give them more time to research and create their pages.

Recommended Time: 

Plan on working on the various elements of this project for 15 to 30 minutes each day over several weeks, especially if you are introducing new software while you are doing it. You want to spend most of your time working on the basics of interviewing, rather than on technology.

Goals: 
    • To teach good interviewing, questioning and communication skills
    • To practice writing longer pieces
    • To help kids meet people in their community
    • To introduce or practice photography, photo-editing, or Web-authoring skills
    • To help kids research an inquiry-based project
    • To build teamwork skills
Materials and Equipment: 
Oversized pad of paper, 2' x 3' (preferable), or blackboard for mapping, Journals,
Computers, Image-editing software,
Web page-authoring software, Digital Cameras
Preparation (Before You Begin): 

Make sure that you are familiar with any elements you intend to include in this project, such as

    • using mapping,
    • digital photography,
    • computer graphics and image editing, and
    • creating a Web page.

You can use this project to introduce any or all of these topics, or you can introduce them beforehand and use this project to reinforce them. If your kids are younger or new to any of the software applications, leave more time for modeling and exploration.

Activity Steps: 

Step 1: Preparation

The hardest part about an interview is not the interview itself—it's the advance work. You first need to give kids models and practice before leaping into an interviewing situation, so spend time in advance covering some of the elements of asking good questions and exploring resources:

    • Bring in copies of a magazine interview in which the story is written in a Q&A format. Talk about why the writer might have asked those particular questions, arranged them in that order, and used those particular words.
    • Visit online resources, such as the Radio Diaries Teen Reporter Handbook.  
    • Explore print and online newspapers, especially those by kids and teens, such as L.A. Youth Network.
    • Take a look at some online samples from kids at Hoffer Elementary School.

Talk about what the stories are about and what the authors might have been thinking during the interviews.

Step 2: The Thinking Process

To introduce the concept of interviews, do a mapping activity. Start by writing "interview" in the center, and follow the standard mapping process, asking questions like those in the figure below.

This first map should be open ended and cover anything the kids want to suggest; at this point, it's mainly a model to show the thought process they'll have to go through in any interview. (Don't tell them that, though.) Remember to model each stage of the map first, let the kids work on their own in pairs for a few minutes, then call them back to work on the next question.

Step 3: Practice Interviews

Do another map asking similar questions, but this time the topic should be, "What can we interview each other about?" You only need two rings this time because you already know who and where. The first ring should be, "What topics can we interview each other about?" (e.g., what our parents do or our favorite TV shows), and the outer ring should be "Questions we can ask about each topic."

Select some appropriate topics and questions, and have the kids break up into pairs to interview each other. Have them take notes and report to the class the answers to each question. To get more practice, you might want to have them do this activity once or twice more, with different partners each time. 

Step 4: The Model Interview

Invite a guest to come to your class as a "guinea pig" interview subject. It can be a center staff member, an interesting friend of yours or someone from the community. Shortly before the person is to arrive, tell the kids that a guest will be coming in to be interviewed. Tell them the person's name and what they do (or the thing they'll be interviewed about), but nothing else.

Have the kids write this information on a page in their journals, and ask them each to write down four questions for the interviewee. After two or three minutes, have the kids share some of their questions aloud. Next, have them write down two more questions that "you think no one else will come up with." That's a key phrase to ensure that the kids think carefully, so stress it in your instructions. Again, give them about two minutes.

Select four people or call for four volunteers. This team will conduct the model interview in front of the class, and each person has a role:

    • Two people will be the main questioners. They will alternate asking questions, so that one person can ask a new question while the other is writing the answer to the previous one in his or her journal.
    • One person will draw pictures of the person during the interview.
    • One person will take photographs.

As a group, talk about how you want to conduct the interview. Where should the guest sit? How should the interview team position themselves? Should they sit around the guest, or stand at different places in the room? Can the photographer move around? Talk about what should be asked first. As the kids make suggestions, be sure to ask them "why," so that they think through their reasons and what the effects might be.

When the guest arrives, have him or her wait outside before coming into the room. Get the interview team in position, then invite the guest in and show him or her to the chosen seat. Welcome and introduce the guest, then introduce the kids who will be conducting the interview. Let them begin.

While the interview is being conducted, try not to interfere. Coach or facilitate as needed, but let the kids run the show. After a few minutes, or if things are slowing down, invite the rest of the class to ask questions as well. Unless the kids are really excited because you've invited a rock superstar, try to keep the interview to 15 or 20 minutes (definitely not more than 30 minutes), so as not to impose on your guest.

Step 5: The Kids' Interviews

Send the kids out in teams of four to do their own interviews of someone in the building. Each team member should have an assigned responsibility like the model team. Make sure they understand that they have to politely ask the subject's permission first and explain what they're doing. Give about 20 minutes or so to conduct the interviews.

Step 6: The Photos

Using the pair-share process, follow the guidelines for teaching about technology to model bringing the photos into PhotoShop, resizing them, and saving them as GIF or JPEG files. Have the teams do the same with their files.

Step 7: The Sketches

Again using the pair-share process, model how to bring the sketches into the computer, either by scanning them or photographing them with the digital camera.

Also demonstrate how to bring the sketches into PhotoShop and save them as GIF or JPEG files. If you like, you can introduce a module on computer drawing instead and have the kids recreate the sketches in KidPix or PhotoShop. When finished modeling, have the teams do the same with their files.

Step 8: The Web Page

Again using the pair-share process, model how to use a Web-authoring tool to create pages that include some simple text from the interview, sketches and photos. At minimum, introduce creating a new file, adding text, assigning a background, working with text, placing the photos and sketches, and moving text and objects.

Your model doesn't have to be as elaborate as those, but let the kids experiment after you've demonstrated a simpler version. When finished modeling, have the class do the same in their teams of four with their files.

Step 9: The Group Share

Do a group share so that everyone can see what their peers have done and get new ideas.

Step 10: The Kids' Own Interviews

Once the kids have been through the whole process, have them do their own interview for an inquiry-based project in new teams of four. Have each team go through the mapping process to select a subject to interview from the community. Have them make up question lists, conduct the interviews on their own and create new Web pages.