Preparation: Review the entire lesson, including the learning object Tips for Effective. Interviews and the Q & A an
Effective Interview Questions Good interview questions help shape the interview and as Studs Terkel says, “Pull out people’s best stories.” By choosing questions that are open-ended and important to them, students can learn great interview skills that can be helpful in future college and job interviews. Tell students that in today’s lesson they will have a chance to interview one another and ask each other the “big questions.”
Objective: To learn how to ask effective interview questions and to practice asking effective questions by conducting an interview with a peer
Standards: Applicable Common Core Standards
Time: 45 minutes
Preparation: Review the entire lesson, including the learning object Tips for Effective Interviews and the Q & A animation
Materials: Student copies of the Great Questions List, Tips for Effective Interviews learning object (see below), Q & A animation, computer, speakers, Internet connection projector or Smart Board, index cards for each student
WARM-UP: THE BIG SHARE (8 MINUTE FACE-TO-FACE ACTIVITY) 1. Provide each student with an index card and the Great Questions List. Ask students to choose one question for someone else in the room to answer, and write it on their index card. 2. Model how the activity will work. Approach a student and ask the question you wrote on an index card. He or she answers it, then asks you his or her question. After you have both answered a question, trade index cards. Both you and the model student will now find a new partner and ask a new question. 3. Explain that each time students talk to a new person, they will trade questions. Tell students they will all do this at the same time. Encourage students to talk to at least three different people. 4. Collect the interview questions and set them aside to use later in the lesson. 5. Ask students to move their chairs into a circle.
ACTIVITY: WHAT MAKES AN EFECTIVE INTERVIEW QUESTION? (10 MINUTE DIGITAL LEARNING OBJECT AND FACE-TO-FACE ACTIVITY) Explain to students that today’s Warm-Up focused on asking questions because later they will have the opportunity to conduct an interview with a peer. Asking effective questions is an important skill that takes practice to develop. Tell students that they are going to learn more about giving interviews through the 4 Tips for an Effective Interview learning object. Students can view this learning object individually, in small
groups, or a whole group as a guided activity using available technologies. This video can be viewed at: http://storycorps.org/storycorpsu/effectiveinterview-questions/ A printable version of the video follows the lesson. Many of the questions listed in the Great Questions List are designed with this guideline in mind. Ask students which questions that were asked in the Warm-Up relate to the guidelines outlined in the learning object.
ACTIVITY: JOSHUA’S STORY – Q & A (10 MINUTE DIGITAL LEARNING OBJECT, LISTENING ACTIVITY, AND FACE-TO-FACE DISCUSSION) 1. Tell students they are going to watch Q & A, a StoryCorps animation of an interview between a mom and her 12-year-old son, Joshua Littman, who has Asperger’s syndrome. Explain that Asperger’s syndrome may cause someone to have difficulty interacting socially and that people with Asperger’s often demonstrate intense interests or obsessions, for example with chess or bugs. Someone with Asperger’s may also engage in repetitive behavior, like hand waving. The students can view this animated clip individually, in small groups, or a whole group as a guided activity using available technologies. This animation is available at: https://storycorps.org/animation/q-anda/ and there is also a printable version of Q & A available for students to read. 2. Ask a volunteer to summarize the clip. Invite other volunteers to add to the summary. Sample summary: “In this interview, Joshua asks his mom about animals, enemies, and what it’s like to be a parent.” 3. Distribute copies of the transcript of Joshua Littman’s recording. Ask students to underline the effective questions Joshua asked his mother. 4. Ask students to share examples of Joshua’s questions and discuss why these questions were effective or not, based on what they learned in the 4 Tips for an Effective Interview learning object.
ACTIVITY: INTERVIEWING A PEER (10 MINUTE FACE-TO-FACE ACTIVITY) 1. Explain that students will now conduct peer interviews with each other to practice asking interview questions. 2. Ask students to brainstorm effective questions they might ask a peer. Examples include the following: o
What are you proudest of?
o
What is the hardest thing you have ever had to do?
o
Who has had the biggest influence on your life and how?
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3. Ask students to choose one question that will be the start of their interview with a peer. The question should follow the guidelines for an effective question. It can be one of the questions from your brainstorm, a question from the Warm-Up, or they can come up with a new question. 4. Pair up students by counting off. If you have a group of 20, for example, count off one to ten and match students with the same number. If there are an uneven number of students, you can participate. 5. Let students know that everyone will have a chance to be interviewer and interviewee. Ask each pair to decide who will be the first to conduct an interview. 6. Explain that each person will have 3 minutes to interview his or her peer. You will announce when 3 minutes have elapsed so that students can switch roles.
DEBRIEF (3 MINUTE FACE-TO-FACE ACTIVITY) Facilitate a discussion of the interviews using the following questions:
“What was it like to interview a peer?”
“Which of the interview guidelines did you use, and how did it help you as the interviewer?”
“As an interviewee, did you feel that the interviewer truly heard your answers? If so, what did the interviewer do or ask to make you believe this? What more could an interviewer do to show you that s/he is truly listening to you?”
“What are some recommendations to add to our Guidelines for Effective Questions, and why should we add them to our list?”
CLOSING AND OPTIONAL HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: GO-AROUND (7 MINUTE FACE-TO-FACE ACTIVITY) Explain to students that their homework assignment is to conduct an interview with a friend, family member, or someone else they know about something important from their past. Encourage students to use the 4 Tips for Effective Interviews learning object and the Great Questions List from today’s lesson. They can use these questions or write their own. Students should record their questions and their interviewee’s responses; they are also welcome to record the interview using the StoryCorps app. All the information students need to download and use the StoryCorps App for recording an interview can be found at the following link: https://storycorps.me/about/resources/. Ask students to sit or stand in a circle. One at a time, in clockwise fashion, have students complete the following prompts:
“One person I’d like to interview for my homework is…”
“Something important I would like to ask this person is …”
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Associated Common Core Standards The StoryCorpsU curriculum aligns with the following Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts: College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening. http://www.corestandards.org/ Comprehension and Collaboration 1.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on relevant topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1b Work with peers to set rules for collegial discussions and decision-making (e.g., informal consensus, taking votes on key issues, presentation of alternate views), clear goals and deadlines, and individual roles as needed. • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1c Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions. • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1d Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented.
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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas 3.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.5 Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
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Great Questions List
What do you want to be when you grow up? What are your goals for this year? What do you like best about yourself? What’s something people wouldn’t know about you just from looking at you? Tell a story about someone who has had a significant impact on your life. Tell a story about a place that is important to you. Paint a picture of the place and talk about why it’s important to you. Tell a story about an accomplishment or event from your past that had a significant impact on you. Tell us a story that says something important about who you are. Some students have a background, identity, interest or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later successes. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma – anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, which marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
Questions for Peer Interviews
What is the hardest thing you have ever had to do? What are you proudest of in your life? Who has had the biggest influence on your life and how? Questions to Ask Teachers
Do you believe that this is a good school? Why or why not? Tell us a story that shows what you find most challenging/rewarding about being a teacher. Have you ever thought about changing your career? If so, why didn’t you? How is this school different from or similar to the school you went to growing up? Tell us about a student who had a significant impact on you. What do you know now that you wish you had known on your first day as a teacher? Tell us a story about your biggest success in school. 5
Tell us a story that illustrates what you’re trying to learn to do better as a teacher? If you could tell your students something about you that they wouldn’t know otherwise, what would it be? How do you want your students to remember you? Are there any words of wisdom you’d like to pass along to us?
More Suggested Questions What was the happiest moment of your life? The saddest? Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did you learn? What are you proudest of in your life? How has your life been different from what you’d imagined? Who are your best friends? What are they like? Tell me a story about the best teacher you ever had. Can you tell us a story about any cultural traditions observed by your family and help us understand why they are important? Tell us a story about your biggest success in school. Tell a story about what you learned from your biggest failure in school. Are there any words of wisdom you’d like to pass along to us? What was the happiest moment of your life? The saddest? Is there anything that you’ve never told anyone but want to tell me now? Is there something about me that you’ve always wanted to know but have never asked? Do you have any favorite stories about…? What was it like where you grew up? What was your childhood like? What were your parents like? If you could do everything again, what would you do differently? Have you ever had your heart broken? Have you ever broken a heart? Can you tell me about your religious beliefs/spiritual beliefs? What was the most profound spiritual moment of your life? If you believe in God, can you please describe Him/Her? When you meet God, what do you want to say to Him? Tell the story of the circumstances that prompted your family’s decision to immigrate to the United States. What were your first impressions of this country? How would you describe your initial living arrangements? What was it like where you grew up? What are your best memories? Worst memories? What is your ethnic background? What do you know about your ethnic background? Where are your parents from? Have they told you any stories about growing up or living where they’re from? Have you ever been there? What was that experience like? Paint us a picture of your favorite relative that helps us see why that person is a favorite.
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Paint me a picture of the happiest moment of your life. The saddest? What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life? What are you proudest of in your life? Why? How would you like to be remembered? What are your dreams for me? Are you proud of me? Do you have any favorite stories from your childhood? If you could do any other type of job, what would it be? Why? What are the classic family stories? Jokes? Songs? Are you a feminist? If so, what makes you this? If your race, ethnicity, or gender is depicted negatively by the media, tell a story that helps us understand how this affects you. If you communicate who you are through your style, describe it and tell us how it communicates who you are.
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Tips for Effective Interviews Video Transcript Speaker 1:
You must be my 2 o'clock. How may I help you?
Speaker 2:
I'm here for the interview, I mean, how to conduct an interview.
Speaker 1:
Great. I've broken it down into four important tips. Grab a pen and sit down while I will start with the first one. Effective interview questions touch on big important subjects. Now, let's watch this film to get an example.
Speaker 3:
What's the biggest challenge you've faced throughout high school?
Speaker 4:
I was bullied, both in school and online. It got so bad last year that I actually stopped going to school.
Speaker 1:
See how the student shared something about an experience that impacted her? When you get someone to talk about something important to them, you might be able to help someone else who has the same issue. OK?
Speaker 2:
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1:
Tip number two, open-ended questions. Keep the conversation going because they require more than a yes or no answer.
Speaker 3:
Have you grown as a person throughout high school?
Speaker 4:
Yes.
Speaker 1:
That was a closed-ended question. A question that can only be answered by a yes or no, and all the interviewer got as an answer was a simple yes. That was it. Now, let's see an open-ended question.
Speaker 3:
Have you grown as a person throughout high school based off of something that happened to you?
Speaker 4:
One time, I was working late and I came home so exhausted. I fell asleep before I could finish my history project. Usually the past, I would have just taken a zero, but I'm ...
Speaker 1:
See what I mean? An open-ended question provides a more detailed answer. That's the goal here. Now, let's move on to the third. After the person being interviewed answers, try to use a follow up question. It makes it easier for that person being interviewed to continue the conversation on the subject. Now let's look at an example of a follow-up question.
Speaker 3:
Describe how you felt on your first day of being a high school freshmen.
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Speaker 4:
Honestly, I didn't know how to feel. I was very nervous.
Speaker 3:
What were you so nervous about?
Speaker 4:
I was definitely nervous about fitting in, and meeting people because it's a new school, and I didn't know anybody. I was also nervous ...
Speaker 1:
You see. You always get more depth than a subject. We key in in what the interviewee says. Now let's move on to our final tip. Effective questions prove that the interviewer cares for and listens to the interviewee. Our last example.
Speaker 3:
What are your plans for after high school?
Speaker 4:
I want to go to college in state because I know it's more affordable. I'm not sure what school yet, but I know that ...
Speaker 1:
You see what he's doing here. He's facing the interviewee, making eye contact, listening, nodding, letting them speak, but most important, no phone, no TV. He's eliminated all destruction so they can stay focused.
Speaker 2:
Wow. That was good.
Speaker 1:
You better believe it. You know what?
Speaker 2:
What?
Speaker 1:
I can see that you are going to be one great interviewer.
Speaker 2:
Really?
Speaker 1:
Of course, you stick to those four tips I gave you, and you are good to go. Now, get out on the world. Do some interviews and treat the people you interview like you care about what they're saying. Ask questions of topics of importance, and be curious, and have an open heart.
Speaker 2:
Yes, sir.
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Q & A Animation Twelve-year-old Joshua Littman, who has Asperger’s syndrome, interviews his mother, Sarah. “Have you ever lied to me?”
Transcript: Joshua Littman: On a scale of one to 10, what do you think your life would be different without animals? Sarah Littman: I think it would be about an eight without animals, because they add so much pleasure to life. JL: How else do you think your life would be different without them? SL: Well, I could do without things like cockroaches and snakes. JL: Well, I’m OK with snakes as long as they’re not venomous and can constrict you or anything. SL: Yeah, I’m not a big snake person. JL: But the cockroach is just the insect we love to hate. SL: Yeah. It really is. JL: Have you ever felt like life is hopeless? SL: When I was a teenager, I was very depressed, and I think that can be quite common in teenagers who think a lot. And that are perceptive. JL: Am I like that? SL: You’re very much like that. JL: Do you have any mortal enemies? SL: I would say my worst enemy is sometimes myself. But I don’t think I have any mortal enemies. JL: You don’t have like a [inaudible]. SL: No, I don’t. But I’m sure when I was probably in middle school there were people there that made me feel the way you feel about him. But to be honest, I don’t really remember that. JL: Have you ever lied to me? SL: I probably have, but I try not to lie to you even if sometimes the questions you ask me make me uncomfortable.
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JL: Like when we go on our walks? And some of the questions I might ask? SL: Yeah. But you know what? I feel it’s really special that you and I can have those kind of talks, even if I feel myself blushing a little bit. JL: Have you ever felt like you couldn’t cope with having a child? SL: [Laughs] I remember when you were a baby, you had really bad colic and you used to just cry and cry— JL: What’s colic? SL: It’s like when you get this stomachache and all you can do is scream for hours and hours— JL: Even louder than Amy does? SL: You were pretty loud, but Amy’s was more high-pitched. JL: I think it feels like everyone seems, like, to like Amy more. Like, it seems like she’s, like, the perfect little angel. SL: Well, I can understand why you think that people like Amy more, and I’m not saying it’s because of your Asperger’s syndrome, but being friendly comes easily to Amy, whereas I think for you it’s probably more difficult. But the people who take the time to get to know you love you so much. JL: Like Ben or Eric or Carlos? SL: Yeah. JL: It’s like I, like I have better-quality friends but less quantity? SL: I wouldn’t judge the quality, but I think really the quantity of friends isn’t what matters, it’s the quality of friends. JL: Like Amy, like two years ago, like, it seemed like, first it was like Amy loved Claudia, then she hated Claudia. She loved Claudia, then she hated Claudia. SL: Yeah. You know what, part of that’s a girl thing, honey. The important thing for you is that you have a few very good friends, and really that’s what you need in life. JL: Did I turn out to be the son you wanted when I was born? Like, did I meet your expectations and— SL: You’ve exceeded my expectations, sweetie. Because, you know, sure, you have these fantasies of, you know, what your child’s gonna be like, but you have, you have made me grow so much as a parent because you think— JL: Well, I was the one who made you a parent. SL: You were the one who made me a parent. That’s a good point. But, but also because you think differently from, you know, what they tell you in the parenting books. JL: Yeah. SL: I really had to learn to think out of the box with you. And it’s made me much more creative as a parent and as a person, and I’ll always thank you for that.
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JL: And that helped when Amy was born? SL: And that helped when Amy was born, but you are just so incredibly special to me, and I’m so lucky to have you as my son.
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