Family Research & Interview Prep
Family participation is essential to this unit — see the family-communication note below.
Practice interviewing through improv; co-write a few interview questions.
Children wonder and discover; you facilitate more than you lecture.
- How is my family’s story connected to the larger Jewish story?
- What do I want to learn from my relative?
Children will interview an older relative (or a family friend/community elder if needed). This unit teaches interview skills and generates questions. Coordinate early with families about goals and deadlines.
- Mishpacha — family
- Dor — generation
- Sippur — story
- “What if I can’t interview a relative?”
- A family friend, neighbor, or community elder works wonderfully — every child can take part.
- Children prepare interview questions and learn interview skills.
- Children generate ideas for a creative project.
Plan inclusive alternatives so children without an available older relative (e.g., adoptees, refugees) fully participate and feel proud, not excluded.
Folktale. The Grandmother’s Recipe (Folklore) — a recipe passed down that carries a whole family’s story.
Changemaker. Steven Spielberg — recorded thousands of survivors’ stories so their families’ memories would never be lost.
Whose story will you capture — and what do you most want to ask?