UNIT 1 LESSON 1:
INTRODUCTION TO EACH OTHER AND STORYCORPSU
The following is a brief excerpt from a radio documentary explaining the inspiration behind StoryCorps.
UNIT 1 LESSON 2: WHY DOES ORAL HISTORY MATTER
“What was the saddest moment of your life?”
Ezra Awumey to his grandfather, Sam Harmon
“When I look back, I do realize that I was a little too tough.”
Theresa Nguyen talks to her daughter Stephanie, about balancing their Vietnamese heritage with raising a family in the United States.
UNIT 1 LESSON 3: INTRODUCTION TO VOICETHREAD TECHNOLOGY
“I don’t know what I’d be doing right now without her.”
Martha Rondon, a student at Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools in Washington, D.C., talks about her hopes for the future, and why her sister is her hero.
UNIT 1 LESSON 5: PLACES WE REMEMBER
“I really miss so much about New Orleans.”
Antoinette Franklin and her niece, Iriel Franklin, talk about relocating to Houston after Hurricane Katrina.
UNIT 1 LESSON 6: PEOPLE FROM OUR PAST
“Miss Devine”
As children, cousins Cherie Johnson and James Ransom spent many weekends at their grandparents’ house in Bradenton, Florida. During these visits, they attended Sunday school at the local United Methodist Church. At StoryCorps, Cherie and James remembered their neighbor and Sunday school teacher, Miss Lizzie Devine.
UNIT 1 LESSON 7: THE POWER OF PAST EVENTS
“I got bussed to a high school in my sophomore year…”
Ricardo Pitts-Wiley (RPW) tells his son Jonathan about a year that shaped his life.
UNIT 1 LESSON 8: WHAT MAKES A GOOD INTERVIEW QUESTION?
“Q&A”
Joshua Littman, a twelve-year-old with Asperger’s Syndrome, interviews his mother, Sarah.
UNIT 2 LESSON 1: WHAT’S IN A NAME?
“By the time I was in the second grade, everyone was calling me Raymond.”
Ramón “Chunky” Sanchez remembers how teachers changed the names of Mexican-American students during the 1950s.
UNIT 2 LESSON 3: WHAT IS A PERSONAL ASSET?
“As he’s walking away, I’m like, “Hey, you forgot something…’”
Julio Diaz remembers being robbed on a subway platform in the Bronx.
UNIT 2 LESSON 5: WHO DO YOU SAY YOU ARE?
“I am happier now without my voice than I’ve ever been with my voice.”
Rene Roreman, who survived cancer of the esophagus, tells her daughter Michelle about speaking through an electrolarynx.
UNIT 2 LESSON 6: WHAT INFLUENCES OUR IDENTITY?
“And then it dawned on me-that’s not family, those aren’t friends.”
Omar Leech tells his friend Lenear Pryor about life as a gang member.
UNIT 2 LESSON 7: PEER INTERVIEWS
“No More Questions!”
87-year-old Kay Wang tells her granddaughter, Chen (18), and her son, Cheng (56), about her childhood.
UNIT 2 LESSON 8: LISTENING LAB TO GET AT THE DETAILS
“We were dirty, sweaty, sore muscles, crying. We must have been a sight to see.”
Monica Mayer speaks to her friend Spencer Wilkinson, Jr. about how her father took her and her sisters out to work in his old homestead one day in order to teach them a very important lesson about their education.
UNIT 3 LESSON 1: GOING TO COLLEGE?
“Icing on the Cake”
Blanca Alvarez tells her daughter Connie about illegally crossing the border from Mexico to the United States.
“He saw this country boy, took me over to the side – he didn’t want to embarrass me.”
Larry Young tells his friends Clyde Cleveland about trying to register for college in the early 1940s.
UNIT 3 LESSON 3: THE FUTURE BENEFITS OF GRIT & LEARNED OPTIMISM
“The biggest struggle was to take messages.”
Claritza Abreu tells her friend Gerardo Villacres about the challenges she faced at her first job in the United States.
“Every brain is a little bit different.”
10-year-old Ida Cortez talks about her dyslexia with her mother, Kim Wargo.
UNIT 3 LESSON 4: PREPARATION FOR TEACHER INTERVIEW
“I didn’t have any idea as to what to expect…”
Colbert Williams talks with Ralph Catania, his fifth grade math teacher who later became his legal guardian, about going to live with Ralph at the age of 15.