Interview an Older Relative Homework

3rd Grade Social StudiesCommunities Past and Present6 pages

About this worksheet

This 3rd grade oral history homework sends students home to interview an older relative, neighbor or family friend about life at their age. A note to families explains continuity and change. Six set questions ask about the neighborhood, getting to school, games, keeping in touch with faraway family, chores and a remembered community event. Students then write two questions of their own, one a Why or How follow-up. Back in class they fill a then and now table under four topics and finish a paragraph frame. The 6 pages cite C3 D2.His.2.3-5 and D2.His.3.3-5, and the answers give a sample interview and a completed frame.

Page 1 of 6

When this preview is focused, use the left and right arrow keys to move between pages.

Curriculum objectives covered

D2.His.2.3-5

โ€œCompare life in specific historical time periods to life today.โ€

The Page 3 table and the paragraph frame set the interviewee's childhood next to the student's life under four topics.

D2.His.3.3-5

โ€œGenerate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities.โ€

Questions 7 and 8 ask students to write their own interview question and a Why or How follow-up.

What's inside this worksheet

Note to Families

A short note asking families to let the student ask the questions, listen and write the answers in their own words.

Part 1: The Interview

Questions 1 to 6 cover where they lived, school, games, staying in touch, chores and a community event. Questions 7 and 8 are the student's own, the second a Why or How follow-up.

Part 2: Then and Now Comparison

A table for School & Learning, Free Time & Fun, Communication & Technology and Family Chores & Daily Life, with a then column and a now column.

Part 3: Historian's Summary

A paragraph frame that names one change, one example of continuity and the most surprising thing the student learned.

Answers

A grading note, sample responses for all ten questions, and a model paragraph about Grandma Rosa's three-channel black-and-white TV.

How teachers use it

Rehearse in class

Model questions 1 and 2 with a colleague before the sheet goes home. Students who hear a follow-up asked live write better ones for question 8.

Plan for every family

Not every child has an older relative nearby. Say up front that a neighbor or family friend counts, as the family note allows, and that a phone interview is fine.

Share the surprises

Collect the last line of each paragraph frame and read a few aloud. They make a quick class display on how childhood has changed.

More 3rd Grade Social Studies worksheets

Get started today

Create your own lesson plans, worksheets, and classroom activities in minutes using our AI-powered tools.

Try Chalkie for free