Interviewing is a skill that needs to be taught to gifted students so that they can use interviews as a primary source for research information. Interviewing supports multiple source, higher level thinking questions that are embedded in the ELA standards. This presentation teaches students basic principles for effective interviews. Sources are cited on the last slide.

Interviews may be conducted in person, over the telephone, by email or letter. Interviews allow a student to gain expert information to support research.

Interviews provide information that may be more updated than what is in a book. Our ELA core asks students to synthesize information from multiple sources. An interview is a terrific additional source to add to books, articles and web pages for research.

Ask students to brainstorm things that need to be prepared before, during, and after the interview process. Brainstorming could be preceded by a quick write, think-pair-share, or other scaffold to guide thinking.
Decide a way for students to have the information from the list, either through their own note-taking or a teacher handout after the list has been created.

Sort items from the brainstorm list into 3 columns--before, during and after. Look first at the column of things that need to happen before an interview even begins. Be sure to include choosing a topic, locating an expert, determining the place of the interview, planning whether it is in person or by phone or email, deciding how to record or take notes, studying up on the subject, and creating a thoughtful question list.

Asking good questions takes preparation.
Closed q's are answered with specific words, like "yes" or "no." Some examples:

"Did you like school?"
"What was your sister's name?"
"How old were you when you got your first job?"

Closed questions are good when you need a clear answer, when the person you are interviewing is shy or when you need to end.

Open questions ask "Why" and invite stories. Young interviewers need practice developing and asking open ended questions.
examples:
"What were some things you liked about school?"
"What sorts of games did you and your sister play together?"
"What was it like for you to stop school and go to work?"

When students ask questions that are prepared beforehand, sometimes they fail to listen to information presented in the interview that might change future questions. This game helps students practice framing questions that guide an interview. Students are against the "teacher" who knows the answer. Each closed question gives the teacher 1 point. 5 points and the teacher wins. When students ask FOLLOW UP questions, they get one point.

Every time students get 3 points for asking follow-up questions, they get to make one guess about who the fairy tale character is.

The teacher's goal is to help students ask effective questions, not really to fool the students. Be sure to tell students when they are asking really good questions.

Good questions can tease out a theme in an interview. One way to do this is ask before and after questions.

A teacher can practice this by telling a story and having students ask before and after questions to develop a theme. Students can earn points when questions uncover parts of the theme. When they have earned 5 points the teacher says they have "won."

To help students develop this more advanced interviewing skill, teacher might tell them a true story from my life, for example about the time he accidentally threw a stone through a car windshield, and then was so frightened he lied about having done it. The story should seem complete in itself, but also have several possible themes in it.

Then, the teacher encourages the students to ask "before" questions or "after" questions that develop a theme in the story. Examples might include, "Tell us about the first time you ever lied," or "Was there a time after that when you got that scared again? Tell us about it."

With a student volunteer as interviewee, teacher may ask a series of closed-ended questions without taking into account - or even waiting for - the answers. Teacher should talk about her/his own experiences at length, giving advice or speaking judgmentally about what the interviewee says. Teacher may even insult the interviewee or get distracted by something in the environment. After, ask the students to describe some of awful things the teacher did.

When students are finally ready to conduct a good interview, have them choose a subject, research the subject, create a framework of questions, and practice asking the questions to each other. This might be best in a fishbowl setup so observers can offer feedback about the interview process. In addition to questions, have students practice personal introductions, managing note-taking or voice-recording software, and other elements of the interview.

Students will need notes to support the following information:
1. Be on time
2. Introduce yourself
3. When asking questions, allow for sufficient wait time. Don't be impatient or rush the interview.
4. Make eye contact.
5. Follow the principles you learned about good questions! Make it a conversation.
6. Don't write down everything. Take down the highlights.

Also, take notes on what the person looked like, what the person was wearing, where he or she sat. If the interview is in an office, make notes of what is on the walls and on the desk. The objects people surround themselves with hold important clues to their personalities. Ask about any object that interests you. You’ll find some good stories!

After the interview, write down everything you can remember. Write about the setting, the feelings you experienced, and the things you learned from the experience, in addition to the actual words said.

Research more about the person and the topic, now that you have additional insight. Clarify anything you are unsure about from the interview.

Circle or highlight the best parts of the interview for your article or essay.

It is important to thank the person for their time and thoughts. Send a thank you card in the mail if possible in addition to thanking in person as the interview is concluded.

Offer to share your finished product with your interviewee.