Telling our life Stories : A Basket Full of Memories

“ I must learn more about my family and friends”

How often have you said to yourself, I must take time to learn more about my grandparents,” or “I have been meaning to talk to my parents about their lives when they were young....One of these days I will”...... Fulfill those good intentions by interviewing someone of another generation– a parent, grandparent, great grandparent, son, daughter grandchild, niece, uncle. Talking to each other and enjoying family stories brings harmony and richness to the educational experience. The interview can be a simple as asking a few questions or as comprehensive as an oral history interview.

Everyone has memories.
Whether you are interviewing a young person or an older person, remember that everyone has memories, regardless of age. Sharing the stories is a bountiful, educational experience– one that invigorates classes, enhances speaking and listening skills, and gives individuals a sense of connection.

Questions to Get Started
Start with something interesting: compare your “favorites” such as:

Another activity for getting started is “Now and Then.” Think about differences when you were both young– for example :

More Ideas for Questions

•Ancestry – What do you remember about your grandparents?
•Housing – What are your first memories of your house? Did you share a bedroom?
•Food – Did you help with the cooking ?
•Clothing – What did you wear as a child? What was your favorite thing to wear?
•Recreation– What did you do for fun in the summer? What did you do for dun in the winter ?
•Religion – What kind of services did you attend ? How did music play a part ?
•Transportation – What was your grandparents mode of transportation ? What was your parents mode of transportation?
•Thoughts about childhood: Ask each other about childhood neighborhoods – brothers and sisters – best friends – games – treats – chores – songs – school days.
• Thoughts about history: Think about important changes in your past – major events remembered – technological advances – when you showed courage.
• Thoughts about today: Best times and worst times–what is difficult – what is fun – interests or hobbies – spending leisure time – changes you would like to see in your neighborhood–problems of the world today – your needs .
• Thoughts about the future: Exciting experiences – contributions that would make the world a better place – the major problems of aging/being a student – how students and older folks can help one another.

Conducting the Interview

Create a positive communication climate, keep the questions simple, non-threatening, and encouraging. Combine questions so that the easy-to-answer questions come first and questions that require careful thinking come later.
•Develop good rapport with the interviewee, and be patient.
•Encourage the person to speak freely
•Respect what the person says regardless of what you might think of the answer.
•Listen carefully
•Use positive non-verbal reactions:
•facial expressions and gestures
•maintain good eye contact
•nod to show understanding
•smile occasionally to maintain the friendliness of the interview

What Do We Have in Common?

After we asked community members about things that were in common between youth and seniors, the two age groups agreed that:

•Youth and seniors make a valuable contribution to the community
•Youth and older adults each have skills to teach each other
•Youth and older adults can be a source of inspiration for one another
• Bringing the two generations together would provide someone for the other group to talk to other than family.

From this common starting point, the following questions may be of assistance in getting the two groups to find their areas of common interest:

•Did you (Senior) Do you (youth) have any unrealistic career goals as a teen?
•What are some lessons you have learned from your life experiences?
•What is/was the hardest part about becoming an adult?
•What do you consider your “unique qualities” right now?

Which of the following areas are most important to you ?
(Pick the ONE you are most interested in)

Youth-Senior Connection - Let’s Begin

Getting Started:
After this initial survey, the groups will be brought together, and some ice breaker activities can be used to ease them into the program. A great strategy is to look at the actual fear and apprehension in the room. The key is to reduce tension in the room while acknowledging that people feel uncomfortable. Icebreakers are a great way to get people feeling more at ease.

Who are we talking about Youth or an Older Adult, you decide!!!
•”They always stick together and keep their distance from other age groups”
•“I hate the way they drive. They are a menace on the road”.
•“They are always taking and never giving. They think the world owes them a living.”
•“They’re so opinionated. They think they know it all.”
•“They’re never satisfied, always complaining about something.”
•“Don’t hire them, you can’t depend on them.”
•“Don’t they have anything better to do than hang around the parks and shopping malls?”
•“Why are they so forgetful?”
•“I wish I had as much freedom as they have.”
•“Why don’t they act their age.”

Say Cheese, please–
As each participant arrives, take their picture with a Polaroid type camera and hand their photo on a piece of easel paper in the entrance are of the meeting room in groups of or three photos(depending on size of meeting- you may have only 2 per group or more if the group is large). Use your creativity and decorate the easel paper to extend a Warm welcome and set the tome of the meeting. Once all participants have arrived, ask them to find their partner(s) from the photo display on the easel and spend about 5-10 minutes getting to know the person(s). Then have them introduce their partner(s) to the rest of the group and share something they discovered they have in common.

Word Trees are a great way of getting people to communicate with one another without feeling pressured to come up with the right answer because they can be about anything. The group can decide. For the Intergenerational purpose, the word may be relationships. This word is then used to create a word tree. Generate a list of words related to the topic. Write all suggestions down and come up with major themes. The major Themes can then be used to create another intergenerational activity such as theme outings or a theme night(Ex: Survivor night)

The questions are as follows; What is your favorite book? What is your favorite holiday? your favorite movie or type of movie? Do you like sports? Do you like or dislike the rain? Have the participants write their answers and name down on index cards and pass them back to you. Based on the answers given on the index cars then put the people into groups according to what they have in common.

More icebreakers