Humans of Manhasset

Title of Project: Humans of Manhasset

How do stories of power, visibility, and belonging shape our understanding of the human experience?

Schools and Teachers

Manhasset Secondary School Teacher: Ashley Wong Co-Teachers: Michael McDonough, Mark Breckles

ENL Proficiency Level | ENL Program | Standards | Technology

Transitioning, Expanding, Commanding | Stand-Alone, Integrated ENL/ELA | 9-10SL1, 9-10SL2, 9-10SL5 | Google Slides, Chromebook Recorder

Assessments

Teacher Assessment:

Teachers will use a rubric to assess based on: Central message; Organization and clarity; Content; Preparation, poise, and delivery; Visuals; Connections to The Arrival, another work of literature, and pop culture/history; and mastery of spelling, grammar, usage, punctuation, and capitalization.

Student Self Assessment:

As part of their final presentation, students will reflect on their learning throughout the process of the project. They must create a slide where they offer closure and take-aways of the project. A take-away could be life advice, interesting questions raised by their project, how they have grown from the interviews, etc.

Checklist:

Typed Transcript of your interview
Portrait of your interviewee
Photo of you and your interviewee in the same setting to prove ownership

Description

For our project, we will explore the human condition through the interview process and through great works of literature we have read while at Manhasset Secondary School, including The Arrival. Students will conduct 3 interviews centered on a choice of one of the following themes : Powerfulness vs. Powerlessness, Visibility vs. Invisibility, and Outsider vs. Insider. They will gather a variety of stories from a diverse population of interviewees. Using their takeaways from their 3 interviews, students will create a Google Slides presentation with the option of using Google’s new recording function, Chromebook Recorder, to record their storytelling.

Content

I can gather and evaluate diverse perspectives from literature and interviews.

Language

I can express my ideas clearly and build on my interviewees’ contributions during discussions on themes like Powerfulness vs. Powerlessness, Visibility vs. Invisibility, and Outsiders vs. Insider.

Technology

I can use digital tools such as Google Slides’ recording function to present my interview findings, using visuals to enhance understanding of key themes and engage my audience.

Student work

Student project about visibility vs. invisibility

Student work connecting themes to the novel "The Arrival"

Student work connecting themes to pop culture movie The Truman Show

Procedure

Step 1: Selection Process

- Students will choose the THREE (3) people to interview and ask their permission.
- Their subjects must follow these guidelines:
  - One of the people you interview must be under the age of 25
  - One of the people you interview must be over the age of 25
  - Only ONE (1) of the people you choose can be from your family
  - One of the people you interview must be of a different gender than the other people you interview.
- Students must choose one theme to center their interviews:
  - Powerfulness vs. Powerlessness
  - Visibility vs. Invisibility
  - Outsider vs. Insider
- Each theme has a set of questions that goes along with it, but students must create two questions on their own using English yes/no or Wh- question formation.

Step 2: The Interviews

- Students must record their interview using their phone recorder OR Chromebook Recorder. This can be done through video or audio. This will allow them to play back the interviews for transcription. The interview must be a verbal conversation between them and the person they are interviewing.
- They must ask all of the questions for your selected topic.
- They must ask at least TWO (2) follow-up questions.
- Visual component:
  - Sometime during each interview, students must take a portrait of their interviewee that visually demonstrates their talking points.
  - Students must prove that you took the photo. Whether it is before or after photographing your subject, they must take a selfie near the person in order to prove that they took the picture and did not simply obtain it from them.

Step 3: Creating a Transcript of their interviews!

- Students will listen to their interviews and type out a transcript.

Step 4: Compiling Research

- Students will reread their interviews and craft a statement that encompasses the dominant impression or the universal, generic truth found throughout the answers to their interview questions.
- Then, students will craft a statement (central idea) about humanity that reflects their findings and advances our understanding about the topic they chose.

Step 5: Crafting Google Slides

- Introductory Slide
- Statement about the Human Condition
- Portrait and Excerpt from the Interviews: Students will walk the class through their portraits and key findings from their interviews. Students will have AT LEAST ONE (1) portrait for each interviewee and AT LEAST ONE (1) significant quote from the interview. They will be encouraged to include a short biography of the person they interviewed.
- Connection to the graphic novel, The Arrival by Shaun Tan: Students must apply their statement about the human condition to their analysis of The Arrival, using specific evidence from the graphic novel INCLUDING panels from the text.
- Connection to Another Work of Literature: Students will review their reading and analysis of another work of literature they have read in school. They must apply their statement about the human condition to your analysis of this work, using specific evidence from the novel in the form of a direct quotation with proper MLA citation.
- Connection to Pop Culture/History: Students will connect what they learned about the human condition to a work of pop culture (film, television show, comic book, music, painting, etc.) or an event in history.
- They will include main takeaways in their closure. A take-away could be life advice, interesting questions raised by your project, how you have grown from your interviews, etc.

Step 6: Scripting+Presenting

- In preparation for their presentations, students will type a script of what they will say for each slide.
- Then, they will transform their script into notecards for an in-class presentation OR a video using Google Slides’ new Record function. They will tell the stories of their interview subjects, making sure to include all above components!

Resources and Other Materials

Google Slides
Chromebook Recorder

Reflection

This English project was designed to encourage students to engage in meaningful conversations with people from diverse backgrounds and ages while exploring important themes in literature and real-world contexts. Reflecting on the process, I believe this project has been highly successful in developing students’ skills in interviewing, critical thinking, and communication.

The requirement for students to interview individuals from different age groups, genders, and familial connections helped them develop a deeper understanding of the complexities of human experience. The diversity of interviewees also allowed students to appreciate different perspectives, which in turn enhanced their ability to analyze themes of power, visibility, and belonging.

The inclusion of portraits and a visual element in the project was a great way for students to connect their interviews to the real world. The requirement to prove that the portrait was their own furthered their personal investment in the project. Combining these visuals with quotes and their narrative helped students communicate their findings in a compelling and creative manner.

As expected, some students found the presentation aspect of the project intimidating. Although most students excelled in creating thoughtful Google Slides, a few struggled to present their findings confidently in front of the class. Next time, I may introduce more practice opportunities and give students feedback on how to effectively script and deliver their presentations.

Overall, throughout the project, I saw students grow in a number of areas. Their analytical thinking and ability to synthesize ideas from different sources were particularly enhanced. The process of crafting a statement about the human condition based on their interviews encouraged students to think deeply about universal themes and connect them with their own lives. Many students also reported that the interviews gave them a new appreciation for perspectives different from their own, and the project itself was a valuable exercise in empathy.

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