My Hero
Module 1, Activity 5.3 - Feature Interview
Teacher Page
(student page for this lesson)

Introduction:

An important part of every feature story is the interview. However, before an interview ever takes place, there is much preparation to be done. In this lesson, students will begin work on their feature story by doing the necessary background research and interviewing a hero in their life or community. Students are building on what they learned in a previous class on strong interview techniques.

Resources:

- facts/sources handout (.doc) or (.rtf)
- process evaluation sheet (.doc) or (.rtf)

Activities:

Task One - Objectivity and Your Subject

Once students have decided on an appropriate person to write about, have them complete a free write on that person.

Once students have completed the free write, they should organize their thoughts in the way suggested on the student version of this page. Students should also review the definition of objectivity. Looking at the categories and the definition, you will try to lead the students into thinking about bias and feature writing.

Discuss the following question and the ways in which they can attempt to write with objectivity:

As a journalist, it is your job to present an unbiased view. How can you do this when you are writing about someone you clearly admire?

Task Two - Beginning The Research
Help the students to organize their thoughts about their heroes using the handout. They begin by listing facts about the person. Then students write down where they might be able to find out more about these facts.

This list of facts and ideas for more research should give students a sufficient starting place. If students are having trouble deciding who to interview other than their chosen hero, you may want to provide some examples:

1. If you want to profile the president of your 4-H club, you should research this person's background in 4-H. You might consider interviewing the one of the judges at his/her last competition or a person they have worked with in the past.

2. If you want to profile a team coach, you could interview players from the past when he/she had both winning and losing teams. You might also look into high school or university statistics to see what type of player this person was.

Task Three - Reviewing Interview Techniques
Before students begin researching for their feature, it is a good time to review how to properly interview someone.

Have students complete the role play on the student version of this page. You may want to take time to recap concepts such as asking open-ended and follow-up questions, listening attentively, making eye contact, and taking notes.

Task Four - Diving In
Now that students have reviewed important concepts, they are ready to dive into the researching for their feature.

It is a good idea to set some specific requirements for students before they begin. You may want to set guidelines such as the ones listed on the student version of this page. These will give students hard and fast goals that they can strive towards.

Task Three will allow you to observe the students' understanding of strong interviewing technique. While you will not formally assess this activity, you can circulate, listen and offer feedback and suggestions.