Getting to Know You

Patrick Akerley
Lakeshore High School
St. Clair Shores, Michigan

Objective
Students will get acquainted with each other, test their interview skills and write a personality feature.

Rationale
To overcome the awkwardness of a new staff merging with last year’s veterans, students will learn that everyone in class is the possible subject of a feature story. By interviewing and writing about one of their classmates, students will get a taste of the journalistic trip they are about to embark on, and as a bonus, they will get to know their classmates.

Activities and Procedures

Activity 1

• Adviser will randomly pick a student to interview in front of the class. Students will observe the interview and take notes about the questions asked during the interview. Adviser will write a personality feature on this student to be read the next day.
• Students draw names to determine their interview subject.
• Students are given a “false fact” that they will tell about themselves during the interview
• Students will conduct their interviews
• Allow 5-10 minutes for each interview
• Students will try to determine the “false fact” by verifying the facts of the interview. (They can do this by checking with friends or the adviser)
• Hand out examples of personality features
• Discuss “what is a feature?”
• Students will begin writing their feature

Activity 2

• Adviser will read his/her student feature story
• Students present their features
• Determine if students found “false facts”
• Discuss the good points about the features read

Continuing Assignment

Students will interview a staff member (teacher, administrator, counselor, etc.) and write a brief personality feature.