Investigative Reporter — Interview and Write
The child interviews a family member about their life, career, or an interesting experience, then organises the information into a short written article. Parent observes question formation quality, active listening, writing organisation, and the ability to synthesise a conversation into coherent informational writing. This reveals language skills at the intersection of social communication, critical thinking, and composition.
Opens a guided voice session in TogetherTime.
What you'll need
The child needs paper and pen (or a device to type on). Identify the interviewee — it can be the parent themselves or another available family member. If doing it with the parent, the parent should answer genuinely and at length, not give one-word answers. Give the child 5 minutes to prepare questions. A quiet, comfortable interview setting helps.
How it works
- 1~40s
Let your child write the questions. After five minutes, ask to see the list. I want to know: how many questions did they write? Are they open-ended questions that invite detailed answers, or yes/no questions that would end the conversation? Are they generic ('What do you do?') or specific and thoughtful ('What's the hardest decision you've ever made at work?')? Is there a logical flow — do the questions build on each other or are they random? Tell me the questions!
Watch for: Quality and sophistication of prepared interview questions — open-endedness, depth, flow, and specificity
- 2~50s
Time for the interview! Let your child ask the questions and take notes or record the answers. As they interviews, watch for three things. First: does they actually LISTEN, or just read the next question regardless of what the person said? Second: does they ask follow-up questions based on interesting things the interviewee says — going off the prepared list when a good thread appears? Third: does they take notes effectively — capturing key details and quotes? Give them 5-7 minutes to do the interview, then tell me what you observed!
Watch for: Active listening during the interview — following up on answers, adapting questions, demonstrating engagement with what's being said
- 3~50s
Now the synthesis challenge. Ask your child to write a short article — 3-5 paragraphs — based on the interview. Not just a transcript of questions and answers, but an actual article with a beginning, middle, and end. As they writes (or dictates), watch for: does they organise the information thematically or just in the order it was discussed? Does they include a hook or interesting opening? Does they choose which details to include and which to leave out — showing editorial judgment? Give them 5-7 minutes to write, then tell me about the article!
Watch for: Quality of informational writing — organisation, synthesis, editorial judgment, and engagement