TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE

 

This activity is focused in communication, learning vocabulary and producing definitions.

-Vocabulary and structures: key vocabulary from the unit (serf, noble, clergy, knight, bishop, etc.) and simple sentences.

-The activity could be both oral and written. Oral: students in the blackboard write their options and ask their mates. Written: they do it in their notebooks.

-The discourse is mainly descriptive.

Write the key vocabulary on the board.

Students write 3 descriptions.

What is a serf? A serf is a person who

a) is poor

b) doesn’t own land and

c) surfs at the beach.

Write an example for: nobles, clergy, knight, etc.

 

 and Miriam Hernando suggests:

This is a great ice breaker but I also use it by the end of the unit, as a way to review.

When students write them, by the end we also check possible spelling or grammar mistakes (not during the game, as that will interrupt the fluency).

I play it in two ways:

·        Me giving the definitions, they trying to guess (competition mode)

·        They write the descriptions in groups and the other groups guess

I recommend you both!

Remember that if you want to make it digital, you could use Kahoot or Quizziz for it.

Here it’s a nice link about why it’s good to use it

https://busyteacher.org/20650-call-my-bluff-esl-adaptation-5-steps.html

Finally, when I use it in 4º ESO, I try them to use more formal expressions for their choices as this is an opportunity for students to use language of deduction:

It could/might/may be….

It can’t be ….. because …..

It must be ….. because …..

By a process of elimination, I’d say it’s ….

There’s no way it’s …. because …

… is too obvious.

Pre-Columbian civilizations

Shared by Julen García:

Option 1:

An example of activity that I carry out in the classroom is using kahoot game in order to review the main contents and vocabulary of the unit.

The one that I use is related with pre-Columbian civilizations:

https://create.kahoot.it/share/aztec-inca-maya-quiz-g-h-2-eso-jgg/d30b2ff8-7ac7-4e1d-84e7-e0e59e65bfe2

I consider so important student´s motivation so I try to use this kind of resources in my classes, they really enjoy them, they review the main contents and also the main vocabulary.

Option 2:

I go on working on pre-Columbian civilizations. I show the students brief videos about these civilizations in order to introduce contents related with them and also I provide them with more resources such as articles, notes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3odJDGKPPTU&ab_channel=NewMayanCalendar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3kWJfkqT0g&ab_channel=HISTORY

Finally, they have to create their notes completing questions according with the key points of these civilizations.

SPIES in WWII: women in the dark

  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbZgLKjrdnA

I have found the following review of the film very interesting in more than one aspect: A Call to Spy  

Review of the film by Sheila O'Malley: 

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-call-to-spy-movie-review-2020

"Get used to lady spies."—SOE officer to grumbling male intelligence agents

So much of good storytelling is finding the stories not yet told, peeking through the cracks for the voices and experiences that haven't "made it" into the mainstream narrative of oft-told historical events. 

This is what "Hidden Figures"—the movie and the term itself—is all about. The story of America's space exploration has been told countless times, in books, documentaries, movies, approached from every possible angle. But the "Hidden Figures" story had, quite literally, never been told until Margot Lee Shetterly wrote her wonderful book. 

Continue reading the article here

and shared by Miryan Hernando

I made some research about this and found these two websites for further info:

• A CALL TO SPY REAL HISTORY
• THE HISTORY PRESS with a section about women

CROSS-CURRICULAR: HISTORICAL NEWSPAPER

Shared by Rubén López

Project: ‘Historical Newspaper’
4th Year ESO

Introduction and Objectives:

        In this section we will focus on the analysis of a cross-curricular project, carried out two years ago, working together with other teachers from different departments (Spanish language and English) called ‘Historical Newspaper’. It was applied in a group of 4th ESO throughout the 2017-2018 course.

        The project tried to fulfill several objectives:

        1. The use of an active and participative didactic methodology, which would allow the students to be the protagonist of their teaching-learning process.

        2. The development of individual and cooperative learning by competences, through the co- resolution of tasks in order to achieve the transfer of learning.

        3. Focus on problem-situations, which the student should solve making appropriate use of the different types of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. Thus, learning by projects favors active participation, the development of competences, and the motivation of students.

        4. Promote motivation to learn. The key element is that students understand what they learn, know what they are learning it for, and be able to use what they have learned in different contexts, inside and outside the classroom.

        5. The teamwork of the teaching staff to provide a multidisciplinary approach to the educational process, selecting the best methodological strategies and choosing quality teaching materials and resources.

        6. Use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

        Description of the Project:

        The activity, based on the historical newspaper format, tries to put the pupils in front of real historical situations. It is about each group of students going through the most relevant historical events in Contemporary History narrating them as if they were journalists who have just witnessed what happened.

        Thus, collaboration with the Spanish language department will be of a paramount importance, especially in the treatment of journalistic language and objective narrative style. Something similar happens with the English department, as it is a great opportunity to improve general and specific vocabulary.

The project was developed following a series of steps:

        1. Class organization in heterogeneous cooperative groups of 3-4 people.

        2. Assignment of topics / historical stages, related to Contemporary History (from the Crisis of the Ancient Regime to the Present World).

        3. Selection of relevant news related to each historical period.

        4. Journalistic treatment of the news (in close collaboration with the Spanish language and English teachers).

        5. Preparation of a digital PowerPoint presentation (development of ICT skills).

        6. Oral presentation to the class, as part of the final mark of the activity.

        7. Maximum dissemination of the works through the development of a collaborative blog (http://artlovers4eso.blogspot.com/) and the paper print of the work for its later exhibition through the center. At the same time, an open poll may be posted on the blog to assess the best or best jobs (the most voted will receive bonus points in the final mark).

Assessment:

        Finally, for the assessment of the project, we will use rubrics so that we can know the competence development acquired by the students, both when generating their works and when transmitting the knowledge acquired to the rest of the class.

Rubric oral presentations	Excellent	Very good/good	Good	Needs improvement
Information, subject knowledge & presentation	Students demonstrate full knowledge of the subject. They have time enough to give the most important information. At the end they summarize the most relevant information.	Students demonstrate good knowledge of the subject, with explanations and elaborations. They can't explain all the items properly because they don't have time enough. At the end they try to summarize the most relevant information.	Students demonstrate not much knowledge of the subject. They finish before it's time. They don't summarize the most relevant information.	Students demonstrate very poor knowledge of the subject. They finish before it's time and They don't know what to say. They have problems with the presentation and they don't summarize the most relevant information.
Organization	Students present complete information in logical, interesting sequence which audience can follow. All the members take part in the explanation.	Students present information in logical sequence which audience can follow. All the members take part in the explanation.	Audience has difficulty following the presentation because students jump around. The order of the presentation is not clear. There aré students who don't participate in the explanation.	Audience cannot understand the presentation because there is no sequence of information. The order of the presentation is not clear.
Graphics and maps	Very interesting and high quality photographs or maps. They go well with the text. Good mix of text and graphics.	Interesting photographs or maps. They go well with the text, but there are so many that distract from the text.	The graphics go well with the text, but there are too few and They are not very interesting.	The graphics do not go with the accompanying text or appear to be randomly chosen.
Enthusiasm, elocution & use of English	Students demonstrate a strong positive feeling about the topic during the entire presentation, with a clear voice and correct pronunciation so that all audience members can hear it. Very good use of English.	Students occasionally show positive feelings about the topic. The voice is clear. They pronounce most words correctly. Most audience members can hear the presentation. Good use of English.	Students show some negativity towards the topic presented. Their voice is low with incorrectly pronounced terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing the presentation. Poor use of English, mixed with Spanish.	Students show absolutely no interest in the topic presented. They mumble, with incorrectly pronounced terms. Very poor use of English, mixed with Spanish.
Body language and poise	Movements seem fluid and help the audience visualize. Students display relaxed, self- confident nature about self, with no mistakes.	Students make movements or gestures that facilitate articulation. They make minor mistakes, but quickly recover from them, displaying little or no tension.	Very little movements or descriptive gestures. Students display mild tension and have trouble recovering from mistakes.	No movements or descriptive gestures. Tension and nervousness is obvious. They have trouble recovering from mistakes.

Conclusions:

We have explained a collaborative project that allows students to approach the study of Contemporary History in an active and participatory way, making them feel like protagonists of their own teaching-learning process. At the same time, we are promoting cooperative learning through group task resolution. In addition to this, we are working on key competences, which will allow us to obtain more lasting and permanent learning. Finally, we are working on ICTs, managing to increase students' motivation to learn.

CROSS-CURRICULAR: ARTS, LITERATURE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Shared by Natalia Bodega:

PROJECT:  “World War I and Europe of the twenties and thirties”.

I want to relate History, Art, Literature, Visual and Plastic Expression and Technology.

The objective is to produce great drawings that are reproductions of famous paintings of the artistic Vanguards of the first third of the 20th century.

 1. "The Fountain" by Marcel Duchamp

2. "The Great Blue Horses" by "Der Blaue Reitter"

 2."The City rises" by Boccioni

3."Deustchland über alles" by Kurt Tucholsky

5. "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt

Students have to get continuous paper and through models, draw and paint the reproductions of these famous paintings.

This is related to the subject of Plastic and Visual Expression. 

Accompanying the images they will write texts of famous

writers of the twenties and thirties.

1. For example, a text about the first world war of Erich María Remarque (author of "No news on the front") to accompany "La Fuente" by Marcel Duchamp. To demonstrate the nonsense of war.

2. A text from Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" to go to "The Great Blue Horses" by "Der Blaue Reiter". To demonstrate the Expressionist Movement in Literature.

3. A text of "The Futuristic Manifesto" next to "The city rises" of Boccioni. To demonstrate the Futuristic ideas.

4. A text of "Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood next to "Deutchland über alles" by Kurt Tucholsky. To show the daily life in Berlin during the rising of Nazism.

5. A text by Stephan Zweig about life in Imperial Vienna to accompany "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt.

The content of this activity is related to the subject of Language and Literature.

All the images will go next to a small explanation about the historical circumstances in those years.

1. "The Fountain" by Marcel Duchamp, related to the big massacre in the WWI.

  

2. "The Great Blue Horses" by "Der Blaue Reitter", related to the raising of Nazism and the Crack of 1929 and its repercussions in Europe.

  

3. "The City rises" by Boccioni, related to the raising of Italian Fascism.

3. "Deustchland über alles" by Kurt Tucholsky, related to the Weimar Republic and the hyperinflation.

  

5. "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt related to the fall of the Austro – Hungarian Empire after 1918.

So, it will relate to the subject of History.

Students will record the realization of the paintings and texts. Then they will upload it to the internet.

This is related to the subject of Technology.

CROSS CURRICULAR PROJECT: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Shared by Amalia Ugarte: 

This project involves the following subjects:

-        Social Science.

-        French.

-        Arts.

We are going to work the French revolution from various fields: historical, cultural and artistic.

All the activities will finally be integrated in a final product, a "Cahier de condolences" in which the following activities have to be included:

Social Sciences:

- Historical context of the French revolution and its most important periods.

- Artistic analysis of the most emblematic buildings of the French Revolution.

Arts:

- Students will create a cardboard mock up of those buildings. After that, they will explain their mock ups to the rest of the students during Social Sciences class. 

French

- We will analyse the Marsellaise and afterwards, the pupils learning this subject will explain it to the rest of the class in Social Sciences.

Finally, they have to write everything in the Cahier, and the Spanish teacher will participate reviewing the composition.

ENACTING A 21st CENTURY CONSTITUTION

Shared by Roberto García:

Name of the activity: A Constitution of the people, by the people, to the people

Level: 4º ESO

Periodization: 2-3 sessions

Main characteristics of the activity: The students will develop the whole process of enacting a 20th century style constitution, from the creation to the public proclamation.

The result must be a public broadcast in which a spokesperson chosen by the group would read the new constitution.

The students will be divided into three groups. Each group will enact a different type of constitution:

        - 1^st group: Capitalist country constitution

        - 2^nd group: Socialist country constitution

        - 3^rd group: Post-colonial country constitution

The documents will be a short version of a real constitution. Each one has to include the following aspects:

                 - Name and symbols of the country.

                 - Form of state.

                 - Political branches.

                 - Type of economy

                 - Relation between religion and the State.

                 - Bill of rights (a very basic version)

Each group has to choose different commissions in order to fulfil those aspects.

Then they must print their brand-new constitution, designed in a solemn style.

Finally, a spokesperson will be recorded by his teammates presenting the new constitution to the citizens.

Resources: They will work with examples of constitutions of each type

        - Capitalist example: The Spanish Constitution, 1978

        - Socialist example: USSR Constitution, 1936

       

- Post-colonial example: Constitution of India, 1949

The students will only use those articles selected by their teacher.

Vocabulary: The students will have to use cold war vocabulary. Some examples are:

Capitalist style vocabulary	Socialist style vocabulary	Post-colonial style vocabulary
Citizenship, Free World, Initiative, Freedom/Liberty, Free market, Pursue of happiness, Prosperity, Property.	Workers rights, Working class, Socialism, Comrade, Internationalism, Solidarity, Social Justice, Marxism.	Freedom, colonial oppression, self-determination, sovereignty, non-alignment.