Implementation of “Parallel Histories” (SOI-IT-315)
Author: Emanuela Leto ,Teacher
School/Organization: I C Laura Lanza B di Carini
I chose to implement this learning scenario comparing US and Spain cultures, adapting it to students of English level A2 and of Spanish level A1 attending the last year of low secondary school in Italy, as the topic is included in the National Curriculum of foreign languages .
USA and Spain .
(students involved in the SOI in the Intercultural lab of my school )
As a teacher of English in an Italian low secondary school, every year , I choose to develop together with my students of the 3rd grade different paths based on CLIL methodology on some aspects of the culture of English Speaking countries. This year we started to focus our attention on USA culture , its birth due to colonizations and following migrations by British and Spanish people. Therefore this scenario is a good tool to implement the work done with my students to deepen the connections between US , Britain and Spain ,countries of which they study the language.
In this path I involved a class of 21 students aged 12-13 , including Special needs and disadvantaged ones and I was supported by the collaboration of the Spanish Teacher as well.
Introduction of the topic
I started with a geographical introduction to the American continent , both North , Central and Southern on GOOGLE Maps and SETERRAhttps://www.geoguessr.com/seterra/en/vgp/3015
and I followed the steps included in the LEARNING SCENARIO presenting the Europeana page and the blog on Native Americans as coders https://teachwitheuropeana.eun.org/learning-scenarios/native-americans-as-grand-coders-ls-pl-65/
focusing the attention on some of the images depicting the population included in the LS referring to Europeana platform
https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/9200579/ssm7c877?q=native%20americans
https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/9200579/fbznrr69?q=native%20americans%20
This activity was carried on in one hour of lesson ( 60 minutes)
MAIN ACTIVITIES
I decided not to split the participants into groups but to carry on the activities described in the LS reading the texts provided , following the maps available on SETERRA website in particular https://www.geoguessr.com/seterra/en/vgp/3452–
Moreover in collaboration with the Spanish teacher we showed some items form the Europeana collections related to Spanish colonizations https://www.europeana.eu/it/item/2022717/bnesearch_detalle_bdh0000119129
https://www.europeana.eu/it/item/2022717/bnesearch_detalle_bdh0000101177
providing an oral context .
These activities took two hours of lesson ( 120 minutes ) one of which in cooperation with the Spanish teacher –
At the end of these activities the students were invited to create an interactive map of the USA with the main features , geographical landmarks pointing out if the names of the locations which referred to British or/and to Spanish colonization using this source thinglink.com .https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1708919975076430819
( IN PROGRESS about 60 minutes )
Moreover the assessment was made through two online quizzes on Kahoot and Quizizz platform https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/600dc4e6a2a4e6001b7b09ba?source=quiz_share
https://create.kahoot.it/share/usa-general-quiz/5c22d630-3e11-4823-ad70-cba04bf79aa9
as more suitable with students of a lower level of competence in Foreign languages compared to the target of the original LS.
The main aim of using this LS was to intermingle in a transdisciplinary vision two subjects the students commonly face in the curriculum of foreign language in low secondary school, connecting together History ,Geography and Foreign Languages in order to implement critical thinking , learning by doing and digital skills .
The use of Europeana resources as well as others provided by the web or the textbooks is a factual way to connect mere knowledge to competence and skills , to link reality to curriculum in an optic of style of learning through research. Moreover, the acquisition of Foreign language competences through a CLIL methodology , using real materials, is the most effective way to increase motivation in learning foreign languages for students , in particular the ones living in disadvantaged areas. Finally the use of digital tools is a way to convey the contents in the most inclusive manner for any student with different learning needs.
Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario? Parallel Histories created by Oscar Javier Capilla Barreda
Did you find this story of implementation interesting? You might also like:
- Native Americans as grand-coders (LS-PL-65) implemented by Paulina Ostrowskajewgiejuk
- People, Stories … On The Move implemented by Eirini Kassotaki
Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.
CC BY 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Wellcome Collection.