How to enhance students’ writing and presentation skills in History

Fong Ho-nam, NelsonHistory Panel Head

STFA Leung Kau Kui College

1CDI020140497 20 June 2014

What do our students need?

How can I digest and use the subject

vocabulary?

How to apply my subject knowledge

to tests and exams?

How should I answer DBQs

more accurately?

How should I get higher scores in essay-writing?

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What do our students need?

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Target students:S.3 students

Background of students:Acquired DBQ answering skills in S.1 & S.2Feel burdened by substantial volume of facts in HistoryEager to master History learning skillsFeel difficult to handle 10+ subjects in S.3

Approaches – diversified input & output…

• READ & VIEW – sources as input for each task• LISTEN – information presented by historical

figures or peers, pronunciation of vocabulary• WRITE – start writing sensibly and

systematically• SPEAK – present finished products

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Approaches – diversified input & output…

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Input Process OutputRead Think Write

Question Discuss SpeakListen Compare Show stanceWatch Combine Report

Investigate Quote ShareFollow Verify Act

Remember Draw a mind mapRecord a video

Strategies – a new trial in…

• Schematizing the learning process• Determining the language focus and subject

focus of each lesson• Setting goals on what to learn in each topic,

language-wise and subject-wise

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Approaches – diversified tasks…Subject Focus Language Focus R L S W

Colonial rivalries Locations & geopolitics 1Armaments race Cause & effect relationship 1Armaments race Definition 1

Vocab review Pronunciation 1WWI - course Turning point 1 2WWI - impact Impact 1 2, 4 3

Great Depression Statistics & trends 1Totalitarianism Purpose 1WWI vs. WWII Similarity & difference 1 2Vocab review Parts of speech 1 2

Iron Curtain Speech Historical speech 1 3 2 4Cold War in Asia Views 1 2

20th century Statement & evidence 1 2, 4 3, 520th century Metaphor & meaning 3 1 4 220th century Mini-biography 1 2 7

Economic & Colonial RivalriesSubject Focus Language Focus

To understand Pre-WWI geopolitics in Europe, Africa & Asia- How the locations of Europe and potential markets in Africa and Asia shaped the process of colonization

1. To use prepositions to point out locations and directions of movements

2. To write sentences with WOULD to refer to possible actions

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Economic & Colonial RivalriesINPUT

OUTPUT

1: World map with oceans & continents

1: Select suitable prepositions

2: Map of Europe & Africa with national profiles

2: Writing sentences: Subject + WOULD + Verb

3: Maps of Africa (Scramble for Colonies) 1880 vs. 1900

3: Writing sentences – summarizing colonialism before WWI

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Armaments RaceSubject Focus Language Focus

To understand the cause-and- effect relationship between the following and the armaments race:-Relative military strength between Britain, Germany and France,-German desire to raise her power status, and-British need to maintain her naval supremacy

1. To construct a sentence presenting the definition of a term

2. To construct a sentence and a paragraph to illustrate cause-and-effect relationships

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Armaments Race

Concluding sentence

3rd Reason for armaments race

2nd Reason for armaments race

1st Reason for armaments race

Definition of the term “armaments race”.

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Causes of WWI – Vocab ReviewSubject Focus Language Focus

1. To revise key words related to the 4 causes of WWI

1. To clarify spelling of words

2. To differentiate words with related meaning

3. To clarify pronunciation of words

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Causes of WWI – Vocab ReviewWords related to the 4 causes of WWI

Africa alliance ally armydreadnought empire invasion markets

nation nationalism navy Pan-GermanismPan-Slavism raw materials revenge Suez Canalsupremacy

Words with related meaningalliance – ally colonial rivalry – colonial empire

nationalism – extreme nationalism threat - threaten

Pronunciation of wordsarmaments colonialism dreadnought

national strength Pan-Germanism Austria-Hungary13

Course of WWI – Turning PointsSubject Focus Language Focus

1. To understand how the following events constitute turning points in the course of WWI:- Italy’s participation in 1915- Germany’s use of poisonous

gases in 1915- Britain’s use of tanks in 1916- Russia’s withdrawal in 1917- America’s participation in

1917

1. To pinpoint a turning point in one single sentence

2. To write a paragraph to illustrate the fundamental change brought by a turning point

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Course of WWI – Turning PointsTEACHER’S INPUT STUDENTS’ OUTPUT

Definition of “turning point” Checklist of evidence

Sample sentences of “turning point”

Checklist of necessary elements + best sentence

Maps showing change “Turning point” in a sentence

Sample paragraphs on “turning point”

Identifying necessary elements + best paragraph

Sources in DBQ style “Turning point” in a paragraph

Sources on 3 other events during WWI

Task A: Write a sentenceTask B: Write a paragraph

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Impact of WWISubject Focus Language Focus

To understand impact of WWI in the following aspects:-Political-Economic-Social-Cultural

1. To write sentences to illustrate positive and negative impact

2. To decode excerpts of historians’ views on impact

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Impact of WWIUseful sentence patterns•A positive/negative impact of X was that it helped/led to …•Positively/Negatively speaking, X helped/led to …•X had a constructive/destructive effect of …•X brought about the success/failure of …•X was beneficial/harmful to…•… was a positive/negative impact of X.•… was a beneficial/harmful effect of X.•… was a favourable/unfavourable effect of X.

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Impact of WWIThink & write Read, discuss & report

Matching impact with corresponding details

Positive impact

Negative impact

Write 3 sentences

Write 3 sentences

Read 4 abstracts in the same aspect

Division of labour

Oral reportsGroup members take turns

Discussion:Did WWI have more

positive than negative impact on women? Or

vice versa?

Group work

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Great Depression – History in Numbers

Subject Focus Language Focus

1. To grasp the magnitude of impact of the Great Depression on the U.S., Italy and Germany

1. To portray historical changes by words and sentences

2. To construct a paragraph with

- An over-arching statement- Statistical evidence- Descriptive/summative

statement

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Great Depression – History in Numbers

Step Focus Sample words / sentence patterns

1 General trend increase vs. decrease; rise vs. drop/fall; expand vs. reduce; grow vs. decline

2 Statistical evidence X increased from 10% in 1920 to 50% in 1930.

3 Intensity of change slowly, slightly, sluggishly, moderately, gradually, steadily,quickly, swiftly, greatly, rapidly,sharply, considerably

4 Summary ---

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Totalitarianism – Purposes of propaganda posters

Subject Focus Language FocusTo name the political, social and economic purposes of propaganda posters under totalitarian regimes

To construct sentences to pinpoint the following:-target audience-intended message

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Totalitarianism – Purposes of propaganda postersBeginning of sentence

How the audience was approached

Target audience

Intended message

• The purpose of the propaganda poster was…

• The propaganda poster was designed…

• The propaganda poster was intended …

• The designer designed the poster …

• to attract• to encourage• to call upon• to invite• to persuade• to urge• to instruct• to demand• to command

• citizens• young

people• students• workers• men• women• mothers• housewives• intellectuals• allies• party

members

• to believe (that) …• to accept …• to isolate …• to obey …• to trust …• to support …• to show support to …• to report … to the

government• to follow the policy of

…• to reject the idea of …• to vote “yes” on …• to show hatred to …• to spread the idea of

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Outbreak of WWII – a continuation of WWI?

Subject Focus Language Focus1. To find out similarities and

differences in the backgrounds and causes of WWI & WWII

1. To construct paragraphs and a complete passage showing similarities and differences

2. To facilitate discussion of the following:

“Was the outbreak of WWII a continuation of WWI?”

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Outbreak of WWII – a continuation of WWI?

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End of WWII – Vocab ReviewSubject Focus Language Focus

1. To review key words related to interwar period and WWII, particularly from the political and military aspects

1. To distinguish related words according to their parts of speech

2. To clarify common spelling mistakes

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End of WWII – Vocab Review• aggression – aggressor –

aggressive• appease – appeasement• conquer – conquest• declare – declaration• dictator – dictatorship• discontent – discontented• economy – economic• expand – expansion –

expansionist• Fascist – Fascism• invade – invasion• isolate – isolation –

isolationism

• military - militarist – militarism

• Nazi – Nazism• occupy – occupation• politics – political –

politician• respond – response –

responsibility• revenge – revengeful• social – society• totalitarian –

totalitarianism• victor – victory - victorious

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End of WWII – Vocab Review

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Iron Curtain SpeechSubject Focus Language Focus

1. To examine how the textbook relates the Iron Curtain Speech with the beginning of the Cold War

1. To identify the structure of a speech

2. To identify orator’s views and suggestions

2. To evaluate the validity of an established historical interpretation

3. To grasp the gist of a speech

4. To determine the relative importance of a certain point in the whole speech

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Iron Curtain Speech

Read the textbook’s narration

Read the adapted version of the

WHOLE speech

Decode the adapted speech

Account for inaccurate

interpretation

Assess the validity of the

textbook’s narration

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2

3

4

5

6

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Cold War in AsiaSubject Focus Language Focus

To explore how capitalist and communist countries (esp. those in Asia) expressed their views about each other through propaganda posters

To construct sentences & paragraphs to identify & explain views

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Cold War in AsiaSource A shows that the cartoonist’s view is pro-…/anti-

…Source A shows the cartoonist’s view about …

(something)…is positive/negative

Source A shows the cartoonist’s view that …(a sentence)…

As shown in Source A, the cartoonist thought that …(sentence)…

As shown in Source B, the cartoonist believed that …(sentence)…

According to Source C, the cartoonist doubted/suspected that …(sentence)…

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The International War Crimes Tribunal

Subject Focus Language Focus1. To understand the

meaning of war crime in 20th-century history

1. To construct factual statements pinpointing actions

2. To realize how the war guilt of defeated countries has been handled

2. To enlist evidence for claims and draft statement of criminal charges

3. To prepare a historical verdict proclaiming the guilt of an accused

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The International War Crimes Tribunal

1. Read basic info about Tokyo Trial/ Nuremberg Trial

2. Discuss major issues at stake in the trial(s)

4. Draw a mind map to arrange charges/ defensive strategies

6. Role play – judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers

3. Role selection/ allocation

5. Draft statement of charges/ defense

8. Verdict7. Jurors’ vote

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20th-century anti-war songsSubject Focus Language Focus

1. To understand how people in the past viewed matters of war and peace

1. To identify metaphors of war and peace

2. To understand how popular culture represented global political development

2. To identify views from lyrics

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20th-century anti-war songsWhere have all the flowers gone (Pete Seeger)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSFhzlGstbw

Imagine (John Lennon) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwUGSYDKUxU

Blowin’ in the Wind (Bob Dylan) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsjiSfAmEeo

Billy Don’t Be a Hero (Paper Lace) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QmHnwNO5sA

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20th-century anti-war songs

1. Listen to the song twice

2. Jot down key words in lyrics

5. Discuss the gist of the song

4. Compare the outcome with authentic lyrics

6. Think why lyricist saw the war(s) that way

3. Combine the fragments into a complete song

7. Present your findings to the whole class

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Mini-biography – Person of the Century

• A year-round mini-research project• Historical figures in S.3 syllabus:

Kaiser Wilhelm II Woodrow Wilson

Benito MussoliniWinston Churchill

Adolf Hitler Tojo Hideki

Mao Zedong John F.

KennedyJoseph Stalin

Ho Chi Minh Nikita Khrushchev

Richard Nixon Ronald

Reagan

Deng Xiaoping Margaret Thatcher Mikhail Gorbachev

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Mini-biography – Person of the Century

Subject Focus Language Focus1. To identify changes caused by

special actions/speeches of a historical figure

2. To discern continuities between the past and the present regarding the influence of a historical figure

1. To identify Essential elements to be included in a mini-biography

2. To realize guiding questions for writing each paragraph of a mini-biography

3. To write a paragraph showing the impact of a person on his era and contemporary world

4. To write a paragraph reflecting people’s comments on a historical figure

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Mini-biography – Person of the Century

Input:Read sample text

Process (1):Deconstruct the structure

of the given text

Process (2):Define the content of each part of the text

Further input:Students’ research on

historical figure

Output:Students’ text (250-350 words)

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Mini-biography – Person of the CenturyFurther products…

In-class presentation

Video recording & online sharing

Public display in school canteen

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Multiple pathways…Pre-class input In-class process In-class output Post-class output

Online reading Group discussion Group sharing Online quiz

Video viewing Cartoon drawing Presentation Extended writing

Songs/poems listening

Virtual museum visit

Today in history Posting written work online

Photo hunt News analysis Drama acting Audio recording

Guided reading Song broadcast Mind map Video recording

Short writing Event/photo sequencing

Poem reading Virtual museum production

Interview End-of-storyre-writing

Dictogloss Excursion

Blank filling Online survey

Short writing

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Progress till now…

• An ongoing project• Need larger diversity of input• Still a large reservoir of ideas available• HK History (1941-1997) to be programmed

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Book Recommendation

Rickey Millwood, Adventures Through World History!, San Clemente: Kagan, 2008.

Types of learning activities:Verbal/Linguistic

Logical/MathematicalVisual/Spatial

Musical/RhythmicBodily/Kinesthetic

NaturalistInterpersonalIntrapersonal

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