It was our last day teaching at Colegio Jose Joaquin Castro Martinez and teachers in different subjects asked us to give lessons on particular topics. Luis Eduardo, a high school social studies teacher, asked Wendy and I to prepare a lesson on westward expansion in the US for his high school class. As the public schools in Colombia have few resources- no assigned rooms, no copying privileges, no texts, no technology- this was a complicated issue. I decided to reserve one of the only rooms with a projector and computer and show art, photographs, paintings and even song (America the Beautiful) to show the elements of Manifest Destiny. I think it worked well because students, even if they have trouble with English or even if they don't have prior knowledge about a topic, can respond to the visual or a song. The two hour lesson went quite well and the teacher said at the end how much he enjoyed how I use art to teach history. The students asked great questions and really engaged in the topic bringing up great connections between westward expansion and conquest in the US and Spandish conquest of indigneous people in Colombia.
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AuthorDana Van Tilborg is a High School Social Studies/History teacher in Denver, Colorado. Archives
August 2014
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