Learning card

Telling History

Description

This activity is based on recognizing how historical facts are represented in different media and languages. To do this, students collect as much information as they can about the historical event in movies, comics, books, etc., and create a poster that shows the key points of the event.

Tag
  • Book
  • Comic
  • Design
  • Graphic
  • Movies
  • TV series
  • Videogames
Skills

PRODUCTION SKILLS

  • Create and modify drawings and designs
  • Use tools to draw and design

CONTENT MANAGEMENT SKILLS

  • Search, select and download

PERFORMATIVE SKILLS

  • Play videogames (In-game individual skills)

NARRATIVE AND AESTHETICS SKILLS

  • Interpret
  • Compare
  • Recognize and describe

 

Learning areas
  • Social Sciences
Card language
  • Spanish
  • English

Structure

Sessions
Variable
Duration
Variable
Number of participants
10-30
Age
  • 14-16
  • 17-18
Materials
  • Comics
  • Videogames
  • Books
  • Films
  • TV series
  • All materials must be related to the same event or historical period. For example, if we talk about the Holocaust, we have: Maus (comic), The boy in striped pyjamas (book/movie), Life is Beautiful (film), Escape from Colditz (game/videogame), etc.

Process

Key questions
  • How are different media and languages used to tell the same story?
  • What is the relationship between fiction, real events and the representation of these events?
  • ¿Cuáles son las diferencias y similitudes en la representación de un mismo hecho histórico?
Development

The teacher presents a specific historical event (for example, the Holocaust) that serves as a context for the didactic activity. (30’)

The teacher presents a list of texts in different media/languages that address the topic to work on. This list is indicative and may be expanded by the students themselves.

In groups, the students analyse a particular text (comic, film, book, etc.). The ways of representing the historical event, the actors involved and the main episodes of historical or narrative relevance must be recognized and described. This part of the activity can be done at school or outside school hours. The groups gather as much information as possible about the analysed event or historical period (Duration: variable).

Each group produces a poster with the analysed text, including images, key concepts, etc. An exhibition of the posters can be set up to show the representation of historical events in different media and languages (Duration: variable).

Future optional activity: Collectively produce a poster that summarizes the ways of representing historical events in different media and languages.

Evaluation

The teacher can evaluate:

  • the ability to understand the development and sequence of the activity.
  • the planning and organization of the work team.
  • the ability to identify the most outstanding events in history and, especially, the actors and context.
  • the ability to identify the narrative specificity, potentiality and limits of representation of each medium/language.
  • the quality and variety of sources used to expand the information.
  • the capacity for synthesis and graphic expression in the final presentation.

 

References for professors

  • To select the most suitable games, it is recommended to use the following database that includes the minimum recommended age of each videogame (PEGI): http://www.pegi.info/

Author

Carlos A. Scolari. Universitat Pompeu Fabra – Barcelona (Spain), carlosalberto.scolari@upf.edu

Ruth Contreras. Universitat de Vic (Spain), ruth.contreras@uvic.cat

  • Book
  • Comic
  • Design
  • Graphic
  • Movies
  • TV series
  • Videogames