When I was asked to explain the Spanish history of the 20th Century to my Austrian high school students, I tried to think of a way to avoid the traditional teaching method: presenting unconnected figures, dates, names and facts like a monologue.
I needed my presentation to be dynamic, entertaining and attractive. It was clear to me that the students needed to take part in the presentation. On top of that, it had to add some kind of challenge to make them pay attention throughout it.
But how was I supposed to do all that?
- I created a game: they had to connect historical events with the right dates in a given timeline.
- I made it visually attractive: Prezi is a wonderful tool that will always draw your audience’s attention.
- I did a cultural approach: I tried to relate the Spanish events to their history and culture in order to make it closer to them.
- I showed as much enthusiasm as I could: talking about personal experiences helps a lot. Furthermore, if anyone has to be excited about the presentation, that is the speaker!
The actual content of the presentation was, of course, the explanation of each event with pictures in new slides. However, that 10-minutes-game played an important role on their attention throughout the rest of the class.
I have to admit that I did not mention a lot of decisive events that have happened in Spain during the 20th Century. Nevertheless, I had to consider the interests of high school students and the fact that, even if it was a class about history, we were still in a language course.
About this activity:
- Level: intermediate and advanced.
- Class duration: 40 – 50 minutes.
- Cultural content: Spanish history (20th and 21st centuries).
- Linguistic contents: past tenses, numbers (students reading the years out loud), vocabulary about politic systems.
- Extra activities: specific questions about the presentation, essay about the most interesting event.
- Results: more than positive! After giving this presentation 5 times already, I never get tired of it.
Translator Unterwegs 