10. Presentation Resources
The method of presenting post-debate historical theses is as varied as the imagination. Here are some suggestions.
I) Prezi.com Prezi is a visually-stimulating slideshow/animation that keeps the interest of the audience. When my students use prezi, they are required to have every primary source text in red, and each slide labelled with the FORCE or the ANALYSIS CATEGORY they have used there.
II) Five paragraph/ three point essays. You can never write too many of these. Knowing how to express yourself this way is essential for success in university.
If you do not know how to teach students how to write one of these, please see my FREE ESSAY OUTLINE, with the direction links.
A high school essay does not have to be long to be done right. The main purpose is to persuasively use facts to defend a thesis.
III) Quix Essays. This is what I call a twenty-minute essay-write. It is great practice for the AP or SAT exams. After a sibling presents on a topic, using Prezi, I select an AP history sample essay question on a topic related to the presentation. They have to immediately analyze and formulate a thesis, and defend their idea. Sound like torture? Perhaps, but they come forth shining!–plus it’s over in 20 minutes.
IV) NaNoWriMo (or Camp Nanowrimo). While this takes a month to do, the month of November (or April) provides a perfect opportunity to research and apply history to analysis. The role of ideas. The individual in history. Compare and contrast. Cause and effect.
The assignment could be this: Write a novel that encorporates what you have learned about the Fall of Rome, what it was like to live there and then, and what the people thought about why Rome gave way to the barbarians…. This way, the purpose for the primary-source research becomes finding props and ideas for their characters and their troubles.
V) Comic Life. I have assigned Comiclife for a very detailed worldview analysis story, and though it is very challenging, the medium makes the task less intimidating. To be fair, it is a semester-long project on a topic that overreaches all units of the semester.
VI) Canva. This graphic design program can be easily used to present post-debate historical conclusions. (Take a look these ideas of how to use Canva, not only in history but in all classes).
VII) YOUTUBE CHANNEL: As this team of homeschool kids did in their BONES IN MY BACKYARD channel, you could make a Youtube Channel to post your research investigations.
