use of cartoons in the history classroom (open source)

Using Student Cartooning to Teach S1 History

8 Feb and 3 MarchMr Lloyd Yeo, AST (SR), MTT History

Literature Review

They are thrice damned: damned as a culture,

Purpose: “Damned as a culture. It is popular not ‘high”

Outlandish fantasy involving absurd characters acting in the most bizarre fashion – the very antithesis, one might think, of plausibility.”

At best suitable only for children (and retarded

It’s impact is that it is positively harmful at worst….a perverse hybridLocke, (2005)

Good starting point for thinking about the specificities of certain issues (Eisner, 2006)

In psychology, they are used to represent processes and thoughts that people go through in their mind.

They have the ability to communicate various messages.

Concept cartoons are “cartoon-style drawings presenting characters with different viewpoints around a particular situation (Roesky & Kennepohl, 2008)

Stages on using cartoons in the history classroom 1: Decide on the historical concept 2: Design and teach the elements that go into cartoons 3: Activate student prior knowledge 4: Expose students to local and student cartoon

examples 5: Provide space for creativity and practice 6: Get students to articulate and write about historical

evidence 7: Provide feedback 8: Design opportunities for group learning and debrief

Stage 1Decide on the Historical Concept

Diversity/ Multiple Perspectives: Understanding the past is complex and people’s experiences vary according to their ethnic groups, geographical locations, social class, religious affiliations, gender, age etc.

Evidence: For sources to become evidence, they need to be judged on their usefulness and reliability in relation to the inquiry question. source to be studied in terms of its origins, nature, purpose and content, as well as its typicality

History deals with real people

Why did we select this character to focus on?

How are we going to find out more about this character?

How do we know that what we are planning to draw is historicall authentic and realistic? (e.g. buildings, item used etc)

Is there any particular year we want to focus on? Why?

Sourcing and evidence

Stage 2Design and teach the elements

that go into cartoons

Part 1: Story Mountain

Background Main Character (s) Problem. Resolution Closure Perspective of cartoonist:

(E.g. First person or 3rd person narrative)

Part 2: Avatar Creation (p.7):

Stick figures are alright

Part 3: Elements of cartoons (p.8.): Comparison exercise

Setting: The Singapore River: It was a place where many migrant communities gathered for work and trade.Characters: Different ethnicities engaging in different types of businesses and occupations. Humour: ERP sign in the river, to highlight that the Singapore River was very congested due to heavy traffic.

Single Scene

1 2

3

Quick Note about using digital cartoons

Using clothes or background to depict time change

Using double movement to depict movement

Stage 3Activate Prior Knowledge

Activate Relevant Prior Knowledge Minimize Irrelevant Prior Knowledge Compensate for Missing Prior Knowledge

https://mindstepsinc.com/2012/09/activating-prior-knowledge/

Activating Relevant Prior Knowledge and minimizing irrelevant prior knowledge. (p. 10-13)

Stage 4: Expose students local and student examples

Great story. Not so great historical content

Flashback, illogical sequence and generic writeouts . E.g. war and chaos)

Group Project (?)

Stage 5: Provide space for creativity and practice

Kinds of punchlines (pp14-15)

1. The Hidden Element: The reader can see what the character can’t.

2. The Reversal: Character says something unexpected. 3. The Understatement or Underreaction 4. The Exaggeration or Overreaction5. Misunderstandings of words and intentions6. Illogical or logical consequences (Reader or

character did not expect something to happen) or the logical consequence

Source: http://ersby.blogspot.sg/2013/01/a-list-of-punchlines.html

Where did he get his source of inspiration? (p.16)

Stage 6: Get students to articulate and write about historical

evidence Footnotes Glossary and

explanations Evidence Recordings

FootnotesGlossary and explanationsEvidence Recordings

(p.6): Story Mountain: Setting, Character, Problem, Resolution, Ending

Culture system: A revenue system in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) that forced farmers to pay revenue to the treasury of the Netherlands in the form of export crops or compulsory labour

Boats from Makassar in the 19th century seen in the National Museum

www.nas.gov.sg: Inteview with Samsuri Bin Ahmad from Semarang…..

Stage 7: Provide feedback

p.17

Historical evidence / historical authenticity and realism Setting Characters Material culture

Reading Relevance to theme Readability

Group Work Pair Work Individual Work

Stage 8: Design opportunities for group learning and debrief

Sometimes teacher will say, “Can you try and visualize what their life is like?”. And then you realize that there’s this but that’s all you can think of. But when we did this, this open our mind to all the things that they could do. So this really help (us) visualize a lot.

Historical visualisation through stories

Historical agency/ ownership through creativity

It s new way to ‘see’ history: What is the first thing you think of when you say to him ‘History’. He will straight away say boring people. Historian. Talk about history. Artifacts. It’s a new way to look at history lessons: How about history lesson? Worksheets on history. Research. For drawing maybe just sketches of artifacts and re-creations of it but no one would think of comics (and stories) It’s about motivation and creativity: I thought it was an easier way to earn marks and better than just writing PEELS all the time. It was getting a bit boring. I thought this was really something unique that I don’t see in Primary School.