Principle 4: Make the abstract concrete (Simeon Hawkins)
This principle is about helping students anchor a concept in their reality that might otherwise remain too abstract or ethereal.
One activity that can help with this (as well and supporting authentic language use) is a barrier activity.
I created 2 worksheets for my L1HIS unit on Black Civil Rights- one worksheet has the map with marked locations but no events, the other has the key of events but a blank map.
Students pair up with a barrier between them (like battleships) and communicate the missing information, until both emerge with a completed map & events key. By verbally explaining where major events took place, ‘abstract’ topics like bus boycotts, freedom rides, murders and protests are anchored in American geography and paint a clear picture of the deeply segregated south.
