San Diego Living History
San Diego Living History was a six month long project that challenged students to examine what they know about local history with a critical lens while practicing researching and public speaking skills.
We explored San Diego County through the creation of oral histories of loved ones and community members. Then students researched seven key anchor dates to San Diego History and created a wall-sized timeline, from which examples are pictured below.
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In the project's next phase, students went to court! Father Junipero Serra and John D. Spreckels, two important figures from San Diego's past were interrogated in a mock trial to determine if they were a "hero" or "villain" of history.
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After verdicts were reached, we moved onto the next and final unit of our project. Students ventured to Old Town, where they took a Trolley Tour. After the Trolley Tour, we had discussions about whose story was being told on the tour and how some events appeared to be sugarcoated.
Students then collaborated to create their own tours that were more inclusive and true to the history we'd studied all year. This culminated in an exhibition at High Tech Chula Vista's Festival del Sol during which students gave tours on a trolley bus and sold souvenirs representative of their neighborhoods at our gift shop.
These timeline panels were created by students in small groups after researching their event, local ongoings of the time, important figures, and untold history. These are featured here for their creative designs and the information represented. Following the completion of the timeline each student group presented to the rest of the class.
This video offers an inside look to the San Diego Living History exhibition at High Tech Chula Vista's Festival del Sol. Here, students give their trolley tour and sell their handmade souvenirs.
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Thanks to Mr. Holmes, an instructional coach for putting this video together.
Developing critical thinking skills to examine one-sided history was a major element of each unit in this project. Here, students examine depictions of the encounter between Colombus and the Arawak people, after reading differing accounts of the event.
This video provides a sneak peek into the classroom during one of my early lessons. It was important to my Cooperating Teacher and me that we introduced these concepts towards the start of the year to establish criticality as a core component of our projects.