High School Learning with Apple #15

@Dragon_Coach and I met at ADE institute in 2023 and have been working on compiling lessons for high school teachers using MacBooks or iPads in class. @Dragon_Coach uses MacBooks, and I use iPads, and in our collaboration, we realized that small adjustments can be made to apply the lessons in each environment. Over the next 30 days, we’ll post one lesson idea each day with tips on how to make it work in either environment you are teaching in. 

High School Learning with Apple #15: Manifest Destiny Markup

In this lesson students analyzed symbols and their connection to Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny. They began by placing the Manifest Destiny Image on a Freeform Board.

Students created their own board and spent the first few minutes of class circling and marking up the picture with things they noticed or wondered. By 9th grade students already have some background knowledge about Westward Expansion. This was a great way to activate that knowledge and to push students to think even deeper about the impact and consequences of Manifest Destiny.

After their initial markup, students shared with each other and discussed the symbols they noticed in the picture and what they thought they meant. The teacher then presented the students with information and asked the students to make connections and/or new observations about the Manifest Destiny image.

Using Freeform allowed students to zoom in and out on the image to see detail they may not have seen by looking at the image from the display at the front of the room. Freeform also allowed students an infinite workspace to continue to expand their thoughts encouraging them to build upon the knowledge they already had.

Additionally, there is minimal preparation required on the teacher’s part. There are no complex templates to create or download, allowing students to take control of the creation and organization of information. This lesson transfers easily to a MacBook environment, as students have access to Freeform there as well. On a MacBook, students would utilize text boxes and Freeform shapes to annotate the image. It could also be used across any content area! All you need is an image you want students to think about and make connections to.

📣 How could you facilitate learning connections with Freeform in your classroom?