Leveling the Playing Field with Canadian Minority Pecha Kuchas

May 25, 2018

Pecha Kucha presentations are very difficult for anyone to do well.  In order to accommodate my ELL students, this assignment was screencast which allowed for multiple opportunities.  Presentations were also recorded with 20 slides switching every 15 seconds (instead of the usual 20 seconds) in order to reduce the difficulty of the presentation.  Students chose a particular Canadian group upon which to focus and track the progress of between 1945 and 1982: Canadian women, Asian-Canadians, Black Canadians, Canadian immigrants, or LGBTQ Canadians.  Each student was responsible for a particular time period. Students combined their research to create an infographic. Finally, the assignment culminated in their minority group Pecha Kucha presentation.  After identifying and explaining their minority groups' progress, students used the guideposts of historical significance to decide if their time period rocked or didn't rock for their particular group. I felt this assignment was a success.  Students used their research skills to investigate and collaborate to develop a final product. Screencasting it worked exceptionally well.