The First Thanksgiving

October is nearing its end, and soon jack-0'-lanterns will give way to images of cornucopias, pilgrims, and Wampanoags (or the more common misrepresentation of Indians with feathers and tipis). In the 1990s, publications such as James Loewen's book, Lies My Teacher Told Me--and its revealing chapter, "The Truth About the First Thanksgiving"--raised the consciousness of many teachers who wanted to teach an alternative perspective to the usual narrative about the pilgrim's journey to a "Brave New World." But what kind of content is appropriate in an elementary or middle school classroom? Loewen speaks of grave robbing, cannibalism, disease, and the hijacking theory.

Colonist perspective from plimoth.org

Wampanoag perspective from plimoth.org

Is this they way we want students, adorned in black hats or feathers made of construction paper, to portray the beloved pilgrims and Wampanoags in a third-grade Thanksgiving play? This question is the kind of initial resistance many elementary teachers in my methods courses have when responding to Loewen's criticisms and similar curricula (e.g., Rethinking Schools). Fortunately, historical sites such as Plimoth Plantation are pushing the alternative perspectives approach and (even better) are giving students the opportunity to examine the evidence. Since few students outside of the New England area get the opportunity to visit the historic site, Plimoth Plantation has created an excellent online learning module that lets students sift through facts and myths to re-envision the history of the First Thanksgiving. Activities such as the "Path to 1621" let the user examine how the Wampanoag and the settlers viewed similar events quite differently. More importantly, in the section, "The Evidence," students get to examine the only source that mentions (and vaguely, at best) the First Thanksgiving.

Online learning module from plimoth.org

An important question students should ask is, "Why do we recognize the 1620 settlement of Plimoth as the site for the First Thanksgiving?" It is because it was the first non-Native settlement in the present-day United States? (In 1526, enslaved Africans abandoned by their Spanish captors attempted a settlement in what is now South Carolina.) Is it because it is the first settlement established for religious freedom? (Spanish Jews settled what is now New Mexico in the late 1500s). Is it because it was the first English Colony? (English entrepreneurs settled Jamestown in 1607.) Or does it have more to do with what happened in 1863? (See Loewen, 2007, Lies My Teacher Told Me, pp. 71 & 90.)

An important message from plimoth.org: "Past" and "History" are NOT synonyms

Lessons, lessons, lessons

What could become a wasted Google search

A Google search for "Social Studies" and "Lesson Plans" will result in roughly 1 million hits or sites. There's a lot to sift through, and a lot of it can be...well, less than desirable. Fortunately, a lot of the professional organizations devoted to social studies education (and a few for-profits and not-for-profits) can help reduce the time it would take to sift through a lot of rubbish. Here are a few highlights:

Geography - National Geographic Xpeditions
Psychology - Social Psychology Teaching Resources
Economics - National Council for Economics Education Lesson Plans
Political Science - Center for Civic Education Sample Lessons
Political Science - Center for Civic Education Constitution Lessons

Teaching with Political Cartoons

Political cartoons show up a lot in social studies curricula, including textbooks, worksheets, and now standardized state and national exams. In these cases, students are asked to analyze the cartoon's content or the cartoonist's point of view. In classroom instruction, teachers might try to "diversify" their instruction and have students create their own cartoon related to a historical or current event. The following sources provide some guidance for one way to include political cartoons as an authentic and legitimate part of any social studies teacher's instruction.

No Laughing Matter from the Library of Congress

As a way to teach critical thinking, the Center for Media Literacy has built a curriculum around five key questions. All of these queries apply to analyzing any source--an advertisement, a newspaper article, or a political cartoon--but an important question is #2, "What creative techniques are used to catch my attention?" To further conceptualize this analysis, the Library of Congress has created a web-based activity, "No Laughing Matter," to help students evaluate cartoons with five basic concepts: Labeling, Irony, Analogy, Exaggeration, and Irony. I point out these concepts because they provide a helpful framework students can apply to any cartoon (or written source, for that matter). For example, "How does this cartoonist use irony to illustrate her point of view?"

Created at Toondoo (click image to enlarge it)

Finally, students need not be a professional artist to create stunning political cartoons. A free online tool, Toondoo Maker, on the Toondoo site allows them to select from hundreds of images to construct their own visual commentary on a historical or current event. Teachers can then require their students to describe how they used irony or analogy to make a visual argument. I've uploaded an example I recently created on the topic of immigration.

Constitution Day is September 17th

Center for Civic Education

Constitution Day is September 17. Here are a few resources that may be of interest. First, the Center for Civic Education is offering several PK-12 Constitution lessons. (All are free pdf downloads.)

There are also a number of other free sample lesson plans for civics education from the Center for Civic Education. A general search for sample lessons will give you several options. Here are some of the highlights from this search:

• POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT: THE CASE OF LATVIA
• Lesson 6: What are the Possible Consequences of Privacy?
• Lesson 1: Why do we need a government?
• Responsibility
• Lesson 28: How Can Citizens Participate?
  
• Lesson 15: What Conflicting Opinions Did the Framers Have about the Completed Constitution?

Semantic Constitution

Another resource for working directly with the pivotal U.S. government document is the Semantic Constitution. This site allows you to sort information in the Constitution by article and topic (e.g., debt, religion, veto).

Choices Program

Finally, a multimedia approach for instruction is available at the Choices site. Here, for example, students can see videos of interviews with scholars Gordon Wood and Michael Vorenberg as they discuss issues related to the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution. In one excerpt, Gordon Wood answers the question, "How was the American Revolution more radical than the founders had intended?"

Economics Concepts and Lesson Plan Ideas

Economics is an often overlooked, yet equally important, discipline in the social sciences. Here are a few helpful links for resources. First, this site provides a nice overview of Economics Concepts, including definitions. Secondly, the Council for Economics Education provides several helpful resources, including a list of lesson plans arranged (or retrievable) by grade level, economics concept, and national economics standard. At last count, the website boasts a total 648 lessons available for your perusal. Finally, The Mint has a lot of helpful online activities to illustrate basic economics concepts.

Kate Brigham on Media Literacy

Here, the learner can manipulate the size, color, and "wash"
(in this case red) for the image used to accompany a news article.

Above is the original photograph that accompanied
the article titled, "Why Do They Hate Us?"

It's interesting how the focus for the same "Hate" article is
altered with the selection of another photograph.

An old colleague, Kate Brigham, created this fantastic interactive website for her thesis project concerning media literacy. A great way to teach how advertisers, photographers, and general media editors use creative techniques to sway opinions or catch your attention is to let students manipulate sources. Several activities on Kate's site allow for this exploration. The learner can see firsthand how zoom, color, font size, and image selection, to name a few, present a point of view. These somewhat subtle techniques often go unnoticed but are key to critically evaluating any type of source, text or image.

See the World via Worldmapper

Land Area via Worldmapper

Extinct Species via Worldmapper

Worldmapper is a great site to help students visualize basic statistical data about the world. Go to the "Map Categories" section to find the various types of maps available, including categories such as Goods, Movement, Poverty, and Death, to name few. For example, under Disasters, you'll find maps that depict the proportion of the population killed by extreme temperatures compared to those killed by drought. Or look under Destruction for extinct species. For "lighter" topics, compare the world poplation of 1500 to 1960. There are myriad opportunities for exploration here.