Using Archaeology to Teach Native American History

Description

From the New York State Museum website:

"The New York State Museum announces a professional development workshop designed by museum scientists and researchers for social studies teachers in grades 3-7. It is a unique professional development experience that creates a learning community of classroom teachers who work side-by-side with museum scientists and researchers in an archaeological investigation of Native American and early Euro-American primary source material. It invites teachers to actively participate in the process of archaeology and learn about regional history through classroom lectures, fieldwork and analysis of material objects in Museum collection areas.

Through teamwork exercises, participants will learn how to collect and organize specimens, record data, generate questions, formulate hypotheses, develop and defend explanations, and present findings in Native American and early Euro-American history. They will also update and expand their understanding of local and regional history and foster close working relationships with museum scientists and researchers. Participants will be expected to perform some physical labor and to work outdoors in variable weather conditions. Current research information and resources will address the advantages of object-based learning, using a museum as an educational resource, and applications to the State Learning Standards for social studies #1.4, #3.1, #4.1; math #3.4, #3.5; science, #4.7; and English language arts #1, #3, and #4."

Contact name
Christina Rieth
Contact email
Sponsoring Organization
New York State Museum
Phone number
518-402-5975
Target Audience
"Social studies teachers in grades 3-7"
Start Date
Cost
$56 for Greater Capital Region Teacher Center constituents; $112 for non-GCRTC constituents
Course Credit
"35 contact hours."
Contact Title
State Archaeologist and Director of the Cultural Resource Survey Program
Duration
Five days
End Date

The Pequot War

Description

This iCue Mini-Documentary introduces the Pequot War, in which fighting breaks out between the English Puritans of New England and the Pequot Indians over the control of land. It escalated to a full-scale conflict, in which the English burned entire Indian villages, completely annihilating the Pequot people.

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Puritans and Indians

Description

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes how the Wampanoag Indians helped the English Puritans survive at their new colony at Plymouth, MA. Chief Massasoit and Plymouth Governor William Bradford signed a treaty of peace that lasts more than 50 years and resulted in the first Thanksgiving.

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Spanish Conquistadors

Description

This iCue Mini-documentary introduces the Spanish explorers Vasco Nunez del Balboa, Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro's, who ventured across the Atlantic two decades after Columbus's famous voyages. The Spanish often used savage tactics to subdue Indian tribes and steal their wealth.

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Internationalizing History

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Article Body
What Is It?

Internationalizing (or globalizing) U.S. history is an umbrella term for several methods of broadening the view of U.S. history to include the world beyond its borders. It includes, but is not limited to, use of national comparisons, studying transnational phenomena, and considering larger regional and global contexts for local and national events. It especially focuses on internationalizing aspects of U.S. history that have not traditionally been looked on as international.

Rationale

The recent movement to internationalize U.S. history dates to meetings that led to the publication of the La Pietra Report in 2000. Since the report, several of the movement’s leaders have written books that show how broadening the survey can be done. Proponents of this approach assert correctly that international contexts have always been important in understanding U.S. history, and still are. A global view is surely part of the future as scholars lead the way. Why should you internationalize? Consider Pauline Maier’s “Three Teaching Commandments” of what not to do in your U.S. history course: (1) Thou shalt not tell the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle—it must be multicultural. (2) Thou shalt not make the story move from east to west (Minnesota had French and Indian place names pre-dating English ones.) (3) Thou shalt not make the U.S. have a story unto itself. Using context, comparison, and connection can help you follow Maier’s dictates.

  • Context: No country is an island, although they are often pictured that way in maps. All events that happen in a nation occur in the larger context of world history. The American Revolution, although different from other Atlantic Revolutions, also has many similar touchstones like being part of the web of the Enlightenment era.
  • Comparison: Placing U.S. history next to others can clarify context and difference. For example, the similarities and differences between U.S. and Russian expansion can help reinforce lessons about the closing of the Western frontier. A comparative approach both challenges and confirms American exceptionalism.
  • Connection: Students can see that the U.S. and its inhabitants both influence and are influenced by other countries and peoples. For instance, the connections between South Africa and the U.S. have been clearly shown in two groundbreaking books by George Fredrickson (see Resource List for "Internationalizing" U.S. History). That South African whites and blacks closely observed and at times emulated their American counterparts is interesting and a lesson unto itself. From this example it is clear that what Americans do can have world-changing ramifications, both intended and unintended.

In summary, internationalizing U.S. history gives our students a true sense of international connection and a more global perspective in an increasingly globalized world.

How it Can be Done
  • Borrow: There are several syllabi available in Guarneri and Davis's Teaching American History in a Global Context. EDSITEment has created lists of lessons from their database that are internationalized, (see here and here). Additionally, James Diskant, a high school history teacher, has written about internationalizing the curriculum in World History Connected (see articles starting with Volume 3, Number 3, and running to Volume 5, Number 3, here). Several programs—International Baccalaureate being the most popular—and schools have instituted global knowledge or citizenship programs as one of their components. Borrow some more: Use Dana Lindaman’s and Kyle Ward’s History Lessons: How Textbooks Around the World Portray U.S. History and have students compare accounts of the same events from a U.S. perspective and a foreign perspective. Another way is to use a reader that internationalizes the course. (For examples of readers and other resources mentioned below, see the Resource List for "Internationalizing" U.S. History handout.)
  • Create: For each unit choose a lesson or two that you would like to internationalize. Use the Annals of American History and the Timetables of World History and choose one or more events, movements, or people who can be used for context, comparison, or connection to your event.
  • Focus on Geography: Use places in the U.S. periodically throughout the course to show the U.S.’s international connections. Salem, MA, and Hawaii are two wonderful examples that allow for study of trade, religion, empire, international business, tourism, the pineapple, and cosmopolitanism. (For relevant texts, see this handout.)
  • Focus on Biography: Use individuals who crossed international borders and cultures to infuse a lesson or a lecture with a real example of internationalization. There are many to choose from, including Abdulrahman Ibrahim ibn Sori, Alexander Hamilton, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Carnegie, Emma Goldman, Marcus Garvey, John McCain, Emily Greene Balch, and Robert McNamara. It is also fun for students to roleplay these individuals in writing and in-class activities.
  • Focus on Commodities: Use items such as cod, cotton, or the banana to show each commodity’s U.S. connections and international reach.
  • Focus on Music: American music was also international from its outset. It continues to incorporate international styles while influencing others.
Application

See the Sample Lessons for Internationalizing History. The first of these one-day lessons uses a close examination of language to uncover the international nature of the Boston Tea Party and the second lesson uses the same to uncover international connections between the early 19th-century eastern seaboard and other countries and cultures.

Benefits
  • Students come away with a broader perspective of the U.S. without sacrificing what they would traditionally learn in class.
  • U.S. and world history teachers can work together on this curriculum as a department, building collegiality and coherence between courses.
Common Pitfalls
  • Watch out for facile comparisons. Whenever comparing, remember to ask “what’s different here?” as well as “what’s the same?”
  • Be careful about assuming that students know locations and geography. You may need to teach or review these when drawing connections between international locations.
For more information

Greene created three Amazon Listmania Lists in conjunction with this guide:

  1. U.S. History in International Context: This list focuses on survey texts, global or regional histories, commodities, places, and teaching materials.
  2. U.S. History in International Context Chronologically: This list is limited to texts that focus on fewer than 100 years of history.
  3. U.S. History in International Context Miscellany: Because two lists cannot contain everything that is useful in the field.

He also created a Spotify (or music) playlist: U.S. History in International Context. This playlist contains over 100 songs that can be used to focus on the concept of internationalizing. Many of the songs were first found on the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for American Music’s Voices Across Time workbook.

Also check out this Delicious Stack—a collection of publicly shared websites.

Lastly, see this YouTube playlist containing applicable videos.

Exploring Historical Fiction

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Question

Do you have any suggestions for historical fiction that could be incorporated into our Language Arts classes on the topics of the Oregon Trail or Lewis and Clark? Currently we use Will Hobbs's Ghost Canoe to help reinforce teaching about Coastal Native Americans in the history classes.

Answer

Thanks for your inquiry. We often get requests for recommendations of historical fiction to use when studying particular time periods and historical events. So below, I first list some open-access digital databanks of fiction (and occasionally nonfiction) to use in the history/social studies classroom. Then I share some recommendations specific to your request.

Databases of Recommended Books

The National Council for the Social Studies’ (NCSS) Notable Books lists are a great resource. Each year, a panel of educators and librarians read more than 200 books to select these “notable books.” Lists from prior years can be downloaded for free and you can purchase the most recent list or access it for free with membership in NCSS. For each of these books, general reading levels and applicable NCSS standards are identified and a brief annotation gives an overview of content. OurStory, a project of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, provides a useful bookfinder. Here you can search by general historical topic, age group, book type, and award. Searching this bookfinder for “19th century history” and "middle school" brings up 47 fiction and nonfiction books. Please note that it’s not clear when this list was last updated as it does not include recent award winners. The American Library Association's yearly list of Notable Children’s Books includes books suitable for children up to, and including, age 14. Books that win awards such as the Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Medal are added to the list. (The ALA also has a page dedicated to book lists, but few specifically pertain to the history classroom.) The Reading and Writing Project at Teacher’s College has generated a list of historical fiction using teachers’ recommendations which can be accessed as a PDF here. This list just includes title, author, book type (i.e., picture or chapter) and level, but organizes the books by historical topic including a set of recommendations for “Westward Expansion and Prairie Life.” PBS has a list of historical fiction for grades four and five, which can be accessed here. Some states provide lists of historical fiction and nonfiction. Search California’s database using “Oregon” as keyword or “Lewis” as keyword and you will get more than 20 fiction and nonfiction books.

Specific Recommendations

All these online resources can help you find a book, but don’t forget your local and school libraries and independent bookstores. Often children’s librarians will have wonderful suggestions and your local bookseller may also have a quality selection of historical fiction. Indeed, Martha Dyer, librarian at Mission Hill Middle School in California, helped me compile the following recommendations. (One source she used that is not mentioned here is a database available at the local public library, “NoveList,” produced by Ebscohost.) Here are some titles worth investigating: Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell (1997) by Kristiana Gregory. This is a quality selection from the Dear America series. My Travels with Capts. Lewis and Clark, by George Shannon (2004) by Kate McMullan. Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis & Clark (1999) by Gail Langer Karwoski. The Journal of Jedediah Barstow, an Emigrant on the Oregon Trail: Overland, 1845 (2002) by Ellen Levine. This is part of the My Name is America series. Thomas Jefferson: Letters from a Philadelphia Bookworm (2000) by Jennifer Armstrong. This is part of the Dear Mr. President series. The books below do not directly address the specific time period or event you ask about, but they could also be good choices as they are engaging and relevant.

  • Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903)
  • The Devil’s Paintbox by Virginia McKernan (2010)
  • The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich (2005)
  • The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung: a Chinese Miner, California, 1852 by Laurence Yep (2000)

And finally, consider one experienced middle school history teacher’s response to your question: “I usually have my students reading excerpts from Lewis and Clark's journals. Some of those read like a fictional story at times!” Good luck!

For more information

Teachinghistory.org addresses World War I and II literature in another Ask a Master Teacher response and 20th-century literature for the high school classroom in another.

See this response for five picture books for teaching the American Revolution to fifth graders.

Also see this Teaching Guide on using “book sets” that include fiction and nonfiction texts.

Organizing History Through Images

Teaser

In this lesson, students will organize photographs both chronologically and conceptually in order to construct a narrative of the Holocaust.

lesson_image
Description

Students organize photographs from the U.S. Holocaust Museum both chronologically and conceptually in order to construct a narrative of the Holocaust.

Article Body

In this lesson, students organize photographs in order to tell the story of the Holocaust and construct an evidentiary narrative that makes sense to them. The lesson does not include any “correct” ordering or organization of the photographs and instead encourages students to experiment with organizing them both chronologically and thematically.

This lesson also guides students through the process of revising conclusions based on the discovery of additional historical evidence. Students are given a definition of the Holocaust and asked to consider or revise the definition with each new photograph in order to illustrate how historical narratives change depending on the available evidence.

Reading and analyzing primary texts can often be a daunting task for students who struggle with basic literacy skills. However, because this lesson presents historical data in the form of photographs, it is an excellent way to provide all students with access to the historical process, and to support historical thinking with struggling readers or English language learners.

For more advanced or older students, the supplementary activity asks students to read and incorporate brief testimonies of survivors into their definition of the Holocaust.

Topic
The Holocaust
Time Estimate
2 Class Sessions
flexibility_scale
4
Rubric_Content_Accurate_Scholarship

Yes

Rubric_Content_Historical_Background

Yes
The lesson requires students to “read” photographs and write a detailed “definition” of the Holocaust.

Rubric_Content_Read_Write

Yes
Captions and dates for each photograph are included in the lesson. There are additional background materials available.

Rubric_Analytical_Construct_Interpretations

Yes
Students construct an interpretation of the Holocaust using photographs.

Rubric_Analytical_Close_Reading_Sourcing

Yes
Students closely “read” photographs and accompanying source information.

Rubric_Scaffolding_Appropriate

Yes
Some of the photographs are disturbing (as is to be expected given the lesson’s topic).

Rubric_Scaffolding_Supports_Historical_Thinking

Yes
A student worksheet guides students through the process of analyzing each photograph and helps them focus on relevant details.

Rubric_Structure_Assessment

Yes
Some general strategies for assessment are provided. Teachers will want to determine and communicate their criteria for assessment.

Rubric_Structure_Realistic

Yes

Rubric_Structure_Learning_Goals

Yes