We've spent a good bit of time so far this semester with Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States (and the young people's version, which your Powerpoint presentations will be based on). So I'm wondering: Do you think Zinn is relevant for elementary teachers? Is there anything -- in terms of his approach to history, the content of the chapters you've read, the voices that are heard in his text -- that will be useful for you as a teacher of social studies in K-8 classrooms? Even if you wouldn't use A People's History with your students, has it taught you anything worthwhile? Or do you think the class time we've spent on Zinn would have been better utilized reading about/discussing methods or strategies that are specifically geared for elementary teachers?
Whatever your opinion, be honest. Don't just say what you think I want to hear.
9 comments:
I think that Zinn's book has been helpful to us as elementary school students. I like it becasue it gives us the perspective of the event that we are not used to. The history textbooks usually give the side of the United States or the more powerful country. This book really makes you think about what happens not just from that one perspective. I also think that we could have talked about other method and strategies elementary teachers could use besides just this one. Maybe activities that would gear the children toward understanding the content better. Powerpoints are a good way, but maybe a hands-on activity to supplement the chapters as well?
Zinn's book to me is an eye opener. I do not think as an elementary school teacher that I would incorporate this particular book into my classroom. However, the point that this book brings up is a good one. I think elementary school teachers need to incorporate other point of views within their curriculum. There are many different ways a teacher can do this. It might be through picture books or short stories that students are allowed to read throughout the unit. There can be webquests and exploration activities that the students are given the opportunity to participate in. Also, a teacher might incorporate social studies into their writing curriculum and have students' topics be the different types of people involved in the era.
I do not think that class time would be better spent on activities because there are activities incorporated throughout the day. I think the time spent on Zinn and discussing the point of view issues in the book are teaching us a great deal of information. It is important as future educators that we realize that textbooks aren’t always giving us the entire picture. Teachers need to do extra work to bring in primary sources and different voices so students see there are more then just white people involved in situations. Zinn might be too graphic for younger children and that’s why I suggested picture books and short stories, you just need to be creative.
I do like the fact that this book gives a different point of view that we are not used to reading about and I do find it important to see history from the "other side" of things. Even though this book is easy to read, Zinn almost makes the chapters confusing because there is not a lot of detail and a lot of information on one page not explaining it very clearly. When my group read the Native American chapter, it was hard to come up with a lot of information for our power point and to be able to explain what happened because it did not give any explanation. Although I would use it for junior high students, I would not necessarily use it as a textbook, maybe copy certain chapters of units we were discussing for students to read and compare their usual textbooks to Zinn. For younger elementary students, I think the content is too hard for them to understand and not useful for teachers to use.
Personally, I think it would be a sin if Howard Zinn’s, A Young People’s History of the United States was removed from being used in the elementary classroom. I, myself feel almost betrayed that I am just now beginning to learn what really happened in history and I am about to finish up college. I can understand the controversy of contradicting history, but I know that elementary school students will be able to handle it. I think the fear of teaching such content comes from wondering if elementary school students will be able to handle it. This is history, it is what really happened. Bad things happened in history, I don’t think elementary school students or anybody in general need to be so sheltered that we need to lie about what happened. We learn about the Holocaust, it was a horrible event in history, but we still learn about it because it happened. I really like in Zinn’s introduction when he states that, “If you live in a democratic state, it means you have the right to criticize your government’s policies” (pg. viii). He goes on to explain that even the Declaration of Independence makes it known that its laws have the possibility to be flawed and, “it is the right of the people to alter or abolish the government” (pg. ix). Zinn’s confirmation for his book is that if we do indeed have the right to alter the government, he can certainly criticize it. And I could not agree more. I believe that there can be no wrong in teaching the truth.
I think that Zinn's book has been beneficial to us. I think it is important to read because it has taught us multiple perspectives. I think it is important to teach students multiple perspectives in history and I would use Zinn's book in my classroom. It has been an eye opener for me, because I was able to hear the other view points on certain events in history. I don't want my students to learn history the same way I did, so I plan on keeping this book in my classroom so my students have the opportunity to learn the multiple perspectives. I like how Zinn challenges the traditional history and presents his side of the truth, which is so important.
I love Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States because it is so real. I definitely think it is worthwhile to read because most of us did not know the stories from the other side, because when we went to school we were told history through one lens. I think back then, and even today still teachers are afraid to teach the other perspectives because it goes against tradition and as Americans we do not want to see ourselves portrayed negatively, because we are very ethnocentric.
I, however, think it is really important and as a teacher I will have the book in my classroom library and teach from other perspectives. I have already written a unit with the emphasis of perspective taking, with the Mexican American War and I have bilingual students who are mostly of Mexican decent and I would feel wrong teaching the ‘American’ view because I would feel like I was lying to them and it is especially important because it deals with their culture and they should know the Mexican perspective too.
I know that this kind of teaching can be seen as controversial, which would make me nervous about teaching it. I would have to make sure parents understood my intentions, but I teacher people still do not teach this way because they are afraid. Also, they are required to follow the curriculum and use the textbook or do not have access to sources from other perspectives.
What I also like about the book is that it is written in a way that is clear for that age group and it is done appropriately. I definitely think the book is relevant for elementary teachers, because I feel that things are beginning to change and that this is another step towards making this change.
I also am saddened that social studies, in addition to other subjects and activities are being cut out because of NCLB and that there is no time to move away from the curriculum, but as teachers I think we should try. This book will be useful to me because I can use it as a source for teaching and to back up what I am doing in the classroom.
I think the class time we've spent on Zinn was very worthwhile, because the ideas behind it are important. When you teach using this knowledge and information, you do not need to worry about your teaching strategies and such because those things will be taken care of when you teach something that you are passionate about. I also really enjoy the class and look forward to it, and I am not just saying that. =) My interest in learning/teaching social studies is very high.
I think that Zinn is relevant for elementary teachers. I think that it is important for us to learn about the different perspectives on historical events. Through our reading and class discussions, I have learned a lot. It is surprising to see that what I have learned in my past history classes has such a different story when told from another’s point of view. I think that I would definitely use this book at the middle school level because I do see the value in seeing more than one perspective one events and issues. Even if I am given a different textbook to teach, I think that having students read parts of Zinn’s book would be a good way to show multiple perspectives. I think this would a good way to spark an interesting discussion among my students. I think that on the elementary level parts of Zinn’s book could be used at the fifth grade level, but I am not sure that I would use it in the younger grades. However, I think that the teaching of multiple perspectives could still be done in the younger grades. We saw in class that a teacher could still tell the truth, while still keeping the content age appropriate (ex: the Christopher Columbus song we heard).
I think that the class time we have spent has been useful at least for me because I think it has really shown me the importance of looking at things from many different perspectives. This can also translate to other subject areas as well, and it can even translate to how you instruct your students. For example, what works best for one child may not work for another, so as a teacher it is important to find a different approach to helping the student. It is helpful for me to discuss the content of Zinn’s book because I feel that my content knowledge is not as strong as my content knowledge of other subjects. These discussions are teaching me a lot and helping me develop a better understanding of the subject.
I love reading from Zinn's book. It is so interesting especially since most of us have never learned half of the material in this book. As I read the book I get upset because I wonder how I could have gone through thirteen years of schooling and never heard Christopher Columbus was a murderer. I was disappointed to learn this. I feel that as teachers we have a duty to educate our students on a variety of perspectives. This book is excellent at showing the perspective of people in history that are not normally questioned or thought of. Using the information from this book can definitely make us better elementary teachers because we can take even the simplest concept of perspective and apply it in our lessons. We can make sure that at the end of a lesson we consider how everyone in that situation would have felt. Some students might be able to relate it to their lives, and some students may need to imagine how they would feel if it were to happen to them. I feel like this should open our eyes and show us that we need to be responsible to show our students that everyone's perspective matters. It can be hurtful when someone isn't heard, and this book is an excellent portrayal of that. I hope as teachers we can carry on the idea of perspective not only in social studies, but in our other lessons as well. It will make class much more engaging and worthwhile for the class if we can do that.
Just to clarify -- the Zinn Powerpoint was never intended as a sample strategy for teaching historical content (from Zinn's book or any other) to young students. I do think PowerPoints can be used effectively as a means of sharing visuals with an entire class, but the PPT project you are doing is a technology requirement for the course. I combined it with Zinn as a way to try to feed two birds with one hand, so to speak, but there are, of course, much more engaging ways to get at the material. I presented several related to the Columbus chapter, and Caitlin has a lot of good ideas in this thread as well.
I was interested to hear that some of you found the content of the chapters too superficial or difficult to understand. I think part of the problem may be that Zinn is kind of filling in the blanks of the traditional version of history, but young kids may not know the traditional version very well, so they may not realize what blanks he's filling. That would be an argument for using this book as a supplement to a textbook, and having kids compare/contrast the different accounts, as Kelly suggests.
It's good to hear that several of you have found the book useful (though I am, as always, open to hearing other points of view -- I have to practice what I preach, right?). For me, the big message is that we have to try to include multiple voices and to portray history in a way that approaches intellectual honesty, no matter what grade level we're teaching.
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