{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"47012570","dateCreated":"1322362848","smartDate":"Nov 26, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Jaffry23","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Jaffry23","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/47012570"},"dateDigested":1532760449,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"\"Gone With The Wind\"","description":"Chapter 5 in the Loewen book talks about slavery and racism. In this chapter Loewen writes about how are these two themes treated in our history textbooks. Do you feel the same way Loewen feels, about these authors sugarcoating all the information and just happen to mention the things that will not make this nation look bad? How was your experience learning about slavery and racism?
\nI have to say that I feel the same way; in history textbooks everything that is told is sugarcoated. I agree with Loewen when he mentions that nothing bad that happens in this nation has an author it seems to be anonymous all the time. Again we fall on the same line hat there is only one perspective told in this text books, the good side.
\nAfter reading this chapter and going to the African Burial ground I feel that I didn\u2019t learned relevant information in my previous history classes. I never knew that there were slaves in New York and especially around Wall Street. I didn\u2019t know that in 1720, out of the 1600 African Americans most were slaves. Nor did I know that Wall Street serve as a market place for the hiring of slaves. I learned what slavery was but not really a lot of details about the topic. In terms of racism I learned about it in a sociology class I don\u2019t remember this from any history class I took in elementary or in high school.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"47035390","body":"Slavery is the drunk, jailbird cousin at the family reunion that everyone is too embarrassed to admit they know. The trouble is, that embarrassing cousin is after all apart of your family and a part of our history. Not acknowledging the relationship does not change the damage the embarrassing cousin caused. Not acknowledging the relationship does not change that the rest of the family benefited greatly (financially) from the illegal and immoral deeds of the embarrassing cousin. Not acknowledging the relationship does not change the fact that the embarrassing cousin is in fact the product of greed that is still very much alive and well in the family. The only way to heal and move on is to be open and honest about all that happened and learn from our mistakes.
\nI agree with Loewen that " slavery's twin legacies to the present are the social and economic inferiority it conferred upon blacks and the cultural racism it instilled in whites." (143)Yet, textbooks always seem to down play the far reaching effects of slavery on Americans, foreign policy, commerce, culture etc. Slavery is portrayed as a small blemish on the otherwise pristine view of our nation, instead of an insidious institution with far reaching and long lasting repercussions.
\nIn my middle school history class, my white teachers would look at me apologetically (I was one of the only black students). They seemed uncomfortable talking about the subject and the information was presented really only scratched the surface. Slavery was presented like an event that was isolated in the deep South (I was in California) and took place over a short period.Slavery was covered usually in a day or two. It gave me the impression that it wasn't really that big of a deal. I am sure that many Americans have had a similar crash course in slavery. It makes me sad, but mostly angry. I want to make sure my students don't get the same watered down version of history.","dateCreated":"1322428623","smartDate":"Nov 27, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"kb1399","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/kb1399","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"47037606","body":"I do think that 'the twin legacies' is an important part of the discussion about slavery. I also think that talking about slavery as a "socioeconomic system" and racism as an "idea system" is also another initial step to the discussion (143).
\nAnother way to connect to the students about racism and segregation would be to talk about the withholding of education (159). The students can relate and think about how they would feel if they were not allowed to go to school. They could brainstorm how they would get the right to education.","dateCreated":"1322431623","smartDate":"Nov 27, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"NicoleHarmantzis","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/NicoleHarmantzis","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"47037782","body":"I also was drawn to the idea of having the students "wrestle" with how Jefferson might have felt (149). 'Why would I speak out against slavery and have slaves of my own?'","dateCreated":"1322431758","smartDate":"Nov 27, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"NicoleHarmantzis","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/NicoleHarmantzis","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"47038982","body":"The Jefferson issue is interesting. I would like my students to "wrestle" with the question "Why did Thomas Jefferson have slaves?" What evidence do we have that he was against slavery? Texts that I used in elementary and secondary school avoided the connection between Jefferson and slavery. Other texts seem to suggest the he was a reluctant slave owner, but how do we know? What about the hypocrisy of penning the line "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence when using enslaved human beings to increase his personal wealth? Why can't we be outraged by that? At least we could be disappointed that one of our Founding Fathers made despicable choices.","dateCreated":"1322433568","smartDate":"Nov 27, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"kb1399","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/kb1399","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"47040270","body":"Similar to you girls, my education of slavery was very superficial. Slavery was something that was taught to be very distant and way in the past. The thing that angers me and that really got under my skin as I read this chapter is how slavery is still so relevant in our lives today and how it has affected almost every aspect of our lives (socially, economically, culturally, historically, and so on) but that I was so unaware of all the affects of slavery. Loewen discusses how "race is our "American obsession" (137). If it is a huge part of our lives, why do we live in ignorance of it?
\nI think that the Jefferson issue is a great conversation to have with our students and a great way topic for students to research. It goes against the "heroification" of our historical figures, which Loewen discussed earlier in the book. It also shows that not everything is black and white like the textbooks make them out to be.","dateCreated":"1322435452","smartDate":"Nov 27, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jenlee18","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jenlee18","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"47052358","body":"I also think that Loewen's discussion on the progress of racism is a very interesting thought we could discuss with our students (171). If we don't address the truth about slavery and racism, we are saying that things have gotten better magically without the hard efforts and struggles of many of the people in the past. Like Loewen says, it is another way for the US to be ethnocentric. Not only do we have to teach students the history of racism, we have to connect it to the present so that they can see that it is still prevelant in the world today and that it hasn't disappeared. One of ways of doing this is to show students that we are still fighting racism and that the US was and is not the nation to be fighting for human rights. To be able to connect the issue of racism and human rights globally shows students the magnitude of the issue and the efforts of the people around the world to make a change. It gives them the opportunity to feel empowered and to make a change.","dateCreated":"1322452766","smartDate":"Nov 27, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jenlee18","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jenlee18","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"47053264","body":"Growing up in the south, I guess it was a little harder for us to ignore slavery. One thing I know we learned a lot about was how bad slavery was and how enslaved Africans revolted and fought back whenever they could. Many of my teachers and classmates were Black so this was an important and captivating subject in general. One thing is that we did mostly learn about slavery as being a Southern thing. We might have learned that some presidents and founding fathers who lived in Virginia owned slaves, but we did not learn about Northern slavery or how being a slave owner affected their politics, even though now it seems like an obvious omission. I agree though, that in general, slavery is presented as an isolated time in our country's history. The lasting effect of slavery has been racism, but as Loewen points out, textbooks fail to make this connection, with none of the text books including the word racism in the discussion of slavery. This makes is hard to make the connections to the racism of slavery and the racism of today.","dateCreated":"1322454317","smartDate":"Nov 27, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"RachelCantu","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/RachelCantu","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1319345279\/RachelCantu-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"46690062","dateCreated":"1321818100","smartDate":"Nov 20, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"NicoleHarmantzis","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/NicoleHarmantzis","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/46690062"},"dateDigested":1532760449,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Chapter 8 Talk","description":"In Chapter 8, Loewen writes: \u201cU.S. citizens cannot possibly critique government policies if they do not know of them\u201d (227).
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\nWhat are some ways you would show the students the unmentioned policies? How would you teach them to be critics? (You could choose a specific government action that you were drawn to from the chapter)
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\nI think that a good way would be to use newspaper articles. I thought that Loewen presented an interesting idea at the end of Chapter 8. He explains how there is a disconnect between the textbook information and newspapers\/parent views. Some newspaper articles would definitely take planning to find but would be very helpful. Maybe a trip to a library, with a lot of prior discussion about how to find and read articles, would be possible.
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\nI thought the idea of understanding that all stories can have \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cbad\u201d- even historical stories. I think my class would continue to add stories to the historical knowledge. Also, the effect of people on the government is an important theme to focus on. Loewen explains how students come to think that \u201cdesegregation was something the federal government imposed on the black community\u201d but it was something that the \u201cblack community forced on the federal community\u201d (235). This can be empowering and they will be able to think about the relationship between people in the government and themselves (as people in the community).","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"46707190","body":"Yes newspapers are a great way for students to learn what is going on in the world. But I feel that sometimes the media tries to "cover up" some stories instead of uncovering them. I think that getting newspapers and various sources from different countries would widen our students' views. This connects to the question about how we would teach our students to be critics. By comparing what the US newspapers say\/said about a US government action or policy in foreign affairs, students will be able to see that not everything the US does internationally is to other countries. For example, Loewen discusses how six out of the eight textbooks he examined mentioned the fact that the United States helped bring down the government of Jacobo Arbenz in Gautemala (228). However, the textbooks fail to mention the United States had intervened because it would be beneficial to the United Fruit Company, a US mutlinational company. Looking at sources from Guatemala and comparing them to what they are learning from the textbooks will help students understand that there are always two (or more sides) to a story. It will help students understand the importance of questioning and get them to be active learners and critical thinkers.","dateCreated":"1321840564","smartDate":"Nov 20, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jenlee18","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jenlee18","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46709940","body":"I agree that a comparison between newspaper articles and textbook information would be very interesting. Finding the materials would be a challenge. I did not even know about some of the events in this chapter, so this is definitely one of the times when we as educators have to do our research and make sure we are prepared. In addition to newspaper articles, autobiographies or historical fiction also give a more accurate view of these events, or at least show them from a different perspective. This would be a good study of the interaction between the government and the people. WE could ask questions about the government\u2019s decisions such as: Was our government acting in the best interest of the people? Who benefited form these policies or actions? And of course, like with this whole chapter, the ideas are just as relevant today and students could monitor the news to see what the government and the people are doing right now and apply these same guiding questions.","dateCreated":"1321844107","smartDate":"Nov 20, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"RachelCantu","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/RachelCantu","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1319345279\/RachelCantu-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46710656","body":"I also did not know about the events detailed in the chapter like the multiple assassination attempts on Fidel Castro and undermining of the democratic process in Chile after the 1970 election (230,231). I think the idea of supplementing texts with newspaper articles is a great way to link past to present.Here's my concern: how much is appropriate to teach fourth graders? The content covered in chapter 8 is really important and interesting, but probably too much to teach to my fourth grade class. The same is true with newspaper articles. Many are so heavy, they may be difficult for students to really understand and appreciate. I think the goal is to provide the background knowledge about what government is, how it came to be and how it is supposed to work. Then we can plant the seeds of questioning as we go. I think it is important to focus on how things should work before we start pouring on the countless examples of how it doesn't work. But with this subject as with all others we teach, we must encourage our students to investigate, think critically and decide for themselves. Katina","dateCreated":"1321845042","smartDate":"Nov 20, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"kb1399","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/kb1399","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46714258","body":"
\nI agree that the news paper article idea will work, but I also wonder about age appropriate. Sometimes these articles can be difficult to understand and they may contain information hard to digest unless one has prior knowledge of the subject. Then I was also thinking that having children watch the news as part of the class work by looking for a new report on a website. By watching it together with the teacher he\/she can replace some words for students who are having difficulties understanding. After viewing the video students can do some research on topics they have questions.
\nI was also surprise about those historical events I had no clue happen, especially the ones with Castro and Allende. I agree with Loewen when he says: \u201cDo textbooks need to include all government skullduggery? Certainly not.\u201d (231) I also agree that these textbooks need to consider what is necessary to include in them. Information like Castro\u2019s attempts is key information to understand the international relations between the United States and Cuba.
\n Jaffranna","dateCreated":"1321851461","smartDate":"Nov 20, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Jaffry23","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Jaffry23","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46727560","body":"Like Rachel mentioned, another way to get students to be critics is letting them ask the questions. Often times, students are questioning and challenging what they learn in the classroom but the teacher shoots them down due to time or inconvenience. However, if those questions are acknowledged, researched, and answered, students will begin to see the importance in making inquiries. Also, like Katina discussed, we need to first lay the foundation of a topic before delving deeper into it so that students can create a holistic and thorough understanding of that topic\/concept.
\nI feel that something we can do as teachers is to be honest about the history of the United States and to not be afraid to teach students from a less traditional and accpeted viewpoint. Loewen says that "educators and textbook authors seem to want to inculcate the next generation into blind allegiance to our country" (235). In order to instill any allegiance in our students, I feel that we need to be truthful about what the government has done so that students are aware of what has happened. When I was reading about what the United States did in Child and Guatemala, I couldn't help but get upset and annoyed. Keeping students in the dark about what has happened in Cuba, Lebanon, Chile, and etc. may make them feel betrayed, disgusted, annoyed, and so on. By learning about the truth, students may feel as if they are being recognized as and considered important citizens of the country. This may empower students to make a difference or a change in the country or the world.","dateCreated":"1321883798","smartDate":"Nov 21, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jenlee18","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jenlee18","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46749216","body":"I agree that blind allegiance is not what we want for our students. It is important to teach them to question conventional wisdom. It is especially important to lay the foundation of critical thinking and questioning in elementary school, so that the students we teach will continue that practice into adulthood. Textbooks for middle school and high school can be just as biased as the ones we use to teach our students. The world is full of bias and misinformation. Not every teacher will be as committed to an honest presentation of history. Not every teacher will be knowledgeable about alternative perspectives of history. We have to prepare them for that very real possibility.","dateCreated":"1321898204","smartDate":"Nov 21, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"kb1399","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/kb1399","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"46207744","dateCreated":"1321228576","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"kb1399","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/kb1399","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/46207744"},"dateDigested":1532760449,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Discussion Prompt for Chapter 3","description":"Lies My Teacher Told Me says text book authors \u201csee their job as presenting \u2018facts\u2019 for children to \u2018learn\u2019, not encouraging themto think for themselves.\u201d Do you agree? If so, why do you think that is? What can teachers do to combat the bias and misinformation we encounter in the texts we use?
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\nI agree that children are expected to learn the \u201cfacts\u201dpresented to them without question. This is evident in math, science and socialstudies instruction. There has been a push to teach for understanding andtransfer, but presenting this kind of all-knowing curriculum is a big part ofthe problem. Textbooks should describe history in an honest and balanced way.The students can decide for themselves what to believe. One thing I love about LiesMy Teacher Told Me is that it presents multiple possibilities. For example,it presents the \u201chijacking theory\u201d of why the Pilgrims landed in New Englandinstead of Virginia. (82) It also presents pilot error and storms as possible explanations. (83) This feature is missing in manytextbooks, but is great because it encourages the students to think.
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\nIt is human nature to present the best image of you toothers. When you retell a story, you are likely to leave out your embarrassing misdeedsand mistakes to make yourself look more righteous and heroic. Textbooks do thesame. It is understandable, but it robs students the opportunity to form theirown conclusions, it is often not completely truthful and it marginalizes and oromits non-European Americans who contributed to our history.
\nI believe one thing we must do to counterbalance the bias intextbooks is to present alternative texts to supplement or refute what we encounterin our mandated curriculum. It sounds easy, but it will probably entail lots ofresearch, book purchasing and downloading. It will probably mean hours andhours of prep and planning, which I can\u2019t even imagine right now. Another bigpart of teaching a balanced and fair American history is questioning. I think thebest thing a student can take from elementary school is the ability to question,search for answers to those questions and then decide for his or herself whatto believe.
\n-Katina","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"46221304","body":"Yes, after reading the chapter and thinking about my history education, students often are not encouraged to think for themselves. Students should be aware that there is controversy about the details of history. For example, Loewen reveals that two textbooks inform us that \u201cone to twelve million\u201d Indians in America and the students can be prompted to wonder \u201cwhy estimates are so vague\u201d (85). They can even begin an inquiry project to look for documents that would help them determine a more accurate number.
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\nI think that perhaps people underestimate the abilities of students to understand and make sense of information \u2013 good and bad. As Loewen writes, \u201cthe antidote to feel-good history is not feel-bad history but honest and inclusive history\u201d (97). If educators learn how to present the details in a way that shows how the good and the bad co-exist in history, students would understand that this is part of history. I definitely agree with Katina that alternative texts would be beneficial. I continue to think about the value of primary sources which are texts that most interest me. Instead of textbook authors telling us what the Pilgrims thought about, we could read accounts written by the Pilgrims. In this way, we can move away from the ethnocentrism that Loewen suggests is perpetuated by just reading textbooks (97).","dateCreated":"1321242460","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"NicoleHarmantzis","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/NicoleHarmantzis","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46224360","body":"It does seem as if the goal of textbook authors is to present facts to children. Facts are always shaped by the person who is telling them so it will have the authors' biases in them. In order to combat the misinformation and bias, I feel that we need to continue to educate ourselves and always question what we are learning. Likewise, we need to get our students to be active readers\/thinkers so that they learn to challenge a fact or an idea instead of passively accepting everything that is taught to them.
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\nLike Katina, I love how this book explains an event that we have all learned about in school (like the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock) from different perspectives. It kind of made me chuckle when Loewen wrote that the Native Americans thought that the Europeans smelled and tried to teach them how to bathe. Even this small information is important in drawing the whole picture of the Europeans' "settlement." It gives students a different way of looking at an event or idea that they may have learned from the same perspective year after year. By providing students with various information about a single event, such as the information about the plague or how the Pilgrims may have "hijacked" the ship, the students are given an opportunity to create their own thoughts and opinions about the event, instead of having it forced onto them. Also, the idea that the Pilgrims may have "hijacked" the ship is a great way to connect history to modern day. This way students will be able to relate more to what they are learning.","dateCreated":"1321246908","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jenlee18","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jenlee18","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46224726","body":"In response to Nicole, the ethnocentrism that Loewen mentions is definitely something we have to consider when we are teaching and reading from textbooks. Loewen mentions that ehtnocentrism leaves "students less able to learn from and deal with people from other cultures" (90). If we continue to teach this ethnocentrism, we are virtually allowing and possibly encouraging our students to believe that they are superior. By teaching students different view points, different opinions, and different ideas of a single event, we are helping our students be more culturally aware, knowledgeable, and open minded. Like Loewen says, learning about the the real first Thanksgiving could "help America grow more thoughtful and more tolerant, rather than more ethnocentric" (92). That is what we should be aiming to do in our classroom.","dateCreated":"1321247699","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jenlee18","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jenlee18","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46249762","body":"
\nFrom the chapters we have read as well as my own experience, it seems like social studies is taught as a series of facts that textbook editors deem appropriate and true. There is little room for critical thinking or questioning. The Thanksgiving chapter is a great example for this question. The Thanksgiving story is usually presented as a sort of fairy tale or fable for students. Its very simple and one sided. This book is full of examples were textbooks choose to present a simplified clean-cit version of a story instead of letting students know all of the facts and decide for themselves what might have happened.
\nWhy do they do this? I think that one reason is accountability. This reminds me a lot of our math class last year. We learned about how instead of just teaching students how to do something, we should give them guiding problems and materials and let them come up with strategies for themselves. This is a more meaningful way for students to learn, but the downside is that it takes time and there is a lot of room for error. I think a similar problem exists in social studies. Instead of giving students a lot of primary sources and possible explanations and letting them come up with ideas on their own, it is faster to tell students what someone (text book editors) has already decided is the right answer. Just like in mathematics, this way of learning can easily fail to hook to the student or be meaningful to them. What\u2019s worse with social studies is that the \u201canswers\u201d we give them are often not even completely right!
\nI think that is important for students to know all of this. Before presenting any social studies unit, it would be so amazing for teachers to just tell students that this is one explanation of what happened but their may be other explanations or other truths. I think if someone had told me that in early elementary school it would have been both confusing and completely fascinating. Of course, to follow up on this, teachers have to be responsible for providing students with the materials to study and judge for themselves. Students can learn the traditional story of Thanksgiving (they probably already know it) but they should also be informed about the plague that hit New England before the Pilgrims arrived, and the various interactions between Europeans and Native Americans. Students may not completely dismiss the Thanksgiving story, because there is an amount of truth there, but there are misconceptions that they can clear up. My favorite example for this chapter is the use of the word \u201csettle.\u201d Asking students if this is really the appropriate word for what the pilgrims did would encourage critical thinking and use of assorted evidence, such as textbooks, library books, and additional materials provided by the teacher.","dateCreated":"1321287385","smartDate":"Nov 14, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"RachelCantu","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/RachelCantu","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1319345279\/RachelCantu-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46260702","body":"I was also intrigued by the idea of "settlers" and who is traditionally seen as such. I like the sharp contrast drawn between British "settlers" and Spanish "intruders". The samples of the text quoted in the book often read like fiction stories, with not a hint of verifiable information.How do textbook manufacturers continue to produce such inaccurate books and why aren't more Americans outraged?","dateCreated":"1321294410","smartDate":"Nov 14, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"kb1399","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/kb1399","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46273542","body":"So true it hurts, after reading chapters 1-3 on Lies My Teacher Told Me, I see what Loewen\u2019s talking about. Children are expected to learn the facts presented to them without given the option of having doubts. The worst part is that these so called \u201cfacts\u201d are not always what really happened. In chapter one we learned things about Helen Keller that were never mentioned in our history textbooks. We also learned things about president Woodrow that we had no idea about. I think that they see their job as presenting facts for children to learn because this is how they learned history.
\nNow as Bob Peterson wrote in his article \u201cColumbus and Natives Issues in the Elementary Classroom,\u201d that in order for teachers to teach students the truth about history they must be \u201cre-educated on these issues\u201d (35). As teachers we will have to go the extra mile and look for other sources to supply the corresponding support to these textbooks that we are sometimes force to use in elementary schools. This will be a good way to teach \u201cthe good and the bad\u201d(Loewen 92) on every topic we touch upon.","dateCreated":"1321303874","smartDate":"Nov 14, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Jaffry23","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Jaffry23","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]}],"more":false},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}