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Text Collection – European ‘Discovery’ of America through Jamestown Luke Borders August 14, 2014 History courses in American primary and secondary schools tell of the

‘discovery’ of the New World from a particularly Eurocentric vantage. I grew up learning

that a ‘we’ discovered the continent. This ‘we’ includes my ancestors and because ‘we’

did the discovering, we speak the language of the pilgrims and share a skin tone with

them. This version of history is out dated and can no longer stand in Texas public

schools when at least half of my class [more than half of Austin ISD’s demographic and

more than ¾ of neighboring Del Valle ISDi] does not look like me and their parents likely

do not speak like me. I am interested in learning the history of Mexico, but I am

interested in history. I have heard students verbally hate history inside the history

classroom, and by extension, hate their history teachers. When asked why the hate for

history?, students would respond, ‘history is dumb and don’t matter at all.’ A list of dates

coupled with a survey course of history will not serve to engage students with the subject

matter. Droll thing history is.

The history survey is taught throughout K-12 education and often times to the few

students required to take a History 101 course in college. In 8th grade, I will attempt to

break the mold of trudging through the drudgery of a survey course by asking students to

do the work of history. The goal of these collected texts is to foster in students of all

ability levels the notion that history breathes and that what is in the textbook is merely a

version of it. I will teach them that they can tell their own version of history so long as

they can back the story with texts. Each of the following lessons contains multiple texts

(8 in total) and will cover 1-2 each days of class time depending on class length.

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I. The Dark Side of the Columbian Exchange

A) Graph of Native population in Americas from 1520-1820. By Mr. Gibualt of

Mr. G’s World Historyii B) Give Me Liberty by Eric Foner (p.22 – 24) iii C) Dotsiv

The graph will be used to open the discussion about the European Discovery of

the Americas. Students will have begun to cover Columbus and the beneficial aspects of

the Columbian Exchange. The European discovery of the Americas changed the course

of history and the histories of every person in the classroom and school building. At this

point, we will examine four paragraphs from Give Me Liberty by Eric Foner. The

paragraphs discuss the negative effects of ‘discovery’ on Native American population

nearly upon discovery. The graph will be coupled with one or two drawings of dots that

will be used to give students a visual example of how many Natives (dots) perished as a

result of Columbus’ great discovery.

The reading from Give Me Liberty mentions that the population at the time of the

Americas before Columbus ranges from 50-90 million people (p. 23) and gives the

estimated populations of other continents at the time. The discrepancy in population

range will be discussed using a few essential questions. How do we know the population

of the Americas? What do we know about the cultures of Europe and America at this

time?

Then, using one of the dot pages (footnote IV), students will be asked to choose a

starting Native population and shade to scale the percentage of the native population that

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perished in a red, white or blue coloring pencil. I will ask the students why they had to

choose from among these colors.

This class period will end with a three-minute ‘Nonstop Write’ (Daniels, p. 92 –

95) and a small group discussion about the texts we covered in the day’s class.

Strengths

This assignment couples visual texts with a written text. The use of both will help

students grasp the magnitude of the numbers. 90 million is a big number, much too big

for me to hold in my head. By breaking the number down using a smaller number of dots

(5,000 or 1 million), students can begin to develop a frame of reference to understand the

population changes brought on by the Colombian Exchange. Additionally, through the

use of dots, the graph provided by Mr. G will gain some meaning. The interactivity of

the dot lesson will begin to allow students to grapple with making history as they get to

decide on a population range for their dot shading.

Weaknesses

The written text may be difficult for students to grasp. As I read, I will think aloud

(Beers, p. 45) to show students how I [a hopeful historian] think through the text and

figure out complex and unfamiliar vocabulary. Still, a great deal of the reading portion

could be lost on students. I could employ writing breaks (Daniels, p. 31) into the reading

portion of the class, but fear I am already trying to cover too much ground in a class

period.

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The second weakness of the assignment is the semi-arbitrariness of the population

number students choose. Foner gives readers a range of populations, but not much to

back up that range. As we endeavor to create our own history, choosing from a given

population range without textual support may lead us off in the wrong direction.

II. Native American Cultural Brief.

A) Drawing of the Spread of Smallpoxv B) Indian Women Planting Cropsvi C)

John White Indian Ceremonyvii

The prior days’ conversation centered on population decline will be revisited as

we discuss the reasons for population decline and continue to work towards a visual

understanding of history by analyzing the causes of population decline mentioned by

Foner in the prior period’s reading. The essential question of this period will again be,

what do we know about the cultures of America and Europe at this time.

Student’s will return to their shaded dot drawings and nonstop writes from the

previous class as we discuss the causes of death. The Foner reading will be projected on

the board and I will read it aloud again. Before reading, I will ask students to recall the

ways I thought aloud when reading this passage yesterday and instruct each student to

have his/her pencil and paper ready. I will inform students that twice in each of the four

paragraphs, I will stop reading and say simply WRITE, at which point, they will write

silently (Daniels, p. 31) for 30-60 seconds about what they hear the author describing.

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Without pausing for discussion, we will take a 3 minute silent break during which

I ask the students to draw pictures (Daniels, p. 48)) of the ways the author is describing

life and death in the new world.

During this break, we brought some prior knowledge to the front of the mind in

preparation for our next text (Beers, p. 73). After this break, students will share their

individual drawings in small groups. Next, I will project the drawing of the spread of

small pox (footnote V) and think aloud through the drawing, using the language of an

historian and inquiring of the illustration. I will tell students what I see (Wineburg, p. 21)

and make inferences aloud (Beers, p. 61-71) about native life at this time.

The next painting will be displayed and small groups of students will take turns

analyzing it aloud for 30 second each while the others in the group listen silently. They

will be instructed to talk about what they see and what they can infer from the painting.

Then the final painting will be displayed and students will be asked to begin a write

around (Daniels, p. 77). The write around will last for 12 minutes, allowing each

conversation to cycle through 3 times. Students will be asked leave these papers in class,

as the papers will be used in future discussions.

Strengths

This is a very visually strong class. All new texts are picture based. In order to

properly access the texts, the class will begin with discussing terms used to describe

visual images. Lists of words and definitions will be posted on the board. Returning for

a second day to the challenging text by Foner will help students get more comfortable

with it’s content, language and message.

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Weakness

Because this lesson relies so heavily on visual texts, I do not think it will work as

the fist lesson of a school year that examines visual texts. For the lesson to be successful,

students need to have a least some knowledge of what it sounds like to think like an

historian about art. I will provide them with an example and some reference sheets to

help in this process. In the same theme, although the students are in 8th grade, a 12-

minute written conversation may be a bit too ambitious this early in the year.

III. Europeans and Americans

A) Jesuit Claimviii B) Videos of Donkeysix

This text raises very interesting questions about language. Some of the language

will be difficult for the students to comprehend, as many may be unfamiliar with horses

(asses). To bolster our discussion of the text, I will play the two videos of asses (footnote

IX). After each video, I will break for 1 minute for a silent writing break (Daniels, p. 31).

After the writing break for the second video, I will ask the class to take 30 seconds of

think time. During this time, I will write create columns on the board for traits of a wild

ass and traits of a yoked ass. The class will be invited to list traits for each, which I will

transcribe on the board. We will discuss the columns on the board for a few minutes.

Now that we have prepared to tackle the Jesuit, I will project the text on the white

board and read it aloud to the class. After each sentence, I will pause and instruct the

class to take 30 seconds for a quick write (Daniels, p. 31). After small group discussion

and a short class discussion (10 minutes total time max.), I will bring the class together

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and ask what words stood out and why? After getting a list of words on the board

(barbarians, liberty, rebelled, bridle and bit), I will then instruct the students to divide a

page of paper hotdog style for a double-entry journal (Daniels, p. 85) where students will

write and define 3 phrases in the written context on the left side and then situate those

phrases in an historical context in the right column.

After five minutes of silent work, the class will convene for five minutes of small

group discussion. This discussion will center on the latter two images from the previous

class (footnotes VI and VII). The question, what do we know about the cultures of

Europe and America at this time, will be asked again. On the board, I will write two

columns. The first will read, ‘What the Jesuit Says,’ and the second, ‘What WE See in the

Images.’ After a discussion to fill in both sides of the chart, students will be instructed to

begin to draw the images they have developed in their minds over the past several lessons

about how Natives and Europeans interacted. The form for these drawings will be that of

a comic strip.

Class will conclude with a discussion of the terms that will serve as a preview for

the rest of the course… liberty, rebellion, bridle and bit. These terms can be applied for

the rest of the semester, and are themes that recur in any study of history. This artifact

will be revisited time and again as the study of revolution, liberty and citizenship evolve

throughout the semester.

Strengths

Using video helps familiarize students with possibly foreign images used in the

written text, thereby making the text more accessible. Revisiting the images from the

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previous class will strengthen students’ ability to interpret them and draw meaning from

them. The double entry journal, if implemented correctly will serve to inform the classes

understanding of history throughout the semester. By highlighting recurring concepts

early on in the course, students may begin to grasp at them and to develop personal

concepts of what these ideas mean in history. They may begin to connect history to their

present situation.

Weaknesses

There is too much in this class. I want to keep the drawings in, as they serve as

the basis for the unit project and connect with the continued study of paintings, but when

coupled with the Jesuit quote, they may be too much. Comparing/contrasting the Jesuit

quote and the images may be too tall of a task and require a great deal of teacher directed

discussion.

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Bibliography

Beers, K. (2003). When kids can’t read: What teachers can do. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Daniels, H., Zemelman, S., & Steineke, N. (2007). Content-area writing: Every teacher’s guide. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Foner, E. (2012). Give me liberty: An American history (3rd ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

Wineburg, S., Martin, D, & Monte-Sano, C. (2013). Reading like a historian: Teaching literacy in middle and high school history classrooms. New York, NY: Teachers College Press

i http://www.texastribune.org/public-ed/explore/del-valle-isd/ ii http://gibaulthistory.wordpress.com/chapter19/

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iii 3rd edition… The Demographic Disaster pp. 22-24 iv http://www.vendian.org/envelope/dir2/lots_of_dots/million_dots.html or http://d32ogoqmya1dw8.cloudfront.net/images/NAGTWorkshops/time/visualizations_teachtips/5000_dots_hand_1329175680.jpg vhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_the_indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas#mediaviewer/File:Aztec_smallpox_victims.jpg

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vi http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_202043/(after)-Le-Moyne,-Jacques-(de-Morgues)/Florida-Indians-planting-maize

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vii http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_White_(colonist_and_artist)#mediaviewer/File:North_carolina_algonkin-rituale02.jpg

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viii The Jesuit claim that 'these young men are barbarians, have the law of wild asses [BREAK 60 Seconds]...they are born, live and die in liberty without restraint and do not know what is meant by bridle and bit." [BREAK 60 Seconds] But when they tried to 'place the French yoke' on the boys, they rebelled. [BREAK 60 Seconds] [QUESTION: A wild ass…] (http://www.geocities.com/weallcamefromsomewhere/saving_souls.html) / Give me Liberty, p. 13). ix Wild Asses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHQZepALpHQ (1:35 – 2:05) Yoked Ass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unpVZ77q_y4 (:25 – 1:30)