I use the People vs. Columbus resource annually in my 7th grade classroom.
My students love it and find it very engaging. I always invite other teachers to serve as a jury and they are always impressive.
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La Guerra con Mexico
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Translated by Floralba Vivas. Rethinking Schools.
Handout in Spanish for the U.S. Mexico War Tea Party.
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Reclaiming Hidden History: Students Create a Slavery Walking Tour in Manhattan
Teaching Activity. By Alan J. Singer. Rethinking Schools.
How a teacher and his students organized a tour of the hidden history of slavery in New York.
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Reading Between the Lines: An Art Contest Helps Students Imagine the Lives of Runaway Slaves
Teaching Activity. By Thom Thacker and Michael A. Lord. 4 pages. Rethinking Schools.
An art contest is used as the basis from which students can examine primary historical documents (advertisements for runaway slaves) to gain a deeper understanding of the institution of slavery in the North.
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U.S. Mexico War: “We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God”
Teaching Activity. Lesson by Bill Bigelow and student reading by Howard Zinn. 21 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Interactive activity introduces students to the history and often untold story of the U.S.-Mexico War. Roles available in Spanish.
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Salt of the Earth: Grounds Students in Hope
Teaching Activity. By S.J. Childs. Rethinking Schools.
The author describes how she introduces students to the classic 1953 film, Salt of the Earth, about a miners’ strike in New Mexico.
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Pump Up the Blowouts: Reflections on the 40th Anniversary of the Chicano/a School Blowouts
Teaching Activity. By Gilda L. Ochoa. Rethinking Schools.
Reflections on teaching students about the 1968 walkouts by Chicano students in California.
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Rethinking the Teaching of the Vietnam War
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools.
A role play on the history of the Vietnam War that is left out of traditional textbooks.
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Promoting Social Imagination Through Interior Monologues
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Linda Christensen. 3 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Empathy, or "social imagination," allows students to connect to "the other" with whom, on the surface, they may appear to have little in common.
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Rethinking the U.S. Constitutional Convention: A Role Play
Teaching Activity. By Bob Peterson. 14 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A role play on the Constitutional Convention which brings to life the social forces active during and immediately following the American Revolution with focus on two key topics: suffrage and slavery. An elementary school adaptation of the Constitution Role Play by Bill Bigelow. Roles available in Spanish.
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‘We Had Set Ourselves Free’: Lessons on the Civil Rights Movement
Teaching Activity. By Doug Sherman. Rethinking Schools.
The author describes how he uses biographies and film to introduce students to the role of people involved in the Civil Rights Movement beyond the familiar heroes. He emphasizes the role and experiences of young people in the Movement.
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