Sunday, October 26, 2008
The PAA . . or PPA . . or whatever its called
So I am taking over the class in a week and have made plans for the first week and then have a framework of objectives for the following weeks. It's hard to know exactly what we will get to in those weeks because all of my plans end up getting pushed back. For my PPA I think I am going to focus on our Pilgrims study unit that we will be beginning in the middle of November. I am choosing this unit because I wanted the subject to be one that the whole home room could participate in (literacy blocks are divided by language groups). I am thinking of having the main objectives concerning this unit be that we are all one community and need to be thankful for each other. We will be doing a guided writing assignment where kids will be writing down what they are thankful for. This unit will tie into many social studies EALRs but I also plan on having kittos do a timeline of events concerning the voyage to Plymouth, constructing our own Mayflower boat, performing a play, etc. I do however, want the main focus of this unit be on giving thanks. It is difficult (as I am sure you all have witnessed) to integrate history into the curriculum without sugarcoating the details but also giving a culturally sensitive portrayal of the truth that is also age appropriate. I ran into this dilemma while planning our Christopher Columbus units- I want the kids to know what happened a long time ago, but I don't want their picture of America's past to be the same as mine was when I was in school. I want these kids to be informed but am a little unsure as to what activities I should be bringing into this unit so that I represent it in a balanced and thoughtful way. Any ideas??? :)
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2 comments:
Hi Cara -- As I was thinking about your question of how to approach Thanksgiving, I remembered the Plimouth Plantation web site. I'm not sure of the spelling -- I think they may use an archaic form, but I'm sure you could find it on Google. They have a kind of living museum there with lots of hands-on activities and experiences that might give you ideas.
Good luck,
David
Cara,
I went to Plymouth Plantation and it was fabulous. It is a museum but you go in and actors act as if they have just gotten off of the boat. They tell you all about their lives.The museum is in Massachusetts of course. Check the website out though.
I would also give your students a way to look at the positives and the negatives. Don't get into huge details but list the facts. Why did the Europeans want to come to a new land? What did they risk coming across the sea/ocean? Possibly talk about Europeans feelings towards some natives and why they may feel that way. Why would they be scared? What myths could have traveled across the sea? How did differences between natives and Europeans rise to conflict? You may have young students but if you make a comparison or analogy they may understand. Think of things they have been scared of and how their fear may have caused them to act in ways they wouldn't normally. Tell students about how some Eurpoeans came to conquer land and people where others just wanted to live. freely.
Look at what the Europeans gave the Native Americans and the Native Americans gave the Europeans such as food. I would recommend not making it seem that everyone had a great friendly thanksgiving dinner and everything was just great. One mistake teachers make is victimizing Native Americans. Native American tribes suffered much tragedies but they were strong intelligent people, some more prone to fighting then others. There are actually tribe that have Mock Wars --they dress up and play drums to scare their enemy but no actual physical violence occurs--pretty interesting customs. It is hard to break it all down and turn it into curriculum but I hope this helps a bit.
Sharlet
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