We are studying the colonization of America through our
reading and writing units. Learning
about history is a passion of mine, and I try to find ways to make it
interesting and relevant for my students.
It is hard for nine and ten year olds to imagine life before
cell phones, computers, and television, to name a few. And this time period in
American history has some really dark events like slavery, indentured
servitude, women without rights, and the conquering of native people. One thing
I treasure about my students is that they cannot imagine a world that enslaves
people or treats people differently based on skin color or gender. They are
shocked when we examine this part of colonial history and always ask “why did
they do that?” When I talk about the reasons, they still cannot understand it.
A lesson that we all enjoyed was the comparison of social issues
in colonial days versus today. For example, the students compared technology
back in colonial days such as the printing press, to technology today, like
cell phones and computers. We compared terrorism back then such as attacks by
native people (or attacks by colonists on native populations), to terrorism
today, like ISIS. We saw that school in colonial days was hit or miss depending
on your economic status and that school today is available to everyone in the
United States. Comparing the past to the present helps us understand why change
happens and how societies develop.
I think it’s important to learn about our past because it
gives us a context from which to understand ourselves and others. History shows
us the mistakes people made in the past, and I hope learning about those
mistakes helps us to guide the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment