Schools updating lessons on 1st Thanksgiving

[The Straight Story]

Schools updating lessons on 1st Thanksgiving


The second-graders spent two school days aboard a faux Mayflower ship in their auditorium, braving simulated storms, seasickness and even the birth of a baby.

The pretend Pilgrims at William Beye Elementary School in Oak Park kept journals to explore their fears of moving to a new land. One student wrote, "the king is very bossy, so I got on this ship with my family."

Before the mock journey, they role-played and kept journals in a similar fashion as American Indians while studying different tribes. The students also learned how some of the English settlers' choices harmed indigenous people, examining the more tragic aspects of American history as well as the bright moments.

Many educators are striving to celebrate a more historically accurate Thanksgiving, ditching the stereotypical Pilgrim-and-Indian stories in favor of true social studies lessons. Teachers say a nuanced approach helps debunk popular myths and can add cultural awareness to the holiday.

"This makes history more real," said Amber Schweigert, a second-grade teacher at Beye Elementary.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-web-thanksgiving-historynov26,0,589122.story

[msongs]

1. did they get off the "ship" and start killing "Indians"? nt

[no_hypocrisy]

3. My first thought too, although I used to emphasize the systematic starvation of Native Americans

over their murder when I taught "Thanksgiving".

[Hannah Bell]

2. 2nd-grade "nuance"? really?