Category: history

man holding bottled water
6-12, Anti-Racism, history, Language Arts, Music

PBS NewsHour + Pear Deck Resources for Black History Month

Terri Eichholz

February is Black History Month in the United States, but I have been trying to be inclusive all year by regularly posting Anti-Racism resources in this Wakelet. This week, I want to highlight a collaboration between PBS NewsHour and Pear Deck that was published for Black History Month — but could certainly be used any time of year. The two organizations are offering free interactive Pear Deck slides that integrate media such as Amanda Gorman discussing her famous inauguration poem and Misty Copeland talking about her book, Bunheads, and the stereotypes often found in ballet. The slide decks include discussion questions along with embedded videos, and are designed for middle and high school students. Scroll to the bottom of the page and those of you who are Newsela users will be happy to find a collection of Pear Decks featuring inspirational stories of Black students, sports figures, and others who are changing the world.

These lessons are uplifting and ready-to-go. The perfect package for busy teachers who want to invigorate and engage their students!

Click here to access these great Pear Deck Resources!
people in green and blue traditional dress standing near brown horse
Anti-Racism, history, Social Studies

Lunar New Year

Terri Eichholz

As I was searching for links to add to my February Wakelet, I knew that I needed to include some for Chinese New Year, which will be celebrated on Feb. 1 this year (2022). I am always struggling to be more inclusive with my vocabulary, and was surprised to learn that there are other countries (notably Korea and Vietnam) that celebrate the New Year based on the cycles of the moon. This means that it is probably more fitting for us to call this holiday the “Lunar New Year” so that we are acknowledging all of those who observe this holiday, rather than just one large one. It might be interesting for your students to do some research to find out how the Lunar New Year traditions differ in each of the three main countries who celebrate it.

Though it may seem like just semantics to call it Lunar New Year instead of Chinese New Year, I am painfully conscious that centering the holiday around one country made me unaware that others also celebrated until I was 53 years old. It’s not a small thing to ignore something that is important to millions of people. So, now that I know, I will definitely try to use “Lunar New Year” unless I am referring to a country-specific celebration. Here are some student perspectives on why they believe the phrasing is important.

I’ll be adding this to my Anti-Racism Wakelet, and you can find links to educational sites about the Lunar New Year on my February Wakelet. Please let me know if you have more ideas to include!

By the way, Google “Chinese” or “Vietnamese” or “Korean” New Year, and wait a moment on the page for a special surprise!

decorative shiny chinese lanterns in new year holiday
Photo by Khoa Võ on Pexels.com

3-12, Anti-Racism, history, Social Studies, Videos

Stories That Need to Be Told

Terri Eichholz

On Monday, January 17th, 2022, we will honor the life of Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States. I say, “we,” though I know that not everyone, even today, appreciates this man’s contributions to the advancement of civil rights for all. And there is a disturbing amount of people in our country who would rather not acknowledge our past. Some will ignore the date, some will protest against it, and some will argue that commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. somehow harms the children of this generation.

My anti-racist link for this week is to a Storycorps video about one of the men who motivated Martin Luther King Jr. to become an activist, Maceo Snipes. Snipes was an army veteran who returned from fighting for our country in World War II, voted the next day, and was murdered for exercising his right — one of the many rights he defended valiantly as a soldier.

This egregious crime prompted a young college student, Martin Luther King Jr., to write a letter that was published in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. In that letter, King refers to the “scarecrow” arguments racists utilize to defend their terrible acts, attempting to justify themselves by claiming they were only protecting White people from Black people who want to take over. Sound familiar?

We often recall Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech this time of year, but I think we need to make sure we don’t forget why that speech needed to be made. It’s not pleasant to think about the horrific sins of our past, but we are in grave danger of returning to them if we choose to ignore them.

For more resources for teaching about Martin Luther King, Jr., you can go here. I will also be adding a link to this post to my collection of Anti-Racist Resources.

light landscape people art
Photo by Wilson Rodriguez on Pexels.com
Native Americans in Arizona
Anti-Racism, history, K-5, Language Arts, Social Studies

Native American Heritage Month 2021

Terri Eichholz

Although it is not mentioned in this history of the origins of Native American Heritage Month, I imagine it is not a coincidence that November, the month when we in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving, has this designation. Traditional stories of the first Thanksgiving are often misleading about the roles played by the Native Americans (who some prefer to refer as Indigenous Peoples) and the Europeans, and the holiday is rife with opportunity for cultural appropriation. Last year, I shared some materials to help teachers honor the rich cultural influences and contributions of our American Indigenous Peoples, and I want to summarize that list and add to it this year. I’ll be adding a link to this post in my Anti-Racist Wakelet, as well as in my Thanksgiving/November Wakelet.

Lastly, if you are short on time (as most educators are!), I think this brief summary of “5 Orientations to Support Indigenous Studies Curriculum” is a very helpful reference to aid us in avoiding the harmful language that perpetuates myths and stereotypes surrounding Native Americans.

Image by David Mark from Pixabay

Dia de Los Muertos Altar
history, K-12, Social Studies

Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Terri Eichholz

I am ashamed to say that I have lived in San Antonio for over 30 years and only became aware of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) a few years ago. The holiday originated in Mexico, but is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd by people all over the world who have Mexican heritage. With its proximity to the American holiday of Halloween on October 31st, as well as the proliferation of skulls and skeletons, Día de los Muertos may be confused by some as another excuse to wear costumes and ask for candy, but those are not the purposes of Día de los Muertos. Instead, it is a time to remember those who have died — not in a mournful way, but one of joyous respect. Private altars dedicated to dead relatives and friends are built in some homes, while a number of families visit graveyards to clean and decorate the resting places of those no longer living.

Special traditions are observed during this holiday, including one of the most famous: sugar skulls. Unfortunately, coloring or decorating sugar skulls may be all that non-Mexicans learn about Día de los Muertos in school, and those activities in and of themselves are not the most meaningful way for students to understand another culture. (Tomorrow’s Anti-Racist post will be about how to examine whether or not an action or activity is an example of cultural appropriation.) I have collected some resources that include short videos, websites, and lesson plans you can use in this Wakelet.

If you have any other suggestions for resources or if I made any mistakes in my explanation of Día de los Muertos, please let me know.

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Altar
Día de los Muertos Altar Display at Pearl Brewery in 2018

MC Hammer
Critical Thinking, history, K-12, Random Thoughts, Research

Jon Stewart, M.C. Hammer, and Data

Terri Eichholz

I spend a lot of time curating random things that interest me (see my NEO post on my curation methods here) , and I sometimes find obscure connections that inspire me to group them together into a blog post. As I was browsing my “Blog Ideas” Wakelet after my morning dog walk, I rediscovered a couple of resources I’d saved that correlated quite well with the podcast I’d just been listening to, Smartless. First, I’ll share a screen shot of this tweet from @AlvinFoo:

Next up, I have the updated Interactive Media Bias Chart, which has also been included in my Wakelet for “Evaluating Online Information.” (My daughter had originally shown me this site when she was taking a Journalism class last year, and I found it fascinating.) Whether you agree with its findings or not, it’s definitely worth discussing with older students when talking about current events and/or the reliability of news sources.

And, lastly, I have a quote from Jon Stewart that he attributes to M.C. Hammer (beware an expletive near the beginning) — and it is something we should never forget when looking at any data, including standardized test scores in education (click here if the embedded audio does not appear below):

There is nothing quite so satisfying as finding a way to tie together so many seemingly disparate topics in one post, so I consider my work done for today 😉