Recovering
Under-examined Histories to Build Community Today
Teacher:
Sarah Robbins
Overview:
This exercise is a short piece of response-writing
to Diane Glancy’s Pushing the Bear, whose central topic is
the Cherokee Removal. Created for college students, but adaptable
to any grade, students respond online to a discussion board before
class about a text that questions the lessons of the Removal in
the nineteenth century. Posting responses before class and then
reading and discussing them in class emphasize the collaboration
essential to creating community. Discussing these responses also
raises issues about how local, contemporary communities redefine
themselves in relation to other communities. In this particular
instance, students began to see that “northwest Georgia”
has been shaped by its roots in Cherokee culture. Click
here for extended version of this lesson with student artifact and
teacher reflection.
Materials:
- Diane
Glancy’s Pushing the Bear.
- Online
discussion board membership.
Time:
One to two hours.
Instructional
Sequence:
- Assign
reading.
- Post
response-writing prompt: “What are some things about the way
the book presents historical events of the Removal that have
changed how you feel about the Trail of Tears?”
- Ask
students to read their peers responses during class.
- Whole-class
discussion, drawing from individual student reponses.
- Introduce
and underscore principles to use for shared learning as well
as key elements in the course content.
Evaluation:
Formative assessment.
Click
here for extended version of this lesson with student artifact and
teacher reflection.
