Celebrate Lincoln's 200th

The Vermont Commission on the Lincoln Bicentennial has scheduled the following educational and entertaining offerings to celebrate this historic event. Please feel free to email me for more details or with any questions.

MUSIC – LINDA RADTKE, “VERMONT CIVIL WAR SONGBOOK”
Feb. 25, 2009: State House, Montpelier, 7 pm

MUSIC – COUNTERPOINT, “LINCOLN AND LIBERTY”
Apr. 26, 2009: McCarthy Arts Center, St. Michael’s College, 4pm

MUSIC – “A LINCOLN PORTRAIT”
Feb. 2009 (TBD): Middlebury College Orchestra, Middlebury Arts Center

FIRST WEDNESDAYS SERIES
Feb. 4, 2009: Brooks Memorial Library, 7pm, Manisha Sinha, author of The Counter-Revolution Of Slavery
Feb. 4, 2009: Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, author of Mr. and Mrs. Prince, St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, 7pm
Mar. 4, 2009: Rutland Free Library, Rutland, 7pm, Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina
Apr. 1, 2009: Goodrich Memorial Library, 7pm, Newport, Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina

PUBLIC LECTURES
Mar. 12, 2009: Blake Memorial Library, East Corinth, 7 pm

HILDENE
Jan. 31, 2009: Lincoln Birthday Luncheon, Award Presentation for Lincoln Essay Contest,
Keynote Speaker Ronald White, author of Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural, Equinox, Manchester
Jan. 22, 2009: Seth Bongartz- Lincoln the Politician
Feb. 7, 2009: Abe Lincoln's Hat -Interactive reading of the book and cupcakes to celebrate Mr. Lincoln's birthday!
Feb. 26, 2009: Craig Symonds- Lincoln as Commander in Chief
Mar. 26, 2009: Brian Dirck- Lincoln the Lawyer
Apr. 23, 2009: Michael Burlingame, Influence on, and Development of Lincoln’s Character

HUMANITIES COUNCIL READING & DISCUSSION OFFERINGS
“Lincoln: The Bicentennial of his Birth” (3 sessions)
“Our Civil War Legacy” (5 sessions)
“Influential First Ladies” (5 sessions)
“Seminal Statements of American Values” (5 sessions)

OTHER EVENTS
Feb. 12, 2009: State House, Montpelier, Friends of the State House Lincoln celebration
Workshops with Vermont teachers, dates and locations TBD

Changing Views of History, Changing Views of Race Webinar

PBS Teachers is introducing a series of free monthly webinars for pre-K-12 educators beginning this month called “PBS Teachers Live!” The series features leading education experts, authors, or producers of PBS programs who will discuss timely and relevant curriculum-related topics, and demonstrate specific, tangible ways in which educators can integrate digital media and technology into the classroom. The first webinar is scheduled for Jan. 28, at 8 p.m. and is titled "Changing Views of History, Changing Views of Race" with guest speaker Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Click here to register and find out more.

Telling the Holocaust Like It Wasn’t

I was made aware of this article in the New York Times by Tom White from the Cohen Center for Holocaust studies in Keene (who also presented at this year's VASS conference). If your students investigate the Holocaust (and are old enough), analyzing these films might result in some interesting inquiry.

Telling the Holocaust Like It Wasn't

Cool Economics Stuff

One of my new favorite things to check out is the Freakonomics blog on the New York Times web site. By the guys who wrote the book of the same name, it covers things as overwhelming as the current financial crisis and as seemingly mundane as trayless college cafeterias, the Twilight book series, and Guitar Hero. Another NYT blog, Economix, bills itself as "explaining the science of everyday life." This blog appears to cover some of the more traditional economics topics you might be addressing in your class, such as migration patterns, the changing demographics of women in the workforce, and historical comparisons of banking crises over the years.

Speaking of the current financial crisis, according to The Foundation for Teaching Economics, "The financial meltdown of 2008 will challenge economists for explanations for a long time to come. However, the facts that have emerged thus far point strongly to policy actions by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world as creators of the conditions that led to financial chaos." They have published a primer to the meltdown on their web site. Click here to access that information.

• What other interesting economics resources do you use that spark interest in your students?

Immigration: New YA Fiction by Julia Alvarez

The following are excerpts from Nancy Price Graff's review of Julia Alvarez's new novel Return to Sender taken from the Times Argus on January 11, 2009. To read the full article click here.

"Julia Alvarez's new children's novel, "Return to Sender," is so full of heartache that it almost weeps. Eleven-year-old Mari Cruz is Mexican, an illegal immigrant living on a dairy farm in Vermont, where her father and two uncles provide the labor that keeps the farm running. Her mother has been missing for many months after returning to Mexico to attend her father's funeral.

Mari's story is plot-driven, reflecting the poignant, helpless situation in which she and her family find themselves. For them, this rural Vermont farm is an oasis that offers temporary shelter but no sanctuary.Although the girls attend school, they are virtually imprisoned on the farm, along with their father and uncles, for fear of tipping off the authorities. Mari cannot even mail the many long, heartbreaking letters she writes to her mother and to her grandparents in Mexico because the letters might be traced back to the farm.

For the same reason, the family cannot stay in touch with relatives by phone or use it to help find Mari's mother. As Mari makes abundantly clear, their physical, social and cultural isolation and constant fear create a unique kind of hell that leaves them little to do except work hard and hope one day life will be better."

• Have you read this novel yet? If so, what are your impressions? Will you use it with your students?

Immigration from a Social Justice Perspective

Drawing on a curriculum by Rethinking Schools, The Line Between Us, Teaching about the Border and Mexican Immigration, central Vermont educators Carolyn Shapiro and Jean Lathrop designed a curriculum that includes looking at the phenomenon of Mexican workers living shadow lives here in Vermont. They co-taught with two teachers of sophomore social studies classes, one for two weeks and the other for five weeks. They arranged to have guests visit the classes including a Mexican immigrant, an American born Mexican-American who is now a PhD but was a migrant worker as a child, a Vermont farmer using Mexican labor, and the co-director of Vermont Refugee Assistance. One teacher used his classroom budget to buy each student a copy of a short book, Crossing the Wire, about a teenage Mexican boy who in desperation decides he has to go to the US to earn money to send back to his family and the ensuing dangers he faces crossing the border. Students were very involved and wrote insightful evaluations. “I think this unit was really great and made me think of things that are going on now that we can potentially fix instead of like history which we can’t change.” (image courtesy of Vermont Folklife Center)

Carolyn and Jean compiled this resource list from the work mentioned above and also from their association with The Golden Cage exhibit at the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury (http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/):

Web-based Resources:

The American Friends Service Committee has a section of their Web site at http://tamejavi.com/immigrants-rights/ devoted to immigrants’ right in the United States, which includes
· AFSC blog on immigration policy
· Project Voice E-Newsletter: Real Immigration Stories
· numerous articles and reports
· resources such as Echando Raices/Taking Root, a bilingual DVD documentary on immigrant realities and immigrant rights

The Web site of the National Immigration Forum at http://www.blogger.com/ww.immigrationforum.org/ includes:
· Press releases
· Facts on immigration
· Backgrounders, issue briefs, and legislative analysis
· Immigration reform resources

A 15-page fact sheet on migration from Mexico through March 2007 prepared by the Pew Hispanic Center can be found at http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/33.pdf.

Teachable Moment Web site presents free, timely topical activities and lesson plans for the K - 12 classroom offered by the nonprofit Educators for Social Responsibility. These include lessons on social responsibility, critical thinking, etc. and can be found at http://www.teachablemoment.org/.

Witness for Peace seeks to educate the U.S. public and policymakers about the root causes of immigration, and to change U.S. trade and economic policy that contributes to migration. Online resources at http://www.witnessforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=121 include reports, news, and publications.

Teaching for Change online catalog at http://www9.mailordercentral.com/teachingforchange/ offers hundreds of carefully selected books, films, and posters for teaching from a social justice perspective.

Books:

Will Hobbs, Crossing the Wire (published by Harper Collins) is a story for young adults about a Mexican boy who crosses the border to find work to help his family in Mexico. Also an online teacher’s guide for Crossing the Wire at http://www.harperchildrens.com/

Bill Bigelow, The Line Between Us: Teaching About the Border and Mexican Immigration is available from Rethinking Schools Online. The Line Between Us explores the history of U.S-Mexican relations and the roots of Mexican immigration, all in the context of the global economy. It shows how teachers can help students understand the immigrant experience and the drama of border life. It's also about imaginative and creative teaching that gets students to care about the world.

Ann Jaramillo, La Linea (published by Roaring Brook Press) is a moving story about the Herculean efforts of two Mexican teenagers to reach the Promised Land, the United States, to be reunited with their parents.

Films:

El Norte, directed by Gregory Nava, 1984, available on DVD.
A teenage brother and sister escaping violence in Guatemala flee to "El Norte" (the USA) by truck, bus and other means to reach Los Angeles, where they try to make a new life as young, uneducated, and illegal immigrants.

El Imigrante, written, produced, and directed by John Sheedy, David Eckenrode, and John Ekenrode, 2005.
This is a documentary film that examines the Mexican and American border crisis by telling the true story of Eusebio de Haro, a young Mexican migrant who was shot and killed during one of his journeys north.

• From what other perspectives do you teach about immigration?
• Do you teach about current immigration and/or migrant labor issues in Vermont? If so, what resources do you have to share with us?
• Do you have any concerns or advice about teaching about current immigration issues?

2008 VASS Conference - A Success!

Last Friday's VASS conference at the Equinox in Manchester was a great success. It was fun to see so many familiar faces, attend some really great presentations, and listen to our thought-provoking keynote speakers.

Richard Long from Kurn Hattin School in Westminster sums it up best when he says, "I believe the VASS conference was the best I have ever attended and I have been attending for several years. The variety of breakout sessions and topics covered were excellent. Everything seemed to go off without a hitch. The materials I received I was able to put to use right away in my classes. Thanks for a great professional experience."

To see some photos from the conference go to http://www.tahvt.org/VASS2008Photos.htm (thanks to the Teaching American History program at Castleton for these photos).