August 30th, 2016

Today we began with a debrief of the Silas Deane reading then proceeded to explore the relationship between Native American and European cultures during early contact through a clearer lens with a cultural comparison exercise followed by a "History vs Hollywood" critical thought exercise where we deconstructed some representations of Native cultures around Jamestown in the film The New World and compared those images to actual eyewitness accounts from primary sources and images.  We finished by taking a critical look at the textbook coverage of Pre-Columbian American history in eight different textbooks and comparing that to contemporary research and Native American stories.  

Don't forget that Chapter 2 notes are due Thursday!  Tonight, Mr. Hutchison's classes need to choose ONE of the questions below and respond in three or four sentences, due when you come in to class tomorrow!

• What is your plan to ensure you keep a critical eye this semester as we learn about American History?
• How can schools better prepare students to deal with history as it is instead of supporting the idea that there is one historical truth to be discovered and memorized?
• What should be done to remedy the perception people have of the Jamestown story and other episodes of early American life during the contact period?

​H