Lee Witt Looping Sketchbook

   One idea I have considered when teaching children primary sources is allowing them to see firsthand the differences between the accuracy of primary and secondary sources. This would begin by having students create sources of information themselves and transferring the information between each other.    To begin, I would have students pair up with a friend. The prompt would be to recall an event that happened at school (e.g. field trip or school festival) and what they did during the course of the event. I would have the students journal their experience first by either writing or drawing their memory of the event. They would then tell their partner about their experiences orally. The partner would then  have to journal what they heard and attempt to create the most accurate secondary source possible. Finally, the students would compare and contrast the primary and secondary sources with the goal to discover how accurate secondary sources are in comparison to...

   There was always a sort of knowledge that Columbus was not a complete hero growing up. I grew up with a mother who taught history and had a deep respect for the Native Americans who once thrived on this continent. However I paid little attention to the history of Columbus. I had learned from a young age that other European explorers (most memorably the Vikings) had arrived in the Americas long before Columbus, but what I did not realize was the details of the Columbian expeditions.     I believe I first discovered that the Columbus story had been whitewashed in either late elementary school or early middle school. I learned that he was not Spanish nor was he a kind man to the Native peoples. While my teachers understood that Columbus was less of an important figure than traditionally presented, they also omitted (or possibly were unaware of) his cruelties. The knowledge of the details of his cruelty actually came as late as college. While discussing the impo...

Illustrated above is a simplified timeline of American history as if it was traditionally taught vs. how American history is taught as seen in Black Ants and Buddhists. I feel it gives a visual expression of what is missing in many history courses. Many classes brush over thousands of years of history of the Americas while simultaneously going into detail of the same time period for cultures such as the Greeks, Romans, and numerous other cultures following those cultures. Black Ants and Buddhists attempts to give adequate time to the people who thrived in the Americas before the Europeans conquered the continent.