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Teaching Outside the Textbook
In the News
El Monte, California students with their teacher, Chris Lewis (4th from right), and their copies of A People's History of the United States from the Teaching Outside the Textbook class set. |
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Greetings!
We have much to celebrate and share with you this month, including your Teaching Outside the Textbook stories, media coverage, and other news. You can help us spread the word by passing out bookmarks, posting information to your school's list-serv or other lists you are on, and becoming a fan of our Facebook page -- details below.
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Teaching Outside the Textbook Stories and Press
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We are pleased to announce that 20 teachers from across the country are receiving class sets of A People's History of the United States. These teachers' names were selected from the almost hundred who responded when we asked for stories about teaching a people's history, or "teaching outside the textbook."
The essays were full of inspiring examples of how a people's history is being taught in middle and high school classrooms, and how teachers were introduced to Howard Zinn's work and are using Zinn Education Project resources. The essays also told of how students respond to learning a more complete version of U.S. history. The list of teachers who took the time to share their story is posted here.
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People's History Teachers in the News
Some teachers receiving their classroom set of books were covered by local media:
Angelica Chavez in The Camarillo Acorn
by Michelle Knight It's difficult to distinguish Angelica Chavez from her students at Adolfo Camarillo High School. A little more than a decade ago, the 29-year-old U.S. history teacher was sitting in their seats.
Chavez didn't like history then. She felt, like many critics of traditional history books, that U.S. history is told solely from the perspective of the controlling class. Many students find history boring because it presents a one-sided narrative, Chavez said.
Read more here.
Jeff Matlock in Santa Cruz Good Times by Elizabeth Limbach Matlock was a history buff from an early age. He hardly had to study for tests and could spout off historical dates without fail. But it wasn't until he picked up a copy of Zinn's A People's History of the United States as a teenager that history became more than dates and places for him.
"I felt like my world totally opened up into something I'd never thought of before," he remembers. "I never saw history as being something that could be less than concrete. I thought 'these are facts, this is the way it is.' But what Zinn taught me was that nothing is absolute."
Mica Perez on San Antonio Fox29
by Karen Martinez
"A local teacher with the Henry Ford Academy is being honored for reaching beyond the textbook."
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The Zinn Education Project's goal is to introduce students to a more accurate, complex, and
engaging understanding of United States history than is found in
traditional textbooks and curricula.
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The Most Dangerous Man in America
Airs on POV
Oct. 5 at 9 PM EST
The filmmakers of the Oscar-nominated film about the life of Daniel Ellsberg, "The Most Dangerous Man in America," asked the Zinn Education Project to create the teaching guide for the film. We're honored to be working on this important project. Stay tuned for details.
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Zinn Education Project and Voices of a People's History Present THE PEOPLE SPEAK LIVE! to a Packed House
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On Friday, June 4, the Zinn Education Project and Voices of a People's History collaborated to host a performance of THE PEOPLE SPEAK LIVE! at the 2010 National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education in National Harbor, MD.
We would like to thank the readers for their time and putting on a dazzling performance. Readers included spoken-word champion Regie Cabico, educator and Civil Rights activist Wilma Consul, hip hop DJ Earth 1ne; Emmy award-winning journalist Renee Poussaint; teacher and theater director Ashley Semple; hip hop artist and writer, and Teaching for Change board member PJ Urquilla; and sports commentator and author David Zirin.
An extra special thank you to Brenda Coughlin of Voices of a People's History for her organization, direction, and energy to bring this all together. |
| Yes! Magazine Recommends Zinn Education Project |
We
are honored that YES! Magazine featured the Zinn Education Project
as the
lead story in their May
2010 YES! Education Connection Newsletter.
The
article begins: "If we want
the world to be a better place -- who would argue with that? -- it is
critical for students to rethink from the limited lens of dates,
battles, and famous heroes -- to study 'a people's history.' YES!
recommends the brilliant Zinn Education Project and its resources to
provoke and engage your students as they try to make sense of race and
the role it-along with class and gender -- has played in shaping society."
Subscriptions to the Yes!
Education
Connection Newsletter are free.
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| A People's Celebration of Howard Zinn in Boston on May 15 |
Photo by: Charngchi Way/Susie Husted.  | Raises $1000
for Zinn Education Project
On May 15, 2010, the Zinn
Education Project was pleased to
participate in A People's Celebration of Howard Zinn held at the Old
South Church in Boston, MA. Lauren Cooper, a Teaching for Change
coordinator for the Zinn Education Project, was one of the speakers.
Others included Bob Moses,
Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC) and founder of The
Algebra Project, Mariama
White-Hammond, Executive Director of Project
HIP HOP (Highways Into the Past - History, Organizing, Power), Mike
Prokosch, staff member of Community Labor
United, Myrna Morales of the Progressive
Librarians Guild, Michael
Spinnato, member of Iraq
Veterans
Against the War and Veterans
for
Peace, and many more.
Donations received over the event
expenses were donated to the Zinn Education Project, raising $1,000 for
our work. We would like to thank the organizers for their time,
coordination, and generosity.
More photos and Lauren Cooper's presentation.
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| Help the Zinn Education Project Reach More Classrooms |
With your contribution, we can:Add more teaching activities to the website. Promote the importance of teaching a people's history through a media campaign. Share examples of teaching a people's history with classroom film clips. Hold writing retreats so that more teachers can share their approaches to teaching a people's history. Add more "people's history" teaching stories to the website.
To contribute to the future of the Zinn Education Project:Mail checks payable to TEACHING FOR CHANGE to:
Zinn Education Project, c/o Teaching for Change, PO Box 73038, Washington, D.C. 20056
Call us at (800) 763-9131 and speak to Lauren Cooper (x26) or Deborah Menkart (x28).
Donations are tax-deductible. |
| Help Promote ZEP in Your Community |
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You can spread the word about the Zinn Education Project:
Become a Facebook fan and invite your friends and colleagues
Include the Zinn Education Project in your blogs or newsletters
Download and post one of the web banners on your site
Distribute bookmarks to your friends, students and colleagues. Send requests to Lauren Cooper at [email protected]. Below is our new bookmark design.
The Zinn Education Project is a resource for teachers, librarians, students, and community activists. Thank you for helping us to promote this resource to your networks. |
Thank you for your ongoing efforts to bring a people's history into the classroom.
Sincerely,
Zinn Education Project
www.zinnedproject.org |
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