Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years [Paperback]

Bill Bigelow (Author, Editor), Bob Peterson (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 094296120X | ISBN-13: 978-0942961201 | Publication Date: September 1, 1998 | Edition: 2

This is a revised and expanded edition of a popular 1991 booklet that changed the way "the discovery of America" is taught in classroom and community settings. The new edition has over 100 pp. of new material, including a role-play trial of Columbus, materials on Thanksgiving Day, resources, historical documents, poetry, and more. It will help readers replace murky legends with a better sense of who we are and why we are here -- and celebrates over 500 years of the courageous struggles and lasting wisdom of native peoples.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The original edition made educational history by introducing a startling new view of Columbus. In the revised edition e get even richer material, a marvelous compendium of history, literature, original sources, commentary ... an exciting treasure for teachers and students. --Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States

About the Author

Bill Bigelow is a widely-published author and editor of the award-winning journal, Rethinking Schools. He teaches high-school history in Portland, Oregon. Bob Peterson is a founding editor of Rethinking Schools and teaches 5th grande at a bilingual Spanish/English school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Rethinking Schools Ltd; 2 edition (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 094296120X
• ISBN-13: 978-0942961201
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for teachers, March 9, 2007

By 

A. Gold (Olympia, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (Paperback)

Rethinking Columbus provides a variety of resources, includign articles, essays, poems, song lyrics. lesson plan ideas, maps, lists, book reviews, and itnerviews. All around the central theme of finding an accurate interpretation of the Native American experience in the Americas since Columbus landed here in 1492. It is especially useful as a place for alternative resources that might be used in the classroom in the form of copyable pages that could be read to or by students, depending on their reading level. The status quo in our system is to teach about Columbus as a hero who "discovered" America. This book gives us an alternative version, where Columbus's actions instigate mass genocide, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and issues of opression that Native American's still suffer today.

The book does not contain fully detailed lesson plans, but has several pages of ideas for lessons with appropriate resources. There is an elementary and a secondary section, the secondary section covers mroe modern issues Native Americans face, while the elementary section covers more of the history. The book has two articles that review children's literature surrounding Columbus. The article on traditional literature shows the massive dismissal in a majority of the books of Native People as human beings of worth, only the white people have names, they are heroes, it is told from only their point of view. The second article reviews books that attempt to be more culturally relevant, while all of these also have problems. I was frustrated reading this, because it did not review books that were completely apprppriate, and maybe there aren't many. They did list a few in the back of the book. But by having the reviews of where there could be problems with the literature, teachers can still use the resources and discuss with their students how the author might have gotten it wrong.

Since the book is comprised of a series of articles, it is not one you have to read front to back. You can pick it up and easily read a section, and it could be something you could come to with a specific topic and easily find a resource without dredging through long passages.

The book could go into further detail about connections outside social studies, such as the accomplishments of native peoples in the areas of science, math, and other areas.

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rethinking All History Books, November 7, 2001

By 

Grace Goldtooth (Lower Sioux Community, Minnesota Straight out of the rez) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (Paperback)

I always thought that there was another story to every history event. They always just told us about the preditures doings and not what happened to the victims. I never knew the whole truth about the Columbus aventure. I also never heard of the way they treated Native Americans when they came into our country. I recommend this book to all school systems. All students and adults should know the truth about their hero. This book also made me look at other events in the past that the regular history books left out. I hope to learn more about the truth from other history events that happened. This is the best book that I read in a long time.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensible, August 19, 2007

By 

J. Mathew "jcyriac" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (Paperback)

As a history teacher who feels it is my responsibility to teach histories that have been marginalized and to teach truth that has been denied, Rethinking Columbus (and other books put out by Rethinking Schools) is tremendously useful, not only for the practical ideas for lesson plans and activities (which are wonderful), but also for the general message of the importance of critical thinking among students and teachers. I wish curriculum of this sort had been shared with me in my teacher education program.