“The Earth is our Mother….”
Mr. Massad’s class is learning about Native
Americans and how they view the earth! We
examined their way of looking at nature, explored
their culture - including their daily life, and their
technology.
First, we listened and responded to a poem
called “If You Came This Way,” by Byrd Baylor. The
poem describes the rock paintings and artifacts left
behind by the Anasazi Indian tribes of southwest
North America.
We also read the book Brother Eagle, Sister
Sky, by Susan Jeffers. This book retells a speech
by Chief Seattle to the American government right
before he agrees to release his tribes’ land to the
government. In the speech, he explains his
peoples’ love of the earth, their respect for its
resources, and their respect for family.
Then our class composed the “Eagle Writing”
you see here. We wrote about something we’ve
learned from our family. Then we wrote about a
problem we’ve caused in the environment and what
we can do to fix the problem.
As part of this study, we practiced the writing
skills, routines, and strategies we use all year. We
wrote using the reflective writing mode, and did
journal writing to record our thoughts.
As we created the Eagle Writing you see here,
we practiced:
 Writing lists, reflective writing (where it
sounds like you’re sharing your thoughts
and feelings) and journal writing (where you
brainstorm your thoughts and ideas and
share them in an unpublished, personal
way).
 Writing with “voice” – including your
personality and your perspective; sharing a
personal experience
 “Showing”, not “telling” a story. This
includes writing in a way that makes a
“movie” in your readers mind.
 Paragraph writing (indentions, topic
sentences, talks about only one idea;
includes details)
 Our Writing Strategies:
o 5Ws & H
o Read it to the Wall
o COPS
 Our Writing Process Routine:
o Pre-writing
o Drafting
o Revising/editing
o Publishing
How do
You treat
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