BALANCED LITERACY LIST 3RD GRADE NATIVE AMERICANS MRS. AMANDA COONRADT EDU 742 Balanced literacy is an approach using multiple media and text outlets to provide a comprehensive, well-rounded curriculum. Providing different avenues for student learning increases student knowledge and can keep students engaged longer. Here is a list of resources that educators can use for their third grade social studies thematic unit on Native Americans. Non-Fiction: The Native Americans: The Indigenous People of North America by Colin F. Taylor & William Sturtevant. (1991) Thunderbay Press. This book is a great for introductions into a Native American unit. It is a wealth of information that would be best presented as a read aloud to students. The reading level for this book is high, but the information and photographs that are contained within are fantastic! The book is broken up into chapters relating to the geographic location of the native tribes. They include the southeast, southwest, the plains, plateau and basin, California, northwest coast, northeast, and arctic. The way of life including Native American lodging, food, community, struggles and developments are just some of what is touched on in this read. Pocahontas: An American Princess by Joyce Milton. (2000). Penguin Putnam Books. This book is great for students to read independently. It is good for grades 2-3, having large print and easy sight words throughout. Students with lower reading abilities would benefit from reading this book. It tells of the life and journey of Pocahontas. It is full of fun facts and has some great eye catching illustrations for young readers. History Pockets: Native Americans Grades 1-3. By Karen Lowther. (2003) Evan-Moor Products. This workbook is not only chock full of information and data about Native Americans and their way of life, but it has great activities and worksheet that will help gain student understanding. Made up of 9 ‘pockets’, this workbook focuses on 8 different tribes or geographic locations of the native people. It has vocabulary word practice for students with a vast amount of words from dictionaries and native stories. It also includes maps and other graphic organizers that students can fill out and teachers can use to evaluate student knowledge. Fiction: The Earth Made New: Plains Indian Stories of Creation. By Paul Goble. (2009). World Wisdom. ISBN: 978-1-933316-67-3 This beautifully illustrated Plains Indian Creation story celebrates a new Earth after the flood and narrates the making of the buffaloes, mountains, plants, colorful horses and Thunderbirds among others. Weaving together the legends of the Plains Indian tribes, including the stories of the Cheyenne, Blackfoot, Arapaho, and the Crow, this revised edition contains 8 pages of additional illustrations and stories, as well as a new foreword. It also includes an extensive reference list and detailed introductory note. *This author has many other books similar in nature and would be a great mini-unit on the author and Native Americans. These books include: The Woman who Lived with Wolves & Other Stories from the Tipi The Boys and His Mud Horses: And Other Stories from the Tipi Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters All Our Relatives: Traditional Native American Thoughts about Nature This Land Is My Land by George Littlechild. (1993). Children’s Book Press. Winner of several prizes including the Jane Addams Picture Book Award, This Land Is My Land is a vibrant collection of very short essays about everything from the four buffalo spirits to the author's visit to New York. Illustrated with amazing multi-media paintings by the author, this book challenges kids to find specific elements in the pictures as they read the texts below them. This would be great as an example for media literacy and visual learners. The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich. (1999). Hyperion Books for Children. Lengthy chapter book is great for read aloud, but especially for guided reading for advanced readers. It chronicles traditional Ojibwa life and a girl that struggles with chores, her little brother, and admiration for her older sister. Students can follow changes through the book with the passing of the seasons (the book is broke up into seasons), as well as the changes the white man bring. It is a great read and can relate to students in more ways than one. Internet Resources: History Mystery: Native American Culture. Scholastic http://teacher.scholastic.com/histmyst/start.asp?Game=14 This game is fun that it challenges students, or even teachers for that matter, regarding history and facts relating to Native Americans. Spelling your answer to the question is important! Dr. Facts provides a number of clues (the least number of clues to the student the better), and challenges students to figure out the answer from the clues. Each game contains up to five clues, and students can use the Internet or any other form of research to identify the answer. This is good for critical thinking, teamwork, as well as recall and research. Internet Videos: National Geographic Kids: Native Americans http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/historykids/native-americans-kids.html This informative three-minute video gives a quick overview of how Native Americans have changed from their ancient ways to modern times. It’s full of great video images as well as a simple understanding timeline for students to grasp the overall existence of Native Americans. American History for Children (Native American Life) Part 1 & Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hroYJ7xVRFc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJWK9mFJqrQ&feature=related These YouTube videos are interesting for student understanding and discussion because they teach from the Native American point of view. This sometimes can be argumentative and subjective. I think these videos do have many facts regarding Native American life, and treatment from the ‘white’ Americans. Discussion and higher-level interpretation would be valuable for student understanding. Field Trips! Children’s Cultural Center of Native America Located in New York City http://www.childrensculturalcenterofnativeamerica.org/ Students can watch and join in Native games, dancing and singing. Students meet indigenous performers and teachers that teach about the native culture of today as well as long ago. There are craft workshops and artifact demonstrations for students to get a real hands on experience. New York State Museum: Native Peoples of New York Exhibit Located in Albany New York http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/exhibits/longterm/np.html I’ve explored this exhibit most of my life. It provides New York's cultural history and natural landscapes from the last Ice Age 12, 000 years ago to present day. Lifelike dioramas, scale models, artifacts, and a life size longhouse take the visitor through New York's changing cultures and populations over time. New computer stations bring the latest museum research, vast collections and new information to each area. Teachers can use the guide (http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/education/teacher/MohawkVillGuide.pdf) before, during, or after the field trip to the museum to check student learning, observations, and critical thinking. Assignment Reflection: I feel this assignment was both challenging and enjoyable. It was challenging for me in the fact that I do not have a class of my own yet, a sparse personal library of resources for my future students, and little availability to technology in my cooperating class. Because of these factors, I chose a subject that I am interested in and that fits in the third grade curriculum that I work with more consistently. I chose Native American history, which is fascinating and has such a wealth of resources for adults and children to use for educational purposes. Many of my other classmates have smartboards and high-tech electronics that can provided greater media literacy possibilities than I can give my students. Having a more traditional learning environment, I chose multiple non-fiction and fiction books for my students to enjoy. Also, I included a web game for students to play, as well as multiple videos we can watch on our classroom computer. Lastly, I love field trips. Having students get up and walk around during instruction can have a strong lasting impression, and field trips always grab student interest. Two museums are within a few hours of here and would be fantastic for students to learn from. I tried finding virtual field trips, but was unsuccessful. I do enjoy finding new resources and books to use during instruction. I know that assignments such as this will benefit me for my career in education, but I sometimes wish it was more relevant to what I have in front of me now. I struggle with the fact that I’m not sure what I will be teaching, be that grade level, subject, and level of student ability. I know assignments like this one are preparing me for what I will be facing once I do have my class, and how to research and access educational aides to heighten my thematic unit.