Native American Extra Credit Webquest and Essay
(Worth a 100 pt TEST grade)
You are hungry, thirsty, and cold... but there are NO McDonald's
around!! What will you do??!!
Travel Alongside other Native Americans on the Trail of Tears, their
journey to Oklahoma. Learn about the "Five Civilized Tribes", Native
American traditions and customs, the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and
the obstacles they encountered along the Trail of Tears.
In this WebQuest, you will become a Native American Indian who is
forced to relocate to the Oklahoma territory when President Andrew
Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act in 1830.
After visiting each provided link, write a 1-2 page essay, pretending to
be a Native American who has been forced to relocate to the Oklahoma
Territory because of the Indian Removal Act. Don't forget to include
your Indian name and its meaning, the tribe you belong to, how you felt
when you heard about the Indian Removal Act, and your struggle along
the Trail of Tears. You should use information from the links
provided, as well as your imagination!!!Examples of creative thinking
topics to address:
• How you felt when you heard about the Indian Removal Act
• What was the hardest part of the trail for you?
• Did anyone you know (family or friends) die along the trail (& how)?
Use your imagination when writing this essay!
Are you ready to begin?!! There are 4 Modules that you will have to
complete before beginning your essay. Each module is numbered. Under
each module, follow the provided links, which will redirect you to a web
page containing information on that particuliar subject. Make sure you
have a piece of paper and a pencil with you, as you will need to take notes
as you go.
Module One- Pick a Tribe
The Trail of Tears involved the removal of the "Five Civilized Tribes" in
Southeast America. The "Five Civilized Tribes" are the Cherokee, the
Choctaw, the Chickasaw, the Creek, and the Seminole Indians. Follow each
link to learn about each of the individual tribes' backgrounds, customs, and
traditions.
When you have finished visiting each link, pick the tribe that
you wish to be a part of. Make sure you take notes, as you will use this
information in your essay!
Questions to consider when taking notes on your tribe:
1.Which part of the country did your Indian tribe live?
2.What were the roles of women, men, and children in your tribe?
3.What were some of the rituals/customs of your tribe?
4.How is your tribe's leadership organized?
5.What kind of housing, clothing, and food were specific to your tribe?
• Cherokee- http://www.bigorrin.org/cherokee_kids.htm
• Chickasaw- http://www.bigorrin.org/chickasaw_kids.htm
• Choctaw- http://www.bigorrin.org/choctaw_kids.htm
• Creek- http://www.bigorrin.org/creek_kids.htm
• Seminole- http://www.bigorrin.org/seminole_kids.htm
Did you decide which tribe you want to join? Great! Be sure to write
your tribe's name down and notes about their culture. You can then
proceed to Module 2!
Module Two- Pick an Indian Name
Now that you are a member of the tribe, you need an Indian
name. Click on the following link to read some Indian names and their
meanings. When you are finished, write your Indian name and its
meaning in your notes.
Questions to consider:
1.What is your Indian name?
2.What does your Indian name mean?
http://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-indian-
names/
Did you choose a name for yourself? Great! This is the name you will
go by throughout the rest of the lesson.
Module Three-The Indian Removal Act of 1830
Follow the following link to learn about the Indian Removal Act of
1830. Make sure you take notes!
Questions to Consider:
1.What were some of the events that led up to the Indian Removal Act?
2.After the Indian Removal Act, what did the Supreme Court rule on it?
3.What was the military round up that occurred shortly after the Indian
Removal Act?
• http://www.powersource.com/cocinc/history/trail.htm
Did you learn anything new? Great! You can now proceed to Module
Four!
Module Four- Obstacles Along the Trail
LAST MODULE!!! Click on each of the following links to learn about
the conditions that Native Americans faced along the Trail of Tears. Be
sure to take good notes, as you will need them when writing your essay.
Questions to Consider:
1.What kind of food could you find consistently along the Trail to eat?
2.What were the weather conditions that Indians faced along the trail?
3.What kind of disease ravaged the Indian tribes on the Trail and
approximately how many Indians died as a result of it?
4.According to the actual account (linked below), what was the morale
of Native Americans on the trail?
• FOOD- click on the following link to learn about what you could eat
along the
trail:http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/northamerica/after1500/foo
d/index.htm
• WEATHER- click on the following link to learn about the weather
conditions that you will face along the
way: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ohx/research/trail_of_tears.htm
• EXHAUSTION & DISEASE- click on the following link to learn about
how lack of sleep can affect your body, as well as diseases that
killed many Native Americans on their
journey: http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessivesleepiness-10/10-results-sleep-loss
http://naturalremediesforwhat.blogspot.com/2013/03/natural-fatiguetreatment-from-native.html
http://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/webprojects/LiveMiss/TrailofTears/trailpa
rent.htm
• THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER- Click on the following link to about the
MIGHTY Mississippi River:
http://www3.wsiu.org/television/nationalparks/exhibit/tot10.php
• ACTUAL ACCOUNT OF THE TRAIL OF TEARS- by an Indian boy-Your
essay will model, or be similar, to this account:
teacherweb.com/CA/Northgate/blaisdell/TrailofTearsAccounts.doc
Are you finished with all modules? Great! You may begin your
essay! Write a 1-2 page essay, pretending to be a Native American who
has been forced to relocate to the Oklahoma Territory because of the
Indian Removal Act. Don't forget to include your Indian name and its
meaning, the tribe you belong to, how you felt when you heard about
the Indian Removal Act, and your struggle along the Trail of Tears. You
should use information from the links provided, as well as your
imagination!!! Below is a list of things that MUST be included in the
essay:
A.) Information from links:
• What is your Indian name, and what is its meaning?
• What tribe do you belong to? Give me some background information
on your tribe, including what region of the country they are native
to, beliefs, customs, rituals, clothing, shelter, roles of men, women,
and children, etc..
• What was the Indian Removal Act? Which President pushed for it to
pass? What did the Supreme Court rule about the Act, and how
did the President respond?
• What were some of the challenges you faced along the Trail?
B.) Examples of creative thinking topics to address:
• how you felt when you heard about the Indian Removal Act?
• what was the hardest part of the trail for you?
• did anyone you know (family or friends) die along the trail (& how)?
Use your imagination when writing this essay! I want your essay
HANDWRITTEN on notebook paper.
Evaluation Rubric
Beginning 1 Developing 2 Very Good 3 Exemplary 4 Score
Use of
No factual
Little
Essay shows It is evident %50
Informatio information information
a decent
n
from
grasp of the that you
Webquest
topic at
used
hand;
information
however,
from the
from
Gathered WebQuest
from
used in the used in the
Webquest individual
essay.
in your work
paper; main Student only your paper WebQuest
key points
addressed 1- failed to
and
not
2 pieces of
recognize all provided all
addressed.
factual
required
Student
information
information. requested
failed to
from the
One or two information
of the
identify any WebQuest
pieces of
in writing
factual
pertinent,
your essay.
and/or
information addressed the factual
All
from
issues but
information requested
Webquest,
vaguely
are missing. factual
such as the identified and
information
Indian
explained
is provided
Removal
their
in the essay.
Act,
importance.
President
Andrew
Jackson, the
Supreme
Court ruling
on the Act,
etc.
Creative
Very Little
Little creative Student
Student has %25
Thinking
or no
thinking used attempted
written their
Input
creative
when writing to use
essay as
thinking
the essay.
though an
skills used
Essay did not thinking
in essay.
reflect the
Essay did
Trail of Tears essay;
American
not reflect
from an
would have.
creative
actual
skills in their Native
however,
the Trail of ACTUAL
they did not Essay is
Tears from Native
entirely get written in
an ACTUAL American
"into
the first
Native
viewpoint.
character";
person.
American
Although you Student
Student was
viewpoint.
wrote the
very creative
wrote the
essay in first essay in first when
person, the
person, but explaining
majority of
failed to
all aspects
your essay
address all
of the Trail
contains
issues in
of Tears,
factual
regards to
and how
information
an actual
they would
and does not Native
have reacted
express how American's
if they were
you would
view in the an actual
have felt if
situation.
you were an
Native
American.
actual Native
American on
the Trail.
Grammar It is obvious Grammatical Grammatical Very few or %25
that student errors were
errors
no
payed little more
evident in
grammatical
attention to frequent and paper or
errors;
grammar
the paper did paper did
organization
and
not flow in an not flow in and flow of
structure
organized
an
paper was
and/or 10
manner
organized
very good
or more
and/or7-10
manner
and/or 0-2
grammatical grammatical and/or 3-6
grammatical
errors
errors found. grammatical errors
found.
errors
found.
found.
Total Score: %100
YOUR SCORE:_______
Rather than merely reading about the Native Americans' struggles on the
Trail of Tears, I hope that you have realized, as a human being, how
emotionally upsetting and physically difficult this time period was for
many
Native Americans. I hope that this WebQuest has helped you to put
yourself
in their shoes and really empathize with those Native Americans who had
to
endure the consequences of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.