Native American Boarding Schools and Early American Schools
Dorothy Armstrong
Ridgeview Elementary School
Summer 2012
Western History/Genealogy Department,
Denver Public Library
After reading the story Jim Thorpe’s Bright Path, students will explore the Library of
Congress site to analyze photos of Native American students in their home setting and
then at American Indian schools that they were sent to. Then, the students will examine
pictures of American Indian Schools and early American schools to write a compare and
contrast essay about their interpretation of the pictures. An extension of reading journals
has been added for those students who would like to know more about what actual Native
American children thought about the American Indian Schools and how the government
felt about sending these children away to school.
Overview/ Materials/LOC Resources/Standards/ Procedures/Evaluation/Rubric/Handouts/Extension
Overview
Objectives
Recommended time frame
Grade level
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Students will:
 analyze primary source photos of Native American
Indians before and after they attend American Indian
Schools and compare how they are alike and
different using a Venn Diagram.
 analyze and interpret information from the
biography Jim Thorpe’s Bright Path and the primary
source pictures and add this information to the Venn
Diagram.
 join in a whole class discussion about the
similarities and differences in these before and after
photos.
 analyze and interpret photos of American Indian
Schools and early American schools to compare and
contrast the differences and interpret their findings.
 explore the different points of view about life in an
American Indian School.
5 days
4th
Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University
Curriculum fit
Materials
Reading, Social Studies
 Reading textbook with story Jim Thorpe’s Bright
Path
 Analyzing Photo handouts and student worksheets
 Venn Diagram and rubric
 Compare/Contrast Essay Rubric
Illinois State Learning Standards
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Social Studies:
GOAL 16: Understand events, trends, individuals
and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the
United States and other nations.
 16 A. Apply the skills of historical analysis and
interpretation.
GOAL 18: Understand social systems, with an
emphasis on the United States.
 18 B. Understand the roles and interactions of
individuals and groups in society.
Language Arts:
GOAL 3: Write to communicate for a variety of
purposes.
 3 C. Communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a
variety of purposes.
GOAL 5: Use the language arts to acquire, assess
and communicate information.
 5 A. Locate, organize, and use information from
various sources to answer questions, solve problems
and communicate ideas.
 5 B. Analyze and evaluate information from various
sources.
Procedures
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Day One:
 Review vocabulary: dormitory, manual, boarding
school, society, and reservation.
 Read the story, Jim Thorpe by Joseph Bruchac.
 Discuss what they learned about American Indian
Schools from the story and pictures.
Day Two:
 Summarize the story of Jim Thorpe’s Bright Path as
a class.
 Give a mini lesson on using the Library of
Congress website (www.loc.gov) and American
Memory
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University

On computers in pairs, have students observe the
photos of Native Americans before and after they
attended American Indian Schools. How are they
alike and different?
 Use the handout “Analyzing Photographs and
Prints” to help students think about the photos.
Students will use the blank student form to write
down their thoughts about the pictures.
 Discuss their thoughts and ideas in a whole class
discussion.
Day Three :
 Discuss American Indian Schools and children and
early American schools and children. Have
students, in pairs on computers, compare photos of
these two cultures and note the similarities and
differences. Use another analyzing photos
worksheet and student form. Then use the Venn
Diagram to see the likenesses and differences.
Day Four:
 Discuss the important parts of a comparison essay.
Review the Compare/Contrast Essay rubric with the
students. Remind students they will need to support
their essay with details from the photos and the
story. Students will write a rough draft and revise it
once.
Day Five:
 Students will write a final copy to be graded with a
rubric.
Evaluation
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This learning experience will be evaluated by:
 observation of the students as they fill out the
student analysis forms,
 Venn Diagram, and their part in the class
discussions.
 compare and contrast rubric for their writing.
Extension
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

Review journals of Native American students
attending American Indian schools using the
Analyzing Manuscript Student Form
Write a paragraph about your thoughts on life in an
American Indian School. Do you think the Native
Americans were happy or sad? Use evidence from
the journals to support your opinion.
Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University
Primary Resources from the Library of Congress
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Image
Comments by and about
Captain R. H. Pratt journals
Description
Citation
URL
Chiricahua Apaches
four months after
arriving at Carlisle /
Choate Carlisle, P.
A.
Western
History/Genealogy
Department, Denver
Public Library
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/hawp:@fi
eld(NUMBER+@band(codha
wp+10032904))
Sitting portrait of a
young, unidentified
Native American
man at the Carlisle
Indian School,
Carlisle,
Pennsylvania.
Western
History/Genealogy
Department, Denver
Public Library
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/hawp:@fi
eld(NUMBER+@band(codha
wp+10032100))
Marie and Juan
Pierre, two Native
American children
on the Flathead
Indian Reservation
in western Montana
Western
History/Genealogy
Department, Denver
Public Library
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/hawp:@fi
eld(NUMBER+@band(codha
wp+00150089))
Origin and history
of work at Carlisle
Pratt, R. H., Capt. “The
Indians: Origin and
History of Work at
Carlisle “[pp. 108-111]
Journals: American
Missionary (1878 1901) The American
Missionary Volume
0037 Issue 4 (Apr 1883)
http://digital.library.cornell.ed
u/cgi/t/text/pagevieweridx?c=amis;cc=amis;rgn=full
%20text;idno=amis00374;didno=amis00374;view=image;seq=00118;nod
e=amis0037-4%3A1
Native American
Ute children pose
outside the boy's
two-story brick
school dorm
Western
History/Genealogy
Department, Denver
Public Library
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/hawp:@fi
eld(NUMBER+@band(codha
wp+10030660))
Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University
A rural school house
with school children
and horses around it.
Fred Hultstrand History
in Pictures Collection,
NDIRS-NDSU, Fargo;
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/ngp:@fiel
d(NUMBER+@band(ndfahult
+b272))
School children
lined up in front of
school.
Fred Hultstrand History
in Pictures Collection,
NDIRS-NDSU, Fargo.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/ngp:@fiel
d(NUMBER+@band(ndfahult
+b362a))
Journal of Zitkala
Sa
School Days of an
Indian Girl
Sa, Zitkala, “School
Days of an Indian Girl”
[pp. 185-194], The
Atlantic Monthly
Volume 0085 Issue 508
(February 1900)
Journals: Atlantic
Monthly (1857 - 1901)
http://digital.library.cornell.ed
u/cgi/t/text/pagevieweridx?c=atla;cc=atla;rgn=full%2
0text;idno=atla00852;didno=atla00852;view=image;seq=00191;nod
e=atla0085-2%3A1
Indian Boarding
Schools Lesson
Plan
Lesson plans and
resources about
Indian Boarding
Schools
Indian Boarding
Schools, Library of
Congress,
www.loc.gov/Teachers
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/cl
assroommaterials/lessons/india
nschools/index.html
Native American
Havasupai children
gather around an
outdoor dinner table,
Supai Indian School
Western
History/Genealogy
Department, Denver
Public Library
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/hawp:@fi
eld(NUMBER+@band(codha
wp+10030962))
Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University
Rubric
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Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University
Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University
Handouts
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