Unit Plan:
Native American
Nations
5th Grade
Val Ilyukhina
C&I 211.06 – Dr. Romano
Fall 2009
Unit: Native American Nations
Grade: 5th Grade
Teacher: Miss Val
This Unit Plan Contains
 The purpose and significance of the unit to my students
 The timeline/flowchart of the unit
 The proposed unit outcomes
 A unit introduction lesson
 A Science lesson*
 A Social Studies lesson*
 A Mathematics lesson*
 A Language Arts lesson*
 An Art lesson*
 A PE/Music lesson*
 A unit closure lesson
 A PowerPoint on Native American Totem Poles
 Instructional aides and resources
 An assessment portfolio for the entire lesson
o Sample rubrics
o Sample test
*Lesson plans include required/recommended readings,
rubrics, checklists, homework activities, handouts, etc.
Purpose and Significance:
For my integrated unit plan I have decided to do a two week lesson on Native Americans.
My unit will focus on the exploration of a variety of Native American groups. In a research
project each group of students will pick a Native American nation they would like to learn about.
I will have to approve these, and I will make sure that the students cover the majority of the
United States areas. There will be five groups of students working on the unit, thus there will be
five Native American nations covered in this unit. I will use more nations as examples
throughout the lesson, as well.
This lesson is important for my students because they need to know what was going on in
America before Columbus came. They would also like to hear the stories about these people that
lived here before us. The issue of Native Americans and their treatment upon the colonial’s
arrival is something we will be covering in class and this unit. I think it is important for my
students to know about the real stories of how Native Americans were treated after Columbus’s
arrival in the United States. These lessons are important to my curriculum because they will
serve as a wrap up to our unit on Thanksgiving and as an introduction to our unit on Colonial
America, and will fulfill one of the requirements for our class as in our year-long goal of being
diverse learners and people in the world, by studying an important group of diverse peoples.
These lessons will be done with my 5th grade class. In my classroom there are 2 English
Language Learners and 1 Special Education student who is in a wheelchair. We are in a Title I
school with 75% of students below the poverty line. 40% are Hispanic, 20% are African
American, 10% are White, 20% are other ethnicities, and 10% are English Language Learners.
My classroom is set up in several groups of desks; students will not be working in these groups
for the unit, to allow them to communicate with their seating groups about their different Native
American nations with ease. My classroom has five computers that we will be using for our
project, and there will be a wall dedicated to putting up the information we gather throughout the
unit, this wall space will stay covered through a part of our next unit to allow us to make
connections between the Native Americans and the transition into colonial America.
As a class we have been working on learning about different cultures (ie. Pilgrims,
Russians, and a variety of other European nations) as well as our critical thinking skills in order
to solve problems. This unit fits into both of those categories. By starting my unit with having
the students do a research project I am allowing them the freedom to be their own learners. I will
have guidelines they will have to follow and certain information they will have to obtain as a
class, but otherwise they are free to use their own imaginations and knowledge to complete most
of the projects in this unit.
Length of Unit: 2 weeks
Week 1
Monday
8:00AM - 8:10AM
8:10AM - 9:05AM
9:05AM - 10:00AM
10:00AM - 11:00AM
11:00AM - 11:45AM
11:45AM - 12:40PM
12:40PM - 1:35PM
1:35PM - 2:30PM
2:30PM - 2:45PM
Getting settled and announcements
Language Arts/Reading: Complete First Thanksgiving reading and answer all provided
questions in journal.
Art/Music: Make traditional pilgrim hats and outfits. Students will participate in a
mock old times dance.
Social Studies: Research Thanksgiving tradition and write a 3 page formal report on it.
Lunch/recess
Science: Discuss the landscape, weather, resources and water supplies of the first
colonies.
Health/PE: Research resources the colonists had and make recipes for what they think
the first Thanksgiving dinner was made from for the pilgrims.
Math: Talk about statistics of pilgrims, Native Americans, the journey to the new
world, and disease rates. Make each group takes one of these and makes a graph to
present to the rest of the class. Then whole class makes graph of what killed most
people at that time.
Go over homework, clean up classroom, put away supplies
Tuesday
8:00AM - 8:10AM
8:10AM - 9:05AM
9:05AM - 10:00AM
10:00AM - 11:00AM
11:00AM - 11:45AM
11:45AM - 12:40PM
12:40PM - 1:35PM
1:35PM - 2:30PM
2:30PM - 2:45PM
Wednesday
8:00AM - 8:10AM
8:10AM - 9:05AM
9:05AM - 10:00AM
10:00AM - 11:00AM
11:00AM - 11:45AM
11:45AM - 12:40PM
12:40PM - 1:35PM
1:35PM - 2:30PM
2:30PM - 2:45PM
Thursday
8:00AM - 8:10AM
8:10AM - 9:05AM
Getting settled and announcements
Language Arts/Reading: Students will free write what they know about Native
Americans. They will then get into small groups and discuss their knowledge. Each
group will share a fact or two with the class and we will make a list of the things we
already know. We will then make a list of what we want to learn and keep that with
this writing prompt.
Social Studies: Discuss the myths and truths of the first Thanksgiving and what role the
Native Americans played in it.
Art/Music: Students will make drawings of what they know, and will draw what they
hear while several Traditional Native American songs play.
Lunch/recess
Science: Read several Native American myths in groups and discuss how plausible the
myths actually are, using the scientific approach.
Health/PE: Have students prepare skit on what they know about Native American’s and
act it out.
Math: Students will play several numerical games to find out what Native American
words they do not know.
Go over homework, clean up classroom, put away supplies
Getting settled and announcements
Language Arts/Reading: We will read several passages that contain Native American
vocabulary that we will be learning. Students will make vocabulary lists and a
vocabulary wall.
Social Studies: Students will select a Native American nation and research its culture.
Students will research words that are unique to their culture and the cultures clothing.
Art/Music: Students will design and create outfits that model authentic tribal outfits for
the nation they researched. They will use construction paper, feathers, and a variety of
other supplies.
Lunch/recess
Science: Native American Speaker- Students will listen to and take notes on
information presented by a Native American historian. Historian brings his own
demonstration tipi and buffalo the students will be able to explore. They will have the
opportunity to look at Native American Artifacts and ask the historian their own
questions.
Health/PE: Students will play a variety of movement games to help them learn their
new vocabulary.
Math: Students will play a variety of math games to help them learn Native American
vocabulary.
Go over homework, clean up classroom, put away supplies
Getting settled and announcements
Language Arts/Reading: Students will read materials on their nation’s food supplies,
what they eat, how they eat it, and how they obtain food.
9:05AM - 10:00AM
10:00AM - 11:00AM
11:00AM - 11:45AM
11:45AM - 12:40PM
12:40PM - 1:35PM
1:35PM - 2:30PM
2:30PM - 2:45PM
Friday
8:00AM - 8:10AM
8:10AM - 9:05AM
9:05AM - 10:00AM
10:00AM - 11:00AM
11:00AM - 11:45AM
11:45AM - 12:40PM
12:40PM - 1:35PM
1:35PM - 2:30PM
2:30PM - 2:45PM
Week 2
Monday
8:00AM - 8:10AM
8:10AM - 9:05AM
9:05AM - 10:00AM
10:00AM - 11:00AM
11:00AM - 11:45AM
11:45AM - 12:40PM
12:40PM - 1:35PM
1:35PM - 2:30PM
Art/Music: Students will listen to a variety of Native American music and write/draw
about how it makes them feel, and what they imagine during the playing of the music.
Social Studies: Students will continue their research project and research more about
their nation’s food.
Lunch/recess
Science: Students will brainstorm different conditions for growing food: darkness,
sunlight, cold, heat, etc. Each group will then plant a seed in each one of the different
conditions.
Health/PE: Students will learn about the nutritional value of Native American foods
specific to their tribe.
Math: Students will construct logs and graph spaces for observing the growing plants.
Students will also make graphs and charts about the nutritional values of the foods they
explored.
Go over homework, clean up classroom, put away supplies
Getting settled and announcements
Language Arts/Reading: Students will read about geography of the U.S. and how it relat
Native Americans.
Art/Music: Students will make works of art using beans.
Social Studies: Students will continue researching their nations focusing on their geogra
location and its influence on their lives.
Lunch/recess
Science: Students will do an activity to find out how climate and location influence their
tribe.
Health/PE: Students and teacher will talk about the different natural foods that the Nativ
Americans rely on and discuss the pros and cons of the foods. Students will then constru
“menu” for a full day in their tribe, based on their tribe location, food availability and fo
gathering methods preferred by the tribe.
Math: Students will construct maps and charts about the weather and geographical
information they have researched.
Go over homework, clean up classroom, put away supplies
Getting settled and announcements
Language Arts/Reading: Students will use information from last week to construct a
story based on these graphs about their nation’s method of gathering food.
Art/Music: Students will make traditional Native American drums.
Social Studies: Students will research traditional games of their tribes.
Lunch/recess
Science: Students will have to associate a variety of primary sources with their tribes.
Health/PE: Students will talk about the importance of movement to express emotion
and then create and perform a dance about their nation for the class.
Math: Students will use what they have learned about Native American food to role
2:30PM - 2:45PM
Tuesday
8:00AM - 8:10AM
8:10AM - 9:05AM
9:05AM - 10:00AM
10:00AM - 11:00AM
11:00AM - 11:45AM
11:45AM - 12:40PM
12:40PM - 1:35PM
1:35PM - 2:30PM
2:30PM - 2:45PM
Wednesday
8:00AM - 8:10AM
8:10AM - 9:05AM
9:05AM - 10:00AM
10:00AM - 11:00AM
11:00AM - 11:45AM
11:45AM - 12:40PM
12:40PM - 1:35PM
1:35PM - 2:30PM
2:30PM - 2:45PM
Thursday
8:00AM - 8:10AM
8:10AM - 9:05AM
9:05AM - 10:00AM
10:00AM - 11:00AM
play their societies trading with each other. They will need to figure out which
resources count for how much, which resources they can afford to trade and what they
should be trying to obtain.
Go over homework, clean up classroom, put away supplies
Getting settled and announcements
Language Arts/Reading: Students will read a variety of Native American poetry; they
will discuss the language and structure of poetry by their nation.
Art/Music: Students will write their own poem about their tribe and draw a scene that
represents their poem.
Social Studies: Students will complete Louis and Clark lesson.
Lunch/recess
Science: Students will study the importance of water, and how water was used by the
Native Americans.
Health/PE: Students will research different diseases that Native Americans could get
from bad/infected crops and dirty water.
Math: Students will make graphs of the diseases they have learned about.
Go over homework, clean up classroom, put away supplies
Getting settled and announcements
Language Arts/Reading: Students will work on putting together their final reports on
their nations. Checking with the checklist that everything they need is included in their
report, as well as making sure their paper flows well.
Art/Music: Students will make “leather paintings” that correspond to their tribe; telling
their tribes story: food, housing, etc.
Social Studies: Students will do research on anything they are missing from their
report, as well as the wrap-up questions provided by the teacher.
Lunch/recess
Science: Students will compare the growth rates of their plants and talk about what it
means.
Health/PE: Students will engage in a variety of traditional Native American games that
they previously researched.
Math: Students will finish their logs and make observations and graphs in their
journals.
Go over homework, clean up classroom, put away supplies
Getting settled and announcements
Language Arts/Reading: Students will write what they know about the way Native
Americans were treated by European settlers and do some research on it.
Art/Music: Students will draw what they think happened between the Native
Americans and Europeans on their first several encounters.
Social Studies: Students will research how the Native Americans were actually treated
11:00AM - 11:45AM
11:45AM - 12:40PM
12:40PM - 1:35PM
1:35PM - 2:30PM
2:30PM - 2:45PM
Friday
8:00AM - 8:10AM
8:10AM - 9:05AM
9:05AM - 10:00AM
10:00AM - 11:00AM
11:00AM - 11:45AM
11:45AM - 12:40PM
12:40PM - 1:35PM
1:35PM - 2:30PM
2:30PM - 2:45PM
by the Europeans.
Lunch/recess
Science: Students will compare, contrast and graph the Native American population
after the European’s arrival.
Health/PE: Students will prepare a skit on the way Native American’s were treated by
the Europeans.
Math: Students will work on logs of their food growth, and prepare graphs for their
observations.
Go over homework, clean up classroom, put away supplies
Getting settled and announcements
Language Arts/Reading: Students will be given several scenarios of issues their tribe
could have. As a group they will come up with several solutions. All work will be
documented in their journals, so all members must write in the journal during the
activity.
Art/Music: Students will first learn about totem poles, then they will make large (floor
to ceiling) totem poles that will express the main ideas, beliefs and troubles in their
nation’s existence.
Social Studies: Students will hold tribal meeting in order to come up with a common
solution to a variety of problems.
Lunch/recess
Science: Students will finish their tribal meeting on their diverse issues.
Math: As a post tribal meeting celebration, students will gather to put together (can’t
have food that needs to be cooked) a variety of food from their tribes. They will
prepare these meals, set up the classroom and entertain guests/enjoy the food. Some
Native American music or movie can be put on in the background.
Health/PE: Parents and/or other classes will be invited to the even to showcase the
students’ completion of the unit.
Go over homework, clean up classroom, put away supplies
Unit Outcomes
As a result of this unit the students will be able to
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identify, spell and use traditional Native American words
work in groups with their peers
use a variety of resources in order to complete thorough research assignment on Native
Americans
use technology to complete assigned tasks
express their thoughts in writing
summarize gathered information to present ideas to their peers
locate a variety of people, places and landmarks on a map
express their feelings through movement and dance
express their knowledge through movement and drama
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use math to trade goods with each other
identify a variety of Native American food and culture
develop strategies for critically examining the origin and characteristics of myth.
develop an awareness of the diversities, similarities, and values in various Native
American cultural and story traditions.
develop awareness of racist and biased language and its impact on readers over centuries.
develop strategies for examining messages for racial and cultural bias.
solve one- and two-step problems involving whole numbers and fractions.
work together to solve math problems
Discuss ways a particular archival document reflects the culture and environment of a
Native American group.
List at least three differences among the Native American groups studied that relate to
environment.
Gather data about a Native group using the Internet.
compare how encounters during the expedition may have been viewed by the expedition
and by Native American groups; and
understand that peoples' perceptions of places and of other people are based on their own
culture and experience.
learn about Native American storyteller dolls.
create their own image of a person listening to a story.
discuss and assess the various listening dolls created by the class.
recognize Native American poetry and chants as a vehicle of cultural expression.
create and perform a dance from the concepts of a Native American poem expressing
feelings and emotions through movement.
Unit Goals
General
1.B.2a Establish purposes for reading; survey materials; ask questions; make predictions;
connect, clarify and extend ideas.
1.B.2c Continuously check and clarify for understanding (e.g., in addition to previous skills,
clarify terminology, seek additional information).
1.C.2b Make and support inferences and form interpretations about main themes and topics.
1.C.2d Summarize and make generalizations from content and relate to purpose of material.
3.A.2 Write paragraphs that include a variety of sentence types; appropriate use of the eight
parts of speech; and accurate spelling, capitalization and punctuation.
3.B.2d Edit documents for clarity, subjectivity, pronoun-antecedent agreement, adverb and
adjective agreement and verb tense; proofread for spelling, capitalization and punctuation; and
ensure that documents are formatted in final form for submission and/or publication.
3.C.2b Produce and format compositions for specified audiences using available technology.
Language Arts
3.A.2 Write paragraphs that include a variety of sentence types; appropriate use of the eight
parts of speech; and accurate spelling, capitalization and punctuation.
1.C.2b Make and support inferences and form interpretations about main themes and topics.
Fine Arts
25.B.2 Understand how elements and principles combine within an art form to express ideas.
26.B.2d Demonstrate knowledge and skills to create works of visual art using problem solving,
observing, designing, sketching and constructing.
26.A.2f Understand the artistic processes of sculpture.
27.B.2 Identify and describe how the arts communicate the similarities and differences among
various people, places and times.
Health/PE
26.B.2a Demonstrate control, coordination, balance, elevation and accuracy in rhythmic response
and awareness of choreographic form.
26.B.2b Demonstrate actions, characters, narrative skills, collaboration, environments, simple
staging and sequence of events and situations in solo and ensemble dramas.
19.A.2 Demonstrate control when performing combinations and sequences in locomotor, nonlocomotor and manipulative motor patterns.
Math
6.B.2 Solve one- and two-step problems involving whole numbers, fractions and decimals using
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
6.C.2a Select and perform computational procedures to solve problems with whole numbers,
fractions and decimals.
7.C.2b Construct or draw figures with given perimeters and areas.
Science
11.A.2b Collect data for investigations using scientific process skills including observing,
estimating and measuring.
11.A.2c Construct charts and visualizations to display data.
11.A.2e Report and display the results of individual and group investigations.
Social Science
5.A.2a Formulate questions and construct a basic research plan.
5.B.2b Cite sources used.
5.C.2b Prepare and deliver oral presentations based on inquiry or research.
16.A.2b Compare different stories about a historical figure or event and analyze differences in
the portrayals and perspectives they present.
16.A.2c Ask questions and seek answers by collecting and analyzing data from historic
documents, images and other literary and non-literary sources.
14.C.2 Describe and evaluate why rights and responsibilities are important to the individual,
family, community, workplace, state and nation (e.g., voting, protection under the law).
15.A.2a Explain how economic systems decide what goods and services are produced, how they
are produced and who consumes them.
15.B.2a Identify factors that affect how consumers make their choices.
15.D.2a Explain why people and countries voluntarily exchange goods and services.
18.A.2 Explain ways in which language, stories, folk tales, music, media and artistic creations
serve as expressions of culture.
Native American Nations- Introduction
To start this unit I will discuss with my class what they already know about
Native Americans:
What do think of when you see the word Indian or Native American?
Men on horses hunting bison with a bow and arrow? Women
cultivating corn, beans, and squash? Families living in tepees? Each image is correct, but only
for a particular time and place. In fact, only one of these scenes likely occurred in Illinois. Do
you know which one?
Men on horses hunting bison with a bow and arrow.
The horse was introduced by the Spanish to North America 500 years ago, but it was not used in
Illinois until 300 years ago. A form of bison was present in Illinois during the Ice-Age, but
became extinct shortly thereafter. Another type of bison arrived in Illinois after the Ice-Age, but
was not regularly hunted until about A.D. 1400. As yet there is no evidence that early Native
Americans used horses to hunt bison. Members of the Illinois tribe, for example, hunted bison on
foot. The bow and arrow appears in Illinois about A.D. 600. It was the principal weapon,
remaining in use until well after the introduction of firearms. To the best of our knowledge, there
is no evidence for the scene of men on horses hunting bison with a bow and arrow in Illinois.
Women cultivating corn, beans, and squash.
Cultivated squash is evident 7,000 years ago, but corn is not a significant part of the diet until
after 1100 years ago, and cultivated beans do not appear until 990 years ago. Before widespread
use of these domesticated plants, Indian people relied on the cultivation of a variety of native
plants such as lambsquarters, marshelder, and sunflower and animal foods such as white-tailed
deer, other mammals, fish, waterfowl, turtles, and mussels. The scene of women cultivating corn,
beans, and squash occurred only relatively recently.
Families living in tepees.
The tepee is a cone-shaped tent made of skins or bark used by North American Indians,
especially those living on the Great Plains. There is no evidence of traditional Indians in Illinois
using a tepee. In fact, the type of shelter used by Indians in Illinois changed many times and
included the wigwam, a dwelling with an arched or conical framework overlaid with bark, hides,
or mats, and a longhouse, a long wooden multi-family dwelling.
People often rely on oversimplified or stereotypic images. However, when we take time to learn
about others, we discover that we have many things in common. And more important, our
differences are interesting.
American Indians or Native Americans, the first Illinoisans, have lived here for at least 12,000
years. During that time their lives changed dramatically. They hunted the enormous mastodon,
they built the largest earthen mound north of Mexico, they struggled with arrival of European
explorers, and they live today in every part of society. Without their contributions, we would not
be as we are today. For example, the corn so important to Illinois agriculture grows from plants
domesticated by Native Americans.
Lesson Plans
Lesson: Not ‘Indians,’ Many Tribes: Native American Diversity
Content: Science
Grade: 5th Grade
Time: Four 50 minute lessons
Objectives:
After completing this lesson, students will be able to:
 Discuss ways a particular archival document reflects the culture and
environment of a Native American group.
 List at least three differences among the Native American groups studied that relate to
environment.
 Gather data about a Native group using the Internet.
Standards:
11.A.2c Construct charts and visualizations to display data.
11.A.2e Report and display the results of individual and group investigations.
Procedures:
Preparation
 Review the Background Information on Featured Native Groups—Abenaki, Hopi and
Kwakiutl (pronounced kwah kee OO tuhl).
 Prepare sufficient copies of the First Primary Sources for student use.
 Familiarize yourself with Using Primary Source Documents.
 Download and duplicate three complete sets of the archival documents you choose to use
for Lesson 2 (two sets for the class and one for the teacher).
Attention Getter/Introduction
 There were literally hundreds of Native American tribes and there still are. All of those
tribes have their own traditions and their own customs. Many had their own language. To
say that a certain word, recipe, or custom is "Indian" is incorrect. Source: Wisdom
Keepers, Inc.
 What comes to mind when you think of "Indians" or "Native Americans"? In this lesson
we will heighten our awareness of Native American diversity as we learn about three
vastly different Native groups in a game-like activity using archival documents such as
vintage photographs, traditional stories, photos of artifacts, and recipes. One factor
influencing Native American diversity is environment; we will explore the interaction
between environment and culture.
 Guiding Questions: How did geographic location, climate and natural resources
influence the diversity of Native American tribes and nations? What can we learn about a
Native group from archival documents? What, if any, generalizations are reasonable to
make about Native Americans throughout America?
Instruction and Activities
Lesson 1- Location, Location, Location
1. Discuss the influence of location on contemporary life.
a. If members of the class have lived in more than one place, how did their clothing,
food, shelter and lifestyle change as a result of their move?
b. What did change?
c. How? Why?
2. Let students know that in this unit, they will have an opportunity to explore the
relationship between environment and way of life of some Native American groups.
3. The lesson begins with a discussion of the climate in three locations: Lewiston, Maine
(Abenaki), Polacca, Arizona (Hopi Reservation, First Mesa, near Winslow) and Winter
Harbour, British Columbia, Canada (Kwakiutl, just north of Washington's Olympic
Peninsula).
4. Have students research these locations for their average temperature and yearly
precipitation and snowfall averages. Students should find information similar to this:
a. Lewiston, Maine - The average daytime temperature varies from 30 to 70 degrees
Fahrenheit. Yearly precipitation averages 42 inches; snowfall averages 76.1
inches.
b. Polacca, Arizona - The average daytime temperature varies from 40 to 95 degrees
Fahrenheit. Yearly precipitation averages 8 inches; snowfall averages 13.5 inches.
c. Winter Harbour, British Columbia, Canada - The average daily daytime
temperature varies from 45 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Yearly precipitation
averages 103.5 inches; snowfall averages 14.8 inches.
5. At the Weather Underground, students can access weather data for any U.S. location on
any day in the last few years, using the zip code.
 For Lewiston, Maine (Abenaki), use 04240.
 For Polacca, Arizona (Hopi), use 86042.
 For Winter Harbour (Kwakiutl), use 98350, the zip code for Quillayute, Washington
(a United States location near and similar to Winter Harbour), or search for Canada
weather and select Port Hardy, British Columbia.
The United States Climate Page offers a clickable United States map. Students can obtain
climate information by selecting the following closest available locations:
 Augusta, Maine, for the Abenaki
 Winslow, Arizona, for the Hopi
 Quillayute, Washington, for the Kwakiutl
6. Locate the three cities (Lewiston, Maine; Polacca, Arizona; Winter Harbour, British
Columbia) on a map.
7. Have students share the information they found.
a. What are the significant differences between climates?
b. How might the climate affect the way people without modern technology would
live?
c. Encourage the students to begin making hypotheses about the lifestyle of Native
Americans who lived in these areas before Europeans arrived
Lesson 2 -First Primary Sources: Getting Started with Archival Documents
1. Begin by asking students to brainstorm what they think of when they hear the term
"Indian" or the term "Native American."
2. Write the list on chart paper and save it for the end of the lesson.
3. Divide the class in half and split each half into three groups, each assigned one document.
4. Ask the students to be detectives, looking very carefully for clues about where their
assigned Native American tribe might have lived and what the group's lifestyle may have
been. (Note: Make sure students understand that when reviewing a primary document
from an unknown source, there are bound to be parts of the document that will not be
understood. Students should concentrate on what they can gather from the document,
rather than focusing on things they can't understand, such as Native American words.)
5. Present students with the following three Native American documents:
 Abenaki (Mi'kmaq) Cinderella Story
 Hopi Emergence Tale excerpt
 Kwakiutl Recipe for Beached Whale (Winter Harbour, Canada)
6. Students will read the documents in their groups.
7. Have students begin their analysis by listing observations about the text; students might
divide their observations into categories as follows:
 climate (e.g., the Abenaki story mentions a sled, implying snow)
 plant life (e.g., the Kwakiutl recipe mentions cedar bark)
 animal life (e.g., the Abenaki story mentions moose)
 relationships within the group (e.g., the Kwakiutl recipe emphasizes sharing and
politeness)
 what the group considered important (e.g., the Hopi tale has a strong emphasis on
corn)
8. Once the students have completed their observations, they can make hypotheses about the
people from whom the tale or recipe derived.
a. How did the people live?
b. What can be hypothesized about their culture?
c. What was important to them?
d. Which of the three locations studied in Lesson 1 is most likely to be home for this
group?
9. Have each student group share at least a brief summary of its document with the entire
class and report any findings. Make sure students support conclusions with observations
from the document.
10. After all groups have reported, reveal which Native group lived in which location.
Lesson 3- Students as Ecological Anthropologists
1. Retain the student groups formed in Lesson 2, if possible.
2. Students will work together to solve the following problem: Five (use more or less if
appropriate your group) documents from each of three Native tribes have been
discovered, but unfortunately the documents have become mixed up.
a. Which documents belong to which group?
3. Students will use their knowledge of climate conditions where each Native group lived,
plus what they learned about the groups' lifestyles in Lesson 2, to connect each of the
new documents with the correct Native group.
4. Distribute any or all of the following primary source documents equally (but randomly)
to each half of the class. (Before distributing the documents, make sure that the name of
the native group has been deleted or obscured).
5. Students should keep any documents they think belong to their Native group, based on
the map and data gleaned from Lessons 1 and 2.
6. As cooperating scientists, they should give any other documents to the appropriate group.
7. It's fine if a few documents remain unidentified after the trading session. Give those to
the correct group. Discuss why it was difficult to assign those documents to a Native
group.
8. Once the trading has ended, merge the two student groups that were assigned to each
Native tribe.
9. Have them compare documents. Make sure every group has a correct set.
10. The combined student groups should now refine their hypotheses about their assigned
Native group on the basis of observations made through the new set of documents.
11. Share the new hypotheses with the class.
Lesson 4- Coming to Conclusions
1. Now that students have looked at documents from the Abenaki, Hopi and Kwakiutl, they
can make some comparisons between the three Native groups.
a. In what ways are the Native groups similar to each other?
b. How are they different?
c. Are they more different or more similar?
d. How different/similar are the environments in which they live(d)?
e. Can some of the differences between the groups be explained by the environments
in which they live(d)?
f. Which differences between the groups cannot be explained by environment?
g. Is it more useful to think of these three Native groups as one people (Native
Americans) or as separate groups?
2. To assess student awareness of Native American diversity, make a new list of what
students think of now when they hear the term "Indian" or the term "Native American."
3. Write the list on chart paper.
4. Compare it to the list created at the beginning of the lesson. If awareness of diversity has
increased, the list should be quite different.
5. Students may list more and different specific items (for example, if the students formerly
said something like, "Indians hunt buffalo," they might now list whales, moose and/or
muskrats) or they may include more generalizations (such as, "Native Americans live in
many different kinds of houses") since one stereotypical view is no longer suitable.
6. To assess student learning about using an artifact to hypothesize about lifestyle, show an
image of Plains tipis.
7. Ask students to hypothesize about the lifestyle of the Native Americans shown in the
photograph.
a. Think about the Kwakiutl homes, for example. They are quite different from the
tipis shown in the photo.
b.
c.
d.
e.
What differences in lifestyle might be reflected?
Think about the Hopi dependence on corn.
What difference in lifestyle is reflected by this photograph?
It is impossible, on the basis of one photo, to correctly characterize a Native
group. Instead, look for students to come up with many observations. When they
make hypotheses, these should be supported by observations.
Closure
In this unit, the students have seen how one environmental factor, climate, affects lifestyle. Do
the students hypothesize that environmental changes would have had a profound effect on Native
Americans? To assess student learning about the relationship between environment and lifestyle,
pose a hypothetical scenario to students and encourage discussion: If whales and fish became
scarce, how might that change have affected the Kwakiutl? If a group like the Abenaki were
forced to move to the Great Plains, how might that affect their lifestyle? Remind the class of the
near extinction of the buffalo. How must that have affected any tribe dependent on them? See if
students can move from conclusions to new hypotheses (for example: If the Abenaki moved to
the Plains, they would no longer be able to hunt moose or fish. If they couldn't hunt moose, then
they would need to find new sources for their clothing….) If you wish, present additional
hypothetical scenarios to students about changes in environment/resources that may have
affected Native groups, or ask students to devise their own hypothetical scenarios for discussion.
Extending the Lesson
 If the class has sufficient access to technology, students can research other Native groups
appropriate to their course of study. Begin by gathering data about the Native group's
location. Then use the sites listed in the Resource Links section, most of which offer a
search function.
 Students can research how European presence altered the environment (e.g., near
extinction of the buffalo, removal of tribes to distant locations) and thus the lifestyle of
particular Native groups.
The Cherokee tribe is a fruitful subject here. The Cherokee environment was
changed by the U.S. government—after living primarily in southeast Georgia, the
Cherokee people were removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s, a significant change in
climate and terrain. How did this move affect the Cherokee lifestyle? Students should
look at changes in food, shelter, clothing, hunting, celebration and other practices. An
introduction to this incident may be found in America's Library of the Library of
Congress, a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory.
 Try some recipes from the Native Way Cookbook, which features recipes from many
tribes indexed by tribe, type of dish, and traditional or contemporary recipes. Examples
include Mikodissimin Opinabo, a traditional Abenaki bean/pea soup, and Pueblo Bread,
Santa Ana, a simple, contemporary recipe. There are many others available on this site, a
link from the EDSITEment resource NativeWeb.
 Conduct research on Native Americans in contemporary society and the movement to
preserve traditions. An intriguing starting point for such research might be the
controversial Makah Indian whale hunt conducted in May 1999. The EDSITEment
resource NativeWeb provides information on this subject.
Accommodations:
English Language Learner
Jamie, my ELL student, could use several accommodations. Lesson 1: Jamie might struggle
with getting the information she needs off the internet, thus she should have an aide, I can do that
part with her, or I can specifically ask her teammates to help her with that. Lesson 2: Jamie will
most likely struggle with the reading assigned in this lesson. I will ask her teammates to come
up with a summary of it for her. I will go over the reading with her. She will have an aide. I can
also write a less complicated version of the story for Jamie, or find a way to illustrate it with
pictures. I don’t think Jamie should have much of a difficulty with Lesson 3, I will just have to
make sure that she understood the first two lessons enough to complete lesson 3.
Special Needs- Wheelchair
I don’t think that this lesson requires any accommodations for Nick, my student in a wheelchair.
The only thing I can really think of is to have his group meet at his table so that he does not have
to maneuver around the classroom, unless he wants a change of scenery, of course.
Assessments:
 For homework hand out a document to each student and instruct them to list all of the
things in it that they think is representative of a native group, have them define said
native group, write a short paper on why this picture represents this native group, contrast
it with the other two groups studied.
 Hand in reports about weather, environment and their Native American groups.
Materials:
 Paper
 Pencils
 Computers
 Copies of stories for Lesson 2
o Abenaki (Mi'kmaq) Cinderella Story
o Hopi Emergence Tale excerpt
o Kwakiutl Recipe for Beached Whale (Winter Harbour, Canada)
 Copies of documents for Lesson 3
1. Abenaki Documents
1. Abenaki Moose Hunt
2. Recipe for "Mushrat" (Muskrat) Stew
3. Birch Bark Basket Photo
4. Building a Wigwam (top half of page only)
5. Drawing of Abenaki in Clothing of the 1700s
2. Hopi Documents
1. Hopi Katsina Dolls (scroll down to find an image and text)
2. Drawing of Hopi houses and crafts
3. Kwakiutl Documents
1. How to Catch a Sea Otter
2. Kwakiutl canoes, Aleut Bay, British Columbia, September 5, 1909 (photo)
3. Kwakiutl totem pole in front of house with painted thunderbird, Alert Bay,
British Columbia, September 5, 1909 (photo)
4. Kwakiutl village on a hillside, Vancouver Island on Johnstone Strait,
British Columbia, in engraving made 1792 (drawing)
5. The Story of Bookwus (includes a photo of a mask)
6. The First Cat in the Northwest
Resources:
American Memory
A vast archive of primary documents of all kinds, American Memory has a search tool that is
simple to use. From the home page, select "Search." Search by tribe/nation name; add words as
desired.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html
The American Indians of the Pacific Northwest collection may be particularly useful
within the context of this unit, or any study of Native groups.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/wauhtml/aipnhome.html
Useful links from American Memory:
 Ten Illustrated Essays from Native American Culture in the Pacific Northwest
These essays contain a lot of text, but they feature many pictures as well.
http://content.lib.washington.edu/aipnw/essays.html
 America's Library
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi
Digital Classroom
http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html
Document Analysis Worksheets
http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/
analysis_worksheets/worksheets.html
The Internet Public Library
http://www.ipl.org
Useful links:
 General Native American:
Index of Native American Authors with links to information on each tribe
http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/
 Abenaki:
Abenaki History by Lee Sultzman
http://www.dickshovel.com/aben.html
Abenaki Home Page
http://www.hmt.com/abenaki
Ne-Do-Ba - The Abenaki of Western Maine
http://www.avcnet.org/ne-do-ba/
 Hopi:
Hopi Information Network
http://www.recycles.org/hopi
 Kwakiutl:
Kwakiutl
http://www.anthro.mankato.msus.edu/cultural/
northamerica/kwakiutl.html
NativeWeb
This site is searchable and also has an "Index of Nations."
http://www.nativeweb.org/
Useful links:
 General:
Federally Recognized Tribes
a clickable United States map showing the location of every federally recognized tribe
http://www.artnatam.com/tribes.html
Native Way Cookbook
recipes from many tribes indexed by tribe, type of dish
http://www.wisdomkeepers.org/nativeway/
 Abenaki:
Wabanaki People of the Dawn
http://abbemuseum.org/wabanaki.html
 Hopi:
Official Website of the Hopi Tribe
http://www.hopi.nsn.us/
 Kwakiutl:
A Collection of Legends from the Northwest Coast
http://www.coghlanart.com/stories.htm
Native Tech
http://www.nativetech.org
Drawing of Abenaki in Clothing of the 1700's
http://www.nativetech.org/clothing/regions/region3.html
Building a Wigwam
http://www.anthro.mankato.msus.edu/prehistory/
settlements/regions/east_and_southeast.html
Abenaki Covered Basket
Lesson: Lewis and Clark; Same Place Different Perspective
Content: Social Studies
Grade: 5th Grade
Time: 60 minutes
Objectives:
Students will
 compare how encounters during the expedition may have been viewed by the expedition
and by Native American groups; and
 understand that peoples' perceptions of places and of other people are based on their own
culture and experience.
Standards:
16.A.2b Compare different stories about a historical figure or event and analyze differences in
the portrayals and perspectives they present.
16.A.2c Ask questions and seek answers by collecting and analyzing data from historic
documents, images and other literary and non-literary sources.
Procedures:
Attention Getter/Introduction
How do students describe the physical and human characteristics of their town or city? How
would their parents describe their hometown? How would visitors? Compare these answers to
show that people can think about or describe a place in markedly different ways. Have students
imagine they are part of the Lewis and Clark expedition, looking at an expansive, seemingly
endless sea of prairie grass. How might they think about the following: "expedition," "the West,"
"wilderness," "uncharted territory"? How might someone from a Native American tribe have
described those things?
Instruction and Activities
1. Make two photocopies of the five-page handout, Expedition Encounters.
2. Divide the class into five teams.
3. Give each team two copies of one of the encounters (each team should have a different
encounter).
4. Each encounter describes a situation and the place where it occurred. Journal entries
describe the point of view of expedition members. (Explain that the apparent misspellings
are the result of the way that Lewis and Clark spelled certain words when writing in the
journals.) Because Native American history passed from generation to generation through
storytellers, tell students they will need to use the information given to imagine what a
Native American might have thought.
5. Divide each team into two groups.
6. Have one group focus on the encounter from a Native American perspective; the other
group from the perspective of someone in the expedition.
7. Students can refer to a map during their discussions, either "Lewis and Clark Expedition
Routes and Control of Lands" or "Lewis and Clark Expedition: Westward Route, Native
Americans, and Forts."
8. After the small-group discussions, have each student write about the encounter from
"their" point of view. (Remind students that people in the same group can have different
perspectives.)
9. Students should use descriptive language and describe geographic factors that may have
affected the encounter.
Closure
Have representatives from each team read aloud descriptions of their event.
 How do the perceptions of the events and places differ?
 Why might they differ?
 What similar things might Native American tribes and the expedition have wanted?
(Common needs or wants would have contributed to the success of the expedition.)
Accommodations:
English Language Learner
Jamie, my ELL student, could use just a few accommodations. I should go over the stories with
her to make sure she understands both of the perspectives. Instead of doing journaling for the
questions presented, she can draw pictures to show me what she understands.
Special Needs- Wheelchair
I don’t think that this lesson requires any accommodations for Nick, my student in a wheelchair.
The only thing I can really think of is to have his group meet at his table so that he does not have
to maneuver around the classroom, unless he wants a change of scenery, of course.
Assessments:
 Ask students to write about something that happened during the expedition as they
imagine Sacagawea or York (Clark's African-American slave) might have perceived it.
 Have students work individually or in pairs to develop a "dialogue" poem (in which
alternating lines of dialogue are written from two different perspectives) that describes an
event or place.
 Investigate Native American inter-tribal activities. How did tribes communicate and trade
with each other? How and why did their opinions about Lewis and Clark vary?
 Examine photos showing various cultures. Describe how a child, an adult, a traveler, or a
business executive might interpret or view each culture.
Materials:
 Paper
 Pencils
 Computer with Internet access
 Photocopies of the five-page student handout, Expedition Encounters (Download a free
copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file.)
 Photocopies of the map "Lewis and Clark Expedition Routes and Control of Lands"
 Photocopies of the map "Lewis and Clark Expedition: Westward Route, Native
Americans, and Forts"
 "Jefferson's Instructions to Lewis" (Excerpts)
Lesson: Storing Food
Content: Mathematics
Grade: 5th Grade
Time: 50 minutes
Objectives:
Students will
 solve one- and two-step problems involving whole numbers and
fractions.
 work together to solve math problems
Standards:
6.B.2 Solve one- and two-step problems involving whole numbers, fractions and decimals using
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
6.C.2a Select and perform computational procedures to solve problems with whole numbers,
fractions and decimals.
Procedures:
Preparation
 Make copies of the Storing Food handout for students to use.
 Have scratch paper ready for students if they need it.
 Place scratch paper and extra pencils and erasers somewhere all students can reach.
Attention getter/Introduction
In the days before refrigerators, freezers, canned goods, and supermarkets, it was much more
important to be able to store food than it is today. One’s life could literally depend on the stores
of food one had set aside for one’s family. Some believe that even today people should keep
emergency food supplies on hand, because when an emergency hits, such as a flood, hurricane,
or earthquake, one might be unable to get to the store for food, and water supplies might be
limited. In today’s activity we will look at how Native Americans use their crops to make food
for their families.
Instruction and Activities
1. Talk to students about the importance of storing food and how that relates to our study of
Native Americans, discuss using whole resources and only parts of resources.
2. Discuss whole numbers and fractions. Do several practice problems on the board to
review students’ memory.
3. Hand out worksheet to students.
4. Do the first problem as a whole class on the board to give students an idea of what the
worksheet will be like.
5. Instruct students to work in small groups to complete the worksheet during the class
period.
6. Go over answers and steps to solving the problems at the end of the period.
7. If students do not finish before the end of the period assign the rest of the worksheet for
homework and go over it the following class period.
8. For homework, ask students to create 2 problems like those on the worksheet.
9. The following class period, go over the problems students had not finished. Then ask
them to exchange homework papers with a neighbor to solve each other’s problems.
Accommodations:
English Language Learner
For this lesson Jamie, my ELL student, could use several accommodations. I can sit down and
go over the questions with her to make sure she understands what each question is asking. Since
English not being her second language does not mean that she cannot complete math problems it
is important that I know she understands what the worksheet it asking in order to solve the
problems.
Special Needs- Wheelchair
I don’t think that this lesson requires any accommodations for Nick, my student in a wheelchair.
The only thing I can really think of is to have his group meet at his table so that he does not have
to maneuver around the classroom, unless he wants a change of scenery of course.
Assessments:
 Monitor student interaction and progress during group work to assess social skills and
assist any students having problems with the work.
 Check student answers for correctness in completing problems using whole numbers and
fractions.
 Ask some students in groups to explain one of the problems as they continue working.
 Check whatever work the students have done for homework for accuracy and completion.
Materials:
 Storing Food Handout
 Paper
 Pencils
Lesson: Myth and Truth: The “First Thanksgiving”
Content: Language Arts
Grade: 5th Grade
Time: Three 50-minute sessions
Objectives:
Students will
 develop strategies for critically examining the origin and characteristics of myth.
 develop an awareness of the diversities, similarities, and values in various Native
American cultural and story traditions.
 develop awareness of racist and biased language and its impact on readers over centuries.
 develop strategies for examining messages for racial and cultural bias.
Standards:
3.A.2 Write paragraphs that include a variety of sentence types; appropriate use of the eight
parts of speech; and accurate spelling, capitalization and punctuation.
1.C.2b Make and support inferences and form interpretations about main themes and topics.
Procedures:
Preparation
 Gather books and Internet printouts, if necessary. Because students will work in small
groups, create a copy of the printouts for each group if computer access is not available.
Provide a copy of books for each group if resources allow. Groups may have slightly
different reference resources (for instance, encyclopedias from different publishers), but
all groups should have relatively the same collection of materials on hand. Naturally, you
can encourage sharing among groups in the case of scarcer resources.
 Make copies of the Common Myths about the "First Thanksgiving" handout and the
presentation rubric for all students or prepare overheads or chart paper with the
information.
Attention getter/Introduction
Behind every myth are many possible truths allowing us to discover who we were as peoples and
who we are today. Although few young people realize it, understanding the myths that are part of
our life (past and present) is an important activity because their values and beliefs have been
shaped by the stories they have grown up knowing, by the education they have received, and by
the landscape within which they have lived. All these contexts have contributed to their world
views as individuals, as members of families, and as members of communities. Now, who can
tell me what makes a story true, and what makes it a lie? Can someone give me an example of a
myth they have heard? What parts of the myth make it not true?
Instruction and Activities
Session One
1. Students will complete the following questions as a free write in their journals at the
beginning of the lesson:
o What difference does it make who writes a story as long as they tell the "truth"?
o How can you tell when a story is true? What would indicate a story wasn't true?
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
o Have you ever read something that was presented as nonfiction but that you knew
was fiction?
Teacher will spend ten to fifteen minutes going over students' responses to the prereading prompt. Write their answers on chart paper or an overhead. (This will be used
later in this lesson.)
Go over vocabulary words in “Of Plymouth Plantation” such as savage, skulking, and
aloof, and any other words the students may find challenging.
Read "Of Plymouth Plantation" by William Bradford. As students read, ask them to pay
particular attention to the way that Bradford talks about the Native Americans that the
colonists encounter. Identify the tribe of Native Americans that Bradford and the
colonists interacted with as the Wampanoag (pronounced wham-pan-og, syllables
rhyming with Pam, Can, and Log).
After reading, ask students to write two questions of their own for the class to consider:
o One question that is answered in the text
o An "I wonder why" question
In small groups, have students share their questions and discuss answers. Monitor student
discussion by circulating among the groups.
If students have not raised the issue themselves, ask them to consider the implications of
vocabulary such as savage, skulking, and aloof in relationship to the following questions:
o What might readers conclude about the Wampanoag or about William Bradford,
the writer?
o What are the implications for a European audience, for an audience that had never
met the Wampanoag or other Native American people, and for a Native American
audience?
As a post reading activity, ask students to think about Bradford's discussion of the "First
Harvest," which we would think of as the "First Thanksgiving."
o What do you notice about Bradford's report that fits with your ideas about the
first Thanksgiving?
o What seems unusual or seems to have been left out?
Session Two
1. In full-class discussion, have students share their thoughts on the "First Thanksgiving" in
light of Bradford's report.
2. Write their ideas on the board or on chart paper.
3. Pass out the Common Myths about the "First Thanksgiving" Handout and Presentation
Rubric.
4. As you read through the list, encourage students to connect items from their
brainstorming list with the myths on the sheet.
5. Demonstrate the "myth-breaking" process by answering the three myth/truth questions
about the first myth on the handout: "The Wampanoag brought popcorn to the first
Thanksgiving feast." See the Plimoth Plantation Web page “No Popcorn” for background
on the myth
6. Divide students into four to five groups, assigning each group a myth from the sheet.
7. Give groups a variety of resources in which they might uncover truths about common
myths about the Wampanoag and the pilgrim settlers.
8. Model how to critically analyze a myth out of one of the resources. Talk to students
about how to look for myths in a book or on a website.
9. Each group completes the following assignment, preparing to share their findings with
the entire class:
a. Explain your myth answering these two questions:
b. What is a truth in this myth?
c. What are other truths behind this myth that might contradict it?
10. As a group, the students may use any of the materials available to help them understand
and explain the myth.
11. Students will then prepare a five-minute presentation to the class that explains their
understanding of the myth, using creative drama, visual aids such as posters, music,
illustrations, or an oral presentation.
12. As students work in their groups, circulate and monitor student progress. Let them know
a few minutes before the work period will conclude so that they have time to wrap up
their thoughts.
Session Three
1. Give students five to ten minutes to make last-minute preparations and to practice their
presentation.
2. Have groups present their myth to the entire class.
3. Once all of the groups have presented, return to the original pre-reading questions:
a. What difference does it make who writes a story as long as they tell the "truth"?
b. How can you tell when a story is true? What would indicate a story wasn't true?
4. Read through the student responses, and conclude the lesson with a discussion of their
original perceptions of "truth."
a. Which observations do they still agree with?
b. Which would they change?
c. What would they add?
5. For homework: have students complete the Thanksgiving Critique Assignment. Have
students take what they have learned about their Native American tribe and write their
own myth about them. The next day have students in different groups exchange papers to
see if they can pick out how much of the myth about a different tribe is true and how
much is false. Have students consider the similarities and differences between their
tribes, and those of other groups.
Accommodations:
English Language Learner
For this lesson Jamie, my ELL student, could use several accommodations. To start the lesson I
can sit down one on one with her during the children’s journal time, and we can read the first
book together, I will talk to her about the words in it to make sure she understands the content.
Before the reading we will do a picture walk so she has a better idea of what we will be reading
about. She will then do the journaling activity for pre-reading. She should be able to do the rest
of activities in session one. For session two, one thing I can do to help her with this activity is to
have the myths translated into her native language. She can speak some English so another
option is to sit down with her and go over the words she may not know. I will also make sure
that the other students in her group are taking their time and making sure she understands what is
happening in the discussion. She can contribute to the group discussion by talking about some of
the myths in her culture. This can also be used at the beginning of the lesson when discussing
myths in general. For the group presentation I will make sure Jamie has a part that she can
handle, such as the art work and/or she can be the person to present their original myth.
Special Needs- Wheelchair
I don’t think that this lesson requires any accommodations for Nick, my student in a wheelchair.
One thing I can think of is that if he wants, if he’s not very comfortable using his wheelchair, or
just to make it easier, his group can gather by where he sits, and they can do their presentation
from that spot as well.
Assessments:
 Monitor student interaction and progress during group work to assess social skills and
assist any students having problems with the project.
 Monitor student work when analyzing myths.
 Use the Myths and Truth Presentation Rubric to assess group presentations.
 Assign an independent analysis and critique writing task to students which allows them to
apply their skills individually.
 As a class, develop a list of questions or strategies for examining future readings and
texts for racial and cultural bias (thus summarizing and applying the information from the
lesson
Materials:
 “Of Plymouth Plantation" by William Bradford
 General classroom supplies (paper, pens or pencils, chart paper or board, and so forth).
 Common Myths about the "First Thanksgiving" handout
 Myths and Truth Presentation Rubric
 Thanksgiving Critique Assignment
 Barth, Edna. 1975. Turkeys, Pilgrims, and Indian Corn: The Story of Thanksgiving
Symbols. New York: Clarion Books.
 Kamma, Anne. 2001. If You Were at the First Thanksgiving. New York: Scholastic.
Grace, Catherine O'Neill, and Margaret M. Bruchac with Plimoth Plantation. 2001. 1621:
 A New Look at Thanksgiving. Washington, DC: National Geographic.
McGovern, Ann. 1993. If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. New York: Scholastic.
Resources:
 Mayflower History Web Pages
http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/
o Caleb Johnson's Mayflower Web pages include a vast collection of transcribed
documents, historical information, and myth-busting material. Teachers may need
to choose among the resources to find those best suited for their students.

Wampanaog History
http://www.tolatsga.org/wampa.html





o This Wampanoag History site provides in-depth details on the Wampanoag
including their language, where they lived, names of sub tribes and historical and
cultural information.
The Wampanoag
http://www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org/educators/wampanoag/index.htm
o The Boston Children's Museum and Wampanoag Indian Advisors work together
to create and maintain this site that details the history, culture, and heritage of the
Wampanoag Indians. The extensive site include images of present-day
Wampanoag as well as audio files of their stories and details on their heritage.
Modern History Sourcebook
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1650bradford.html
o These excerpts from the Modern History Sourcebook provide the text for "From
History of Plymouth Plantation" by William Bradford.
You are the Historian: Investigating the First Thanksgiving
http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/
o The Plimoth Plantation Web site offers this online learning center, where students
can investigate myths and truths about the first Thanksgiving.
Education World
http://www.edcuation-world.com/a_curr/curr040.shtml
o This Education World site asks, "Are You Teaching the Real Story of the 'First
Thanksgiving'?" The site includes details on the pilgrims and Wampanoag,
stereotypes, and teaching suggestions.
"No Popcorn"
http://www.plimoth.org/discover/myth/no-popcorn.php
o The Plimoth Plantation proclaims "No Popcorn!" This page outlines the fictional
start to the myth that the Wampanoag brought popcorn to the "First
Thanksgiving," explaining who began the myth, how the story spread, and why
the myth is not believable.
Lesson: A Listening Doll
Content: Art
Grade: 5th Grade
Time: Two 45 minute classes
Objectives:
Students will
 learn about Native American storyteller dolls.
 create their own image of a person listening to a story.
 discuss and assess the various listening dolls created by the class.
Standards:
25.B.2 Understand how elements and principles combine within an art form to express ideas.
26.B.2d Demonstrate knowledge and skills to create works of visual art using problem solving,
observing, designing, sketching and constructing.
26.A.2f Understand the artistic processes of sculpture.
Procedures:
Attention Getter/Introduction
Discuss with the students what they like best about listening to a story. Ask them:
 How do you like to sit, stand or lay when you listen to a story?
 Where do you like to listen to stories?
 What do you like to wear best when you listen to a story?
Tell students about the Native American Pueblo communities in the Southwest. Tell students
that, traditionally, storytellers held a place of great importance in these communities. The older
members of the tribe would help preserve the culture and heritage of the tribes by telling
traditional folktales and historical stories to the younger generations.
Tell students that the Pueblo people also have a great tradition of clay sculpture;
they were especially good at creating small figures of people or animals. The
Pueblos combined their skill at sculpture with their love of storytelling and began a
tradition of creating "storyteller dolls." I can also bring in a story teller doll made
out of clay.
Such as this one 
A storyteller doll was usually a small clay sculpture of a man or a woman. The
figure always was depicted with its mouth open to indicate that it was entertaining listeners with
songs or stories that conveyed the culture of the people. The storyteller was always accompanied
by several “listener figures.” Usually, these listeners were children that were being taught by the
elder storyteller.
Instruction and Activities
1. Tell students that they will be creating their own listening dolls.
2. Demonstrate how to roll, mold, and attack pieces of modeling clay.
3. Discuss with students the basics of clay, and how to work with it, referring to the
Working with Clay handout.
4. Discuss with students the types of sculptures and basic sculpture processes, found on the
Sculptural Processes handout.
5. Discuss with students important vocabulary that is associated with art, and specifically
making a listening doll, refer to the Vocabulary handout.
6. Distribute clay to the students.
7. Remind students that the listening dolls should be small and portable — between 5 and 7
inches, from head to toe.
8. Allow students to begin shaping the body of the doll.
9. After the figures are completed, students should create clothing by gluing fabric to the
doll. Students may add further details to the clothing, as well as other features, using
materials such as string or yarn.
Closure
Place all finished dolls in one area of the room as if they are all listening to a story. Let students
examine each of the dolls without touching them, paying specific attention to details and
expressions on each of the dolls. Assign one doll to each student and ask him/her to answer the
following questions in writing or orally.
 How did the artist express "listening" in the doll (pose, expression, color, clothes, etc.)?
 Can you tell by looking at the expression and pose of the doll what kind of a story it is
hearing?
Allow students to discuss their findings/opinions with the rest of the class.
Extensions



Have students read a story to their dolls, or have the dolls listen with the students when
the teacher reads a story to the class.
Allow students to create an environment in which to house their dolls.
Allow students to create a companion storyteller doll.
Accommodations:
English Language Learner
Jamie, my ELL student, could use very few accommodations for this lesson. The only potential
problem I see is that the instructions can be difficult for her to understand. She might also
struggle with analyzing her peers work and might need me to work with her on that part of the
lesson. I will allow her to use her first language to describe what she thinks about the dolls, and
for homework she can translate it, to her best ability. Or I can get it translated myself.
Special Needs- Wheelchair
I don’t think that this lesson requires any accommodations for Nick, my student in a wheelchair.
Assessments:
 Using the closure activity, ask each student to evaluate his/her own work based on the
following Listening Doll Rubric, to be used by both the students and the teacher.
 Monitor students working on their dolls by walking around during independent practice
time.
Materials:
 Paper
 Pencils
 Computer with Internet access
 Modeling clay
 Fabric scraps
 Glue
 Plastic or wooden clay tools
 Vinyl tablecloth materials cut into 14" x 20" pieces
 Yarn and/or string
 Listening Doll Rubric
 Working with Clay, Vocabulary and Sculptural Process handouts
Lesson: Native American Chants and Movements
Content: PE/Music/Dance
Grade: 5th Grade
Time: Two 45 minute classes
Objectives:
Students will
 recognize Native American poetry and chants as a vehicle of cultural
expression.
 create and perform a dance from the concepts of a Native American poem
expressing feelings and emotions through movement.
Standards:
26.B.2a Demonstrate control, coordination, balance, elevation and accuracy in rhythmic
response and awareness of choreographic form.
26.B.2b Demonstrate actions, characters, narrative skills, collaboration, environments, simple
staging and sequence of events and situations in solo and ensemble dramas.
19.A.2 Demonstrate control when performing combinations and sequences in locomotor, nonlocomotor and manipulative motor patterns.
Procedures:
Attention Getter/Introduction
Have one student talk briefly about a peaceful experience he or she had in nature — for example,
a swim in the ocean or a walk in the woods. When the student is finished, have another student
tell the same story using descriptive words that communicate the beauty and peacefulness of the
experience. Next, have a third student create a poem or chant that distills the previously
described experience. Split students into groups of three to complete this activity then share with
the class.
An example of the above scenario might unfold as follows:
1. A student speaks about a time when he was swimming in the ocean with his brother, and
they saw a school of dolphins leaping in and out of the water.
2. Using descriptive words, another student relates the same event in this way:
 My brother and I were swimming in the cold ocean on a hot summer day. To the
delight of our eyes, we saw shining black dolphins leaping as if dancing in and
out of the rolling ocean.
3. A third student distills the story in a poetic version:
Swimming in the cold ocean
Hot shines the sun
I see shining black dolphins, leaping waves in rhythm
My heart rejoices
My sorrow undone
Shining black dolphins leaping waves in the sun
Instruction and Activities
1. Using a map of the United States, identify Native American nation areas.
2. Discuss the climate, terrain, and specific lifestyles of the Native Americans who live in
these areas, and present poems and chants from different regions. If necessary, obtain
information from online Native American resources. Distribute to students the Native
American Poetry Checklist. Have the class read the Native American Chants handout,
with excerpts from Chants and Prayers by Stan Padilla.
3. Using the Native American Poetry Checklist, have students identify the components that
are found in each poem. This activity can be done in cooperative groups, using graphic
organizers for the development of critical thinking skills.
4. Explain to students that they will be creating a dance study that derives its movement
from their interpretation of a Native American poem.
5. The students should use the poems that they are working with in the Language Arts
lesson, and these poems should lead themselves well to movement expression.
6. After selecting a poem, ask students to suggest a movement that would complement a
line of the poem.
7. Let different students interpret each line until the poem is completed.
8. Divide the class into groups of two to four students.
9. Let each group choose a poem that they would like to interpret in dance form.
10. Review various approaches through which students can create their dance study.
a. Various Ways to Work with the Poems:
i. Perform the dance movement after the line is read.
ii. Perform the dance movement while the line is being read.
iii. Perform the dance movement after two lines have been read or after an
idea is completed.
iv. Perform the dance study before the entire poem is read.
v. Perform the dance study after the entire poem is read.
vi. Someone in the group can read the poem while the others dance.
vii. Students can decide how, who, and when the lines of the poem are read.
11. Students must choreograph a dance study to the Native American poem of their choice.
12. Students are to work as a group on the same piece of literature, making decisions about
how the dance will be presented in relationship to the poem.
13. The dance study must have a clear beginning and ending and should be repeatable. The
study should include creative or original movement, and the students should stay focused
throughout the task, performing with full commitment and energy.
Closure
Have students compose original poems according to the criteria presented in relation to the
Native American poems.
Accommodations:
English Language Learner
Jamie, my ELL student, could use very few accommodations for this lesson. The only potential
problem I see is that the instructions can be difficult for her to understand. Jamie will need to use
a poem that she understands completely in order to make her interpretative dance make sense
with the poem. I will work with her on finding a poem in her language, or a simple poem in
English, to ensure her understanding of the material.
Special Needs- Wheelchair
This lesson requires several accommodations for Nick, my student in a wheelchair. His actions
will have to be limited due to his limited use of his legs. He will need to contribute to his groups
activity with movements that do not require the use of his legs, I do not think this will be an issue
for him.
Assessments:
Assessment Rubric for use as a performance-based scoring tool.
Materials:
 Students & space to work in
 Assessment Rubric
 Native American Resources
 Native American Poetry checklist
 Native American Chants handout
Native American Nations- Unit Closure
To complete the unit on Native American nations in my classroom we will
have a unit party.
1. Parents, other students, teachers, and siblings are welcome to participate
2. To begin the day students will be given a list of scenarios that could be hurting their tribe.
3. As a tribe they will discuss how to get through these issues as a community.
4. Students will journal about their scenarios and the solutions they come up with.
5. Then we will discuss Totem Poles (PowerPoint included in unit plan).
6. As a tribe students will create on, floor to ceiling, Totem Pole for their tribe.
a. Totem pole can focus on:
i. History
ii. Main ideas and beliefs
iii. Struggles of the tribe
iv. A family story
7. All totem poles will be hung in a circle in the room with a “fire pit” in the middle.
8. Students will dress in their traditional tribal outfits (previously made in an art lesson).
9. Students will hold a large tribal meeting to discuss the issues their tribes are facing and
come up with a variety of ways to solve these issues as a whole community.
10. One person from each tribe will take notes in their journal on the ideas expressed.
11. Students will then go to recess.
12. When students come back from recess, they will begin cooking a variety of Native
American food as a celebrating feast to solving their problems.
a. All the food used for this feast should be made that day. Some food can be cooked
by teacher and students, other should be cooked by teacher (bread), and some
should be recipes that don’t involved cooking so that students can make it in the
classroom that day.
13. After the meals have been prepared and served students can take the time to eat and show
off what they have learned in the unit.
14. There will be Native American music playing in the background, and possibly some sort
of movie.
15. Student work and research projects will be placed around the room so that students can
tell and show others what they have done and learned in this unit.
16. At the end, everyone will help clean up the room.
Sample Recipes to Use for Feast
Apache Acorn Soup
Yield: 1
3 lb Stew beef
1 ts Pepper
1 c Ground acorn meal
2 qt Water
1 ts Salt
Cover beef with water and bring to boil in a heavy pot. Simmer until
done; add salt and pepper as meat cooks tender. Remove beef and chop on a
flat stone until split in shreds. The meat broth continues to cook
vigorously while meat and acorn flour (meal) are mixed together. Apaches
stress that their food is always well done; no instant cooking. Broth,
meat and meal simmer together until the broth bubbles creamy white with
yellow flecks, pleasantly acorn scented and flavored.
Fried Squash Bread
Yield: 1 batch
1 c Corn meal
2 Summer squash, diced
1 Egg
Water
1/4 c Buttermilk
Cook squash in water until soft; leave 3/4 c. water in pot. Combine other
ingredients with squash and water; mix together. Fry in hot oil until
golden brown.
Cactus Fruit Jelly
6 to 10 red-ripe prickly pear cactus fruits (tuna)
1/2 cup lemon juice
4 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 (3 fluid ounce) package liquid fruit pectin
Carefully remove thorns from fruit by wiping with a paper towel and then brushing with a
vegetable brush under water. Put fruit in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Boil for 15 to
20 minutes. Pour off water and discard. Mash or pur e fruit through a strainer lined with doubled
cheesecloth. Strain juice into a large measuring cup. Let juice sit for at least 30 minutes to allow
sediment to settle to the bottom. Pour off juice carefully. You should have 3 1/2 cups.
In a saucepan combine fruit juice, lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. Stir
in pectin and boil for 1 minute longer. Remove from heat. Stir and skim foam off the top. Spoon
into sterilized jelly jars and seal.
Ojibwa Baked Pumpkin
Yield: 1 pumpkin
1 sm Pumpkin
1/4 c Maple syrup
1/4 c Apple cider
1/4 c Melted butter
Place whole pumpkin in oven and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Cut hole off top and scoop out the pulp and seeds. Set seeds aside for
later eating. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour into pumpkin
and bake for 35 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.
Taco Navajo
Yield: 6 servings
6 Rounds of fry bread
1 T Lard
1 Head of lettuce
1 cn Green chilies
1 1/2 lb Ground lamb
1/2 lb Cheddar cheese
3 Tomatoes
1 Onion
Grate cheese. Shred lettuce; chop tomatoes and chilies. Brown lamb in
lard. Divide onto 6 fry bread rounds. Top with cheese, lettuce,
tomatoes, chilies and onions. Serve with salsa!
OJAWASHKWAWEGAD (ALGONQUIN WILD GREEN SALAD)
SALAD:
1 cup Wild onions OR leeks, well chopped
4 cups Watercress
1/4 cup Sheep OR wood sorrel
1 1/2 cup Dandelion leaves
DRESSING:
1/3 cup Sunflower seed oil
1/3 cup Cider vinegar
3 tbl Maple syrup
3/4 ts Salt
1/4 tsp Black pepper
Toss together the salad ingredients. Combine the
dressing ingredients and mix well. Toss the salad in
the dressing and serve.
Native American Honey Drink
1 quart water
2/3 cup honey
Place ingredients in a container with a lid. Shake well. Chill thoroughly and serve over ice.
Makes 1 quart.
Navajo Peach Pudding
1/2 cup honey
1 pound fresh peaches, pitted and peeled
1 package unflavored gelatine
1 cup water
1 cup whipping cream
In a food processor, purée the honey and peaches together. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, mix together the water and gelatine and let stand 1 minute. Over mediumlow heat, stir mixture until the gelatine has completely dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from
heat, slowly add the gelatine mixture to the peach honey, and blend thoroughly. Allow to cool to
room temperature, about 5 minutes.
While the peach mixture is cooling, beat the cream until firm peaks form, about 2 minutes. Fold
the whipped cream into the peach pudding mixture in a circular motion, leaving swirls of white
cream in the peach pudding. Do not mix together completely. Place the pudding in the
refrigerator and chill until firm.
Instructional Aids and Resources
Web Sites
 American West – Native Americans. (2008). Retrieved Oct. 16, 2009, from
http://www.americanwest.com/pages/indians.htm
o A One-stop source for in-depth and extensive information on Native Americans,
covering the past, the present and the future; topics include: Native American
Leaders of the Past, Native American Nations Homepages, Native Americans in
the U.S. Military, Native American Native Languages

Burke, P. First People. Retrieved Oct. 16, 2009, from http://www.firstpeople.us/
o A website dedicated to all First People of the America's, and Canada. This is a
child friendly, educational site about American Indians and members of the First
Nations

Curtis, E.S. (2003). Curtis Library: The North American Indian. Retrieved Oct. 16, 2009,
from http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/curtis/browsetribes.html
o Search for historical facts by tribe name

Have Fun with History: Native Americans. (2009). Retrieved Oct. 16, 2009, from
http://www.havefunwithhistory.com/HistorySubjects/nativeAmericans.html
o Educational Videos about Native Americans

How Stuff Works. (2009). Native American History. Retrieved Oct. 16, 2009, from
http://www.howstuffworks.com/search.php?terms=native+americans
o Facts about Native American History including video

Institute, Smithsonian. (2009). National Museum of the American Indian at the
Smithsonian Institute. Retrieved Oct. 16, 2009 from http://www.nmai.si.edu/
o Facts and information, displays and photographs about the Native Americans of
the United States and Canada

Native American Facts for Kids. (1998). Retrieved Oct. 16, 2009, from
http://www.native-languages.org/kids.htm.
o Fact sheets about Native Americans in general and specific Native American
tribes

Native North America and Canada. Retrieved Oct. 16, 2009, from
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/northamerica/index.shtml
o Click on the name of the native nation to bring up a fact sheet which includes:
Location, History, Language, Daily Life, and links to further information

Outline of American History: Early America. Retrieved Oct. 16, 2009 from
http://usinfo.org/oah/ch1.htm - The first Americans; historical background on the First
Americans -- Mound Builders and Pueblos -- Native American Cultures
CD-ROM’s
 Bibliography of Native Americans (CD-ROM).
o Coverage: 16th-century+.

First Encounters: Native Americans and Europeans in the Mississippi Valley. [CD-ROM]
o This CD-ROM provides interactive, multimedia software that enables students to
investigate many aspects of Native American and European encounters in the
Mississippi Valley through study of original historical sources, including texts,
maps, artworks, and archaeological finds. (Arkansas Archeological Survey, 2475
North Hatch Avenue, Fayetteville, AR 72704. e-mail: contact@cavern.uark.edu;
Web site: http://www.uark.edu/depts/contact/background.html.)

Native American Design
o Collected from rare and authentic sources, nearly 500 stunning color and blackand-white illustrations celebrate traditional Native American art. Discover
magical designs used to decorate clothing, ceremonial masks, jewelry, blankets,
utensils, and more. (Dover Publishing)
Games
 Games- Easy to Prepare, Fun to Play
o http://www.wnit.org/OutdoorElements/pdf/408NativeAmerican_Ga.pdf


Games of the North American Indians
o http://books.google.com/books?id=val_gaufljwC&dq=native+american+games&
printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=83PcSsSQFYSeMZfvkeYH&sa=X&
oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=13&ved=0CDAQ6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=n
ative%20american%20games&f=false (Dover Publications)
o
Handbook of American Indian Games
o http://books.google.com/books?id=bWfBDOblFdYC&dq=native+american+gam
es&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=83PcSsSQFYSeMZfvkeYH&sa=
X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=12&ved=0CC0Q6AEwCw#v=onepage&
q=&f=false (Dover Publications)

Native American Games
o http://www.mce.k12tn.net/indians/games/native_american_games.htm

Native American Game Ideas
o http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/ect/nativegames.htm

NativeTech's Online Interactive Games
o http://www.nativetech.org/games/index.php
Teacher Referenced Books
 Davis, M. B. et al. (Eds). (1994). Native America in the twentieth century: an
encyclopedia. Garland.
o A vast collection of articles, forty percent of which are by Native people, address
a variety of topics such as BIA schools, art, health, individual Native Nations,
supplemented by bibliographies, maps, and photographs.

Harvey, K. D. & Harjo, L. D. (1995). How to teach about American Indians: a guide for
the school library media specialist. Greenwood.
o Recommended to both school librarians and teachers.

Hirschfelder, A. & Molin, P. F. & Wakin, Y. (1999). American Indian stereotypes in the
world of children: a reader and bibliography. Scarecrow.
o Minnesota Chippewa Tribe from the White Earth Reservation, Cherokee/Arab.

Hirschfelder, A. & Wakim, Y. B. (2000). Native Americans today: resources and
activities for educators grades 4-8. Libraries Unlimited.
o Cherokee-Arab

Mihesuah, D. A. (1997). American indians: stereotypes & realities. Clarity Press.
o Valuable overview—deconstructs and re-educates, especially recommended to
teachers, but also a good fit for young adults. Ages 12-up.

Seale, D., Slapin, B. (2005). A broken flute: the Native American experience in books for
children. AltaMira Press.
o “[A] book of reviews, critically evaluating children’s books about Native
Americans, along with stories, essays, and poems from its contributors. This book
will be a valuable resource for community and educational organizations, and a
key reference for public and school libraries, and Native American collections.”

Slapin, B. & Seale, D. (Eds). (1998). Through Indian eyes: the native American
experience in books for children. American Indian Studies Center.
o This book is worth buying for the poems, art, and essays alone.

Wormack, C. S. Red on Red: Native American Literary Separatism.
o A fascinating examination of the way in which Native literature should be
evaluated--on its own terms with the understanding that it is not a branch on the
tree of mainstream literature but rather a tree unto itself.
Student Literature
 Baker, O. (1985). Where the buffaloes begin. Penguin. [ISBN 0140505601]

Baylor, B. (1986). Hawk I’m your brother. McMillan. [ISBN 0689711026]

Baylor, B. (1987). The desert is theirs. McMillan. [ISBN 0689711050]

Baylor, B. (1987). When clay sings. McMillan. [ISBN 0689711069]

Blood, C. (1990). The goat in the rug. Alladin. [ISBN 0689714181]

Creech, S. (1996). Walk two moons. Harpercollins. [ISBN 0064405176]

Edrich, L. (2002). The birch bark house. Hyperion Books. [ISBN 0786814543]

Goble, P. (1987). Buffalo woman. Bradbury. [ISBN 0027377202]

Goble, P. (1984). The gift of the sacred dog. McMillan. [ISBN 0020432801]

Goble, P. (2001). Girl who loved wild horses. McMillan. [ISBN 0027365700]

Hobbs, W. (2005). Kokopelli’s flute. Aladdin. [ISBN 1416902503]

Martin, B. (1997). Knots on a counting rope. Holt Publishing. [ISBN 0805005714]

Miles, M. (1985). Annie and the old one. Little Publishing. [ISBN 0316571172]
Non-Fiction Books
 Bealer, A. (1996). Only the names remain. Econoclad. [ISBN 0785790640]

Fradin, D. (1999). The Cheyenne. Children’s Press. [ISBN 0516412116]

Freedman, R. (1992). Indian chiefs. Holiday Publishing. [ISBN 0823406253]

Hook, J. (1986). Sitting bull and the plains Indians. Watts Publishing. [ISBN
0531181022]

Santella, A. (2000). The apache (true books: American Indians). Children’s Press. [ISBN
0516273116]

Stein, R. & Catrow, D. J. (1989). The story of wounded knee. Children’s Press. [ISBN
0516446657]

Tingle, T. (2005). Walking the choctaw road: stories from red people memory. Cinco
Puntos Press. [ISBN 0938317733]
Name ______________________________________________ Total Points _____________
Native American Unit Assessment Portfolio
Your final grade for this unit will consists of 350 points. There will be 4 mini-tests that everyone
will have to take- they will be worth 50 points each. The rest of the points for your unit will
come from choosing several of the following activities. You must complete enough assignments
to get the remaining 150 points. Everyone is allowed to do one extra 10 point assignment to
make up for possible lost points on the mini-tests. You will need to hand all of these assignment
in together with your tests by the assigned due date. Please submit them in a folder, or some
other way, that will keep all your work together. Some of the assignments on the list you have
already done as part of one of our lessons, if that is the case, please revise it and hand a newer
version in. Remember this portfolio is a way for you to show me your best work from this unit.
Please highlight the number that corresponds to the assignment you will be doing/handing in. I
will write your score on the space provided and return this form to you with your grade.
1. ____ (15 points) Define the words savage, skulking, and aloof and write a short story
using these words.
2. ____ (10 points) Make up a scenario and a math problem that relates to it, that has to do
with the importance of storing food for the winter.
3. ____ (20 points) Write a short paper (2-3 pages) answering the following question “How
did geographic location, climate and natural resources influence the diversity of
Native American tribes and nations?” Don’t forget to include your findings about
several Native American Nations as examples.
4. ____ (15 points) Write two short stories that are from different points of view.
5. ____ (15 points) Write a short Native American Poem and explain how you would
present it using dance and movement.
a. ___ (10 points) Video tape, or take a series of photographs, of you (alone or with
friends/family) acting out the poem. If you choose to do this with a partner, both
of you will get points for the work as long as you are both actively participating.
6. ____ (5 points) Hand in your free write about your initial knowledge of Native
Americans.
a. ____ (10 points) Write a 1-2 page paper on how your perceptions and thoughts
have changed as a result of this unit.
7. ____ (30 points) Write a summary of your research findings on the Native American
nation you were assigned. Make sure to include all aspects of the research- location,
culture, food, language, rituals, traditions, population, environmental influences, clothing,
family structure, etc.
8. ____ (15 points) Find a Native American Myth online and analyze whether you think it is
true, or just a myth. Hand in a copy of the actual myth and your 1 page assessment.
9. ____ (5 points) Hand in your Storing Food math worksheet with all correct answers and
your work shown.
10. ____ (10 points) In at least 750 words describe how the climate of our area influences our
way of life.
11. ____ (10 points) Compare and contrast how your life would be different if you lived in
a different climate.
12. ____ (25) Research a Native American nation that we did not study in class and
complete a full report on it, including the same information we used in class- location,
culture, food, language, rituals, traditions, population, environmental influences, clothing,
family structure, etc.
13. ____ (10 points) Sketch what a listening doll might look like and explain its purpose.
14. ____ (5 points) Hand in your notes from the guest speaker.
15. ____ (15 points) Find a Native American work of art (it will be easier for you if it is from
one of the nations we have studied) and write a summary of how you can tell it is from
that nation, based on what you know, or research you have done. What certain
characteristics of that tribe influenced this work of art?
16. ____ (5 points) Hand in the menu you created in the nutrition lesson.
17. ____ (10 points) Write a 10 point quiz on anything we have done in this unit.
a. ____ (5 points) Get quiz approved by me to be able toi. ____ (5 points) Trade quizzes with someone else who completed this
assignment and take them, with my supervision, and grade your partners
quiz.
ii. ____ (10 points) Score on quiz taken.
18. ____ (15 points) Make a table of the items you have to trade, along with what you will
trade it for. (i.e. You have 10 heads of corn, you will trade those for a pound of fresh
fish, or wooden tools.) Write a short paragraph about 2 or 3 items you will trade, and
why you chose the trade for them that you did.
19. ____ (10 points) Draw/sketch a totem pole telling a story. Write out the story and
explain why you used the totem pole symbols that you did.
a. ___ (10 points) Create your totem pole out of clay or other hard material.
b. ___ (5 points) Create your totem pole out of paper.
20. ____ (50 points) Test 1
21. ____ (50 points) Test 2
22. ____ (50 points) Test 3
23. ____ (50 points) Test 4
5. Native American Poem Performance (Video)
Student(s) Name:
CATEGORY
5
________________________________________
4
3
2
Poem Consistency
Poem is clear
and consistently
audible
throughout the
presentation.
Voice quality is
clear and
consistently
audible
throughout the
majority (8595%) of the
presentation.
Voice quality is Voice quality
clear and
needs more
consistently
attention.
audible through
some (70-84%)of
the presentation.
Poem - Pacing
The pace
(rhythm and
voice
punctuation) fits
the story line and
helps the
audience really
"get into" the
story.
Occasionally
speaks too fast or
too slowly for the
story line. The
pacing (rhythm
and voice
punctuation) is
relatively
engaging for the
audience.
Tries to use
pacing (rhythm
and voice
punctuation), but
it is often
noticeable that
the pacing does
not fit the story
line. Audience is
not consistently
engaged.
No attempt to
match the pace of
the storytelling to
the story line or
the audience.
Soundtrack Emotion
Music stirs a rich
emotional
response that is
matched by the
movements.
Music stirs a rich
emotional
response that
somewhat
matches the
movements.
Music is ok, and
not distracting,
but it does not
add much to the
story.
Music is
distracting,
inappropriate,
OR was not used.
Point of View Purpose
Establishes a
purpose early on
and maintains a
clear focus
throughout.
Establishes a
purpose early on
and maintains
focus for most of
the presentation.
There are a few
lapses in focus,
but the purpose is
fairly clear.
It is difficult to
figure out the
purpose of the
presentation.
8. Research Report : Native American Research Summary
Student Name:
CATEGORY
6-5
________________________________________
4-3
2
1
Amount of
Information
All topics are
addressed and all
questions
answered with at
least 2 sentences
about each.
All topics are
addressed and
most questions
answered with at
least 2 sentences
about each.
All topics are
One or more
addressed, and
topics were not
most questions addressed.
answered with 1
sentence about
each.
Quality of
Information
Information
clearly relates to
the main topic. It
includes several
supporting
details and/or
examples.
Information
clearly relates to
the main topic. It
provides 1-2
supporting
details and/or
examples.
Information
clearly relates to
the main topic.
No details and/or
examples are
given.
Sources
All sources
(information and
graphics) are
accurately
documented in
the desired
format.
All sources
(information and
graphics) are
accurately
documented, but
a few are not in
the desired
format.
All sources
Some sources are
(information and not accurately
graphics) are
documented.
accurately
documented, but
many are not in
the desired
format.
Paragraph
Construction
All paragraphs
include
introductory
sentence,
explanations or
details, and
concluding
sentence.
Most paragraphs
include
introductory
sentence,
explanations or
details, and
concluding
sentence.
Paragraphs
included related
information but
were typically
not constructed
well.
Paragraphing
structure was not
clear and
sentences were
not typically
related within the
paragraphs.
Mechanics
No grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation
errors.
Almost no
grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation
errors
A few
grammatical
spelling or
punctuation
errors.
Many
grammatical,
spelling, or
punctuation
errors.
Information has
little or nothing
to do with the
main topic.
20. Totem Pole Art
Student Name:
CATEGORY 5
________________________________________
4
3
2
Color Choices
Choice and
application of color
enhances the idea
being expressed.
Choice and application of Choice and application
color shows knowledge of color shows
of color relationships.
knowledge of color
relationships. Colors
are NOT appropriate
for the idea being
expressed.
Student needs to
work on learning
color relationships
and using that
knowledge in his/her
work.
Time/Effort
Much time and effort
went into the
planning and design
of the project. It is
clear the student
worked at home as
well as at school.
Class time was used
wisely. Student could
have put in more time and
effort at home.
Class time was not
always used wisely,
but student did do
some additional work
at home.
Class time was not
used wisely and the
student put in no
additional effort.
Planning and
Explanation
Student can describe
in detail at any point
during the work
process how s/he
envisions the final
product and how
they intend to reach
their goal.
Student can somewhat
describe how s/he
envisions the final
product and can describe
some of the steps s/he
will use to reach the goal.
Focused with some
planning.
Student can describe
how s/he envisions the
final product but finds
it difficult to describe
how s/he will reach
that goal. Has set a
goal, but let's things
evolve in somewhat
random manner.
Student has thought
very little about the
project. Is present
but is not invested in
the product.
Drawing
Drawing is
expressive and
detailed. Shapes,
patterns, shading
and/or texture are
used to add interest
to the product.
Drawing is expressive
and somewhat detailed.
Little use has been made
of pattern, shading, or
texture. Student has
basics, but had not
"branched" out.
Drawing has few
details. It is primarily
representational with
very little use of
pattern, shading or
texture. Student needs
to improve control.
The drawing lacks
almost all detail OR
it is unclear what the
drawing is intended
to be. Student needs
to work on control.
Creativity
Student has taken the
technique being
studied and applied it
in a way that is
totally his/her own.
The student's
personality/voice
comes through.
Student has taken the
technique being studied
and has used source
material as a starting
place. The student's
personality comes
through in parts of the
painting.
Student has copied
some painting from the
source material. There
is little evidence of
creativity, but the
student has done the
assignment.
Student has not made
much attempt to
meet the
requirements of the
assignment.
4. Story Writing : Different Perspectives
Student Name:
________________________________________
CATEGORY
5
4
3
2
Creativity
The story
contains many
creative details
and/or
descriptions that
contribute to the
reader's
enjoyment. The
author has really
used his
imagination.
The story
contains a few
creative details
and/or
descriptions that
contribute to the
reader's
enjoyment. The
author has used
his imagination.
The story
contains a few
creative details
and/or
descriptions, but
they distract from
the story. The
author has tried
to use his
imagination.
There is little
evidence of
creativity in the
story. The author
does not seem to
have used much
imagination.
Characters
The main
characters are
named and
clearly described
in text as well as
pictures. Most
readers could
describe the
characters
accurately.
The main
characters are
named and
described. Most
readers would
have some idea
of what the
characters looked
like.
The main
characters are
named. The
reader knows
very little about
the characters.
It is hard to tell
who the main
characters are.
Spelling and
Punctuation
There are no
spelling or
punctuation
errors in the final
draft. Character
and place names
that the author
invented are
spelled
consistently
throughout.
There is one
spelling or
punctuation error
in the final draft.
There are 2-3
spelling and
punctuation
errors in the final
draft.
The final draft
has more than 3
spelling and
punctuation
errors.
13. Research Report : Individual Research
Student Name:
________________________________________
CATEGORY
5
4
3
2
Quality of
Information
Information
clearly relates to
the main topic. It
includes several
supporting
details and/or
examples.
Information
clearly relates to
the main topic. It
provides 1-2
supporting
details and/or
examples.
Information
clearly relates to
the main topic.
No details and/or
examples are
given.
Information has
little or nothing
to do with the
main topic.
Organization
Information is
very organized
with wellconstructed
paragraphs and
subheadings.
Information is
organized with
well-constructed
paragraphs.
Information is
organized, but
paragraphs are
not wellconstructed.
The information
appears to be
disorganized. 8)
Sources
All sources
(information and
graphics) are
accurately
documented in
the desired
format.
All sources
(information and
graphics) are
accurately
documented, but
a few are not in
the desired
format.
All sources
Some sources are
(information and not accurately
graphics) are
documented.
accurately
documented, but
many are not in
the desired
format.
Diagrams &
Illustrations
Diagrams and
illustrations are
neat, accurate
and add to the
reader's
understanding of
the topic.
Diagrams and
illustrations are
accurate and add
to the reader's
understanding of
the topic.
Diagrams and
illustrations are
neat and accurate
and sometimes
add to the
reader's
understanding of
the topic.
Diagrams and
illustrations are
not accurate OR
do not add to the
reader's
understanding of
the topic.
Mechanics
No grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation
errors.
Almost no
grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation
errors
A few
grammatical
spelling, or
punctuation
errors.
Many
grammatical,
spelling, or
punctuation
errors.
18. Native American Unit Quiz
Student Name:
CATEGORY
________________________________________
5
4
3
2
Quality of
Information
Information on
quiz is relevant
to Native
American Unit.
The information
is from a variety
of sources and
activities.
Information on
quiz is mainly
from the Native
American Unit.
Information is
from a couple of
activities done in
class.
Information used
on the quiz is
from the Native
American unit
but also has
questions we did
not learn about.
Most of the
information
seems to be made
up by the
student.
Spelling,
Punctuation and
Grammar
One or fewer
errors in spelling,
punctuation and
grammar in the
quiz.
Two or three
errors in spelling,
punctuation and
grammar in the
quiz.
Four errors in
spelling,
punctuation and
grammar in the
quiz.
More than 4
errors in spelling,
punctuation and
grammar in the
quiz.
Native American Unit Sample Test #1- Vocabulary
A. Match the following Native American vocabulary with its definition (1 point each).
1. Toboggan
____
2. Totem pole
____
3. Wampum
4. Tribe
____
____
5. Chickee
____
6. Wigwam
7. Igloo
____
8. Travois
9. Clan
____
____
____
A. A house with a roof and no walls. It is built on stilts.
B. A house shaped like a dome and it is made with hard snow
or ice blocks.
C. A narrow boat made of wood and sometimes covered with
animal skin.
D. Dried clay and rocks.
E. Small white beads made from shells. It was used as money.
F. A sled pulled by dogs or a horse. It was used to carry people
and their things.
G. A tent shaped like a cone. It is made of tall poles and
covered with animal skin.
H. A large wooden house where many families lived.
I.
A group of the same family.
Shoes or boots made from animal skins.
10. Moccasins
____
J.
11. Pictograph
____
K. A symbol (sign) that was drawn to mean a person, object or
event.
12. Canoe
____
L. A house made of bent poles and covered with tree bark.
13. Cradle board
14. Farmers
M. People who grow their own food.
____
15. Gatherers
16. Hut
____
N. A long narrow sled.
____
O. A wooden board made to carry a baby.
P. A Hopi village where all the houses are made of clay and
rock.
Q. A big deer with fuzzy antlers.
____
17. Kachina
____
18. Cedar plank house
19. Long house
____
____
R. A long house made of bent poles and tree bark. It had no
windows. Many families live there.
S. A tall wooden pole with animal faces carved on it.
21. Tepee
____
T. A long narrow boat for one or two people. It can roll over in
the water and pop back up.
U. A house made of dried grass or straw.
22. Kayak
____
V. A large group of families that are related.
20. Pueblo
23. Caribou
24. Adobe
____
____
____
W. A spirit that the Hopi believed in.
X. People who go out and pick and find their food.
B. Define the following words and use them in a sentence (2 points each).
1. Savage
Definition:
Sentence:
2. Skulking
Definition:
Sentence:
3. Aloof
Definition:
Sentence:
C. Pick 2 of the 5 words below and write a paragraph, for each, on how it was used, and
how this contributed to Native American society (5 points each).
1. Toboggan
2. Chickee
3. Moccasins
4. Canoe
5. Cradle board.
D. Compare and contrast the following vocabulary words (2 points each).
1. Toboggan and Travois
2. Hut and Teepee
E. Find 5 objects from the vocabulary list and briefly explain how we still use them today (1
point each).