Curated OER
Nomadic and Sedentary Tribes in Kansas
Seventh graders compare and contrast sedentary and nomadic tribe life. In this Native American culture lesson plan, 7th graders research primary documents about the Osage and Kiowa tribes. Students create a series of illustrations to be...
Curated OER
American Indian Homes in Kansas
First graders explore culture by researching U.S. history. In this American Indian instructional activity, 1st graders discuss the geography of Kansas and the different Native American tribes that inhabited the state and the types of...
Curated OER
Moccasins are Made for Dancing
Students perform a traditional Native American dance. In this cultural dance lesson, students research two Native American dances. Students discuss the relationship between the dances and Native American culture. ...
Curated OER
Around the World, A Multicultural Unit
Students investigate Native American tribes through their stories. In this cultural lesson plan, students read stories of the Inuit tribe and discuss the themes, people, and customs. Students illustrate a picture of the Inuit...
Curated OER
Simulated Bark Paintings
Pupils create simulated, traditional Native American "bark paintings" out of brown paper bags. They paint flowers, birds, animals or scenes of village life on the "bark" in bright colors using acrylic paint.
Curated OER
Wigwam
Students create models of wigwams. They discuss winter and summer villages and the types of wigwams. They construct a wigwam using information from the Native American website to follow the scale. They present their models to the class...
Channel Islands Film
Dark Water: Lesson Plan 1 - Grades 3-4
As part of their study of the history of the Channel Islands, class members craft an informational article to post on a bulletin board that features the Chumash ancestral tradition of tomol paddling.
Channel Islands Film
Once Upon a Time (Sa Hi Pa Ca): Lesson Plan 3
What was the most significant tool used by the Chumash? How did the environment make the tool possible? What group behaviors allowed the Chumash be be successful for thousands of years? After watching West of the West's documentary Once...
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Relationships to Places
Young historians take a look at how the Indian tribes of California promoted a mindful relationship between people and the land. They begin to understand how the Indians were champions of conservation, and at preserving the natural...
Curated OER
From Sheep to Rug
Ever wonder where wool comes from? How it is used to make a woven rug? Introduce the Native American craft of rug making to your preschool or kindergarten class with a discussion. Learners examine and discuss images of a Native American...
Channel Islands Film
Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 2
After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in...
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 2 - Grades 4-6
Class members will dig this activity that has them trying their hand at recovering artifacts. Groups are assigned a section of a sandbox, carefully uncover the artifacts in their section, and then develop theories about who might...
Curated OER
Prehistoric Native American Lesson Plan: Pictionary with the Past
Young scholars participate in a vocabulary exercise at a website dedicated to Prehistoric Native Americans.
Curated OER
Western Expansion or Eastern Invasion?
Fifth graders read from their textbook a story about the pioneer settlement of the Western Frontier. They review the pioneer standpoint, but also discuss how the Homestead Act of 1862 affected Native Americans. They write another story...
Curated OER
The Treaty Trail: U.S. - Clothing That Talks: Meaning and Material Culture
Young scholars investigate the cultures of Native Americans and Euro-Americans through their clothing. In this photograph analysis lesson, students observe historic photographs and analyze the style of clothes people wore and how...
Curated OER
Crossroads of the Continent: Early Trade in Kansas
Learners study early Native American-European trade. They play bartering games to discover trade as an economic funtion, as well as other implications of trading one good for another.
Curated OER
Dia de la Raza - What is El Dia de la Raza?
Students research and write about Christopher Columbus, his voyages, and his impact on the Native Americans. In this Christopher Columbus lesson, students work at stations where they learn vocabulary, perform Reader's Theatre, work with...
Curated OER
Art Exploration-A Global Approach
A high school unit focuses on a discipline-based study of artworks from many times, places, and cultures. Addressing historical works of art as well as modern techniques, the unit illustrates how a traditional organizational...
Curated OER
Art to Zoo: India-Where Remarkable Differences Are Ordinary
Students "visit" India to learn about its culture and the lives of children in India. In this India activity, students conduct research and report on the lives of Indian children in the form of a mock interview between a journalist and...
Berkshire Museum
The Three Life-Giving Sisters: Plant Cultivation and Mohican Innovation
Children gain first-hand experience with Native American agriculture while investigating the life cycle of plants with this engaging experiment. Focusing on what the natives called the Three Sisters - corn, beans, and squash - young...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Versions of a Story
Compare and contrast reading passages with the ever favorite story of Cinderella. The versions in focus include an Italian version and a Native American story followed by three questions designed to share similarities and...
Curated OER
Dream Catcher
Seventh graders discover the purpose of dream catchers. In this Native American customs instructional activity, 7th graders read stories that feature dream catchers, discuss their significance, and then create their own.
Curated OER
"Some excellent dumb discourse:" Caliban as native American
Twelfth graders explore some of the colonial implications of The Tempest, analyzing how language and power interrelate in the play and using another American voice, American Sign Language, to consider the different forms of communication...
Curated OER
Village Life in India
Young scholars use included links to research the lives of people living in a small village in India.