Curated OER
Why Not Fabric?
Students investigate art from Native American culture by creating fabric. In this native art analysis lesson, students identify the art of Plains Indians and discuss how it is represented in their fabrics, beads and decorations. Students...
Curated OER
Food: The Ojibwa and Voyageurs
Students examine food eaten by the people of the Ojibwa and Voyageur tribes. In this healthy eating lesson, students analyze the food choices of those who lived here before us. Then, students consider how our food choices are different...
Curated OER
Debunking the Myth of the American West
Students participate in a close reading. They examine the text closely for implied and hidden meaning, dissect the story to understand the text as a written craft, and discuss significant details and overall meaning of story. They...
Curated OER
European Expansion in America
Students explore human settlement in America - from the 1500s to about the turn of the 20th Century. They follow the relationships and changes beginning in the east, then head west to witness the final battles of this era.
Curated OER
Treaty Trail: Historical Perspectives Point of View
Learners research the point of view of key figures present at the Walla Walla Treaty council. Students analyze primary and secondary sources to determine how various groups of people involved in the treaty council viewed the events as...
Curated OER
Folklore Project - Tales from Strange Lands: A Gathering of Tribes
Students work together in groups to create a collection of folklore for a newly created unusual culture. In this folklore project lesson, groups choose from six different cultures and present a description of their culture's...
Curated OER
South American Indian Empires
Students study South American Indian Empires. In this South American Indian Empires lesson, students access an interactive web site to determine the answers to a drag and drop activity. They locate the Mayas, Inca, and Aztecs on a blank...
Curated OER
Eureka! You've Struck
While incomplete, this lesson plan could provide ideas for a lesson plan on the California gold rush. Learners look at a chart to analyze population growth in San Francisco after the discovery of gold, analyze political changes that...
Curated OER
Mini Coil Pots: Ceramics Lesson
Art is a wonderful way to teach historical or cultural concepts. Here, learners view a series of coil pots that have been created throughout history by a variety of civilizations. They then create and decorate a pot of their own that...
Curated OER
Exploring South Carolina
If you are having your students conduct a State study this presentation could be a nice example to show them. This resource provides general information about the geography, animals, and city life one may find in South Carolina. Web...
Curated OER
The Stranger Redeemed: A Portrait of a Black Poet
Read and analyze poems by African-American authors. Using the text, they identify the various patterns, subjects, language and dialects used. Then team up to compare and contrast the various authors and define new vocabulary. The lesson...
Curated OER
Chief Sealthe's Speech
Students explain the conflict over land between Native Americans and the United States government. They evaluate Native American values and the results of the U.S. expansion into Native American lands.
Curated OER
BASKET MAKING
Young scholars create individual basket plaques emphasizing Native American techniques and designs. Students learn to identify Native American tribal symbols and incorporate them into their basket plaque.
Curated OER
Living in America (The Earliest Years)
Fifth graders work in groups to study a particular group of Native Americans. They use a study guide to guide their research and use the internet and text resources to gather information. Students post their research on a class web page.
Curated OER
Earth Connections
Students explore the concept of the planet Earth and its connection to the Native American traditional beliefs of 'Mother Earth.' Students describe and illustrate the Native American beliefs for 'Mother Earth.' Students interpret words...
Curated OER
Pieces of the Past
Seventh graders compare and contrast the way of life of Native Americans in Texas and around the country. As a class, they brainstorm about the uses of pottery today and use broken pieces of pottery to create an artifact. In groups,...
Curated OER
The Kanaka Village at Fort Vancouver: Crossroads of the Columbia River
Young scholars study the interaction between Native American and European cultures in the Pacific Northwest in the 1800s. They focus their study on the Hudson's Bay Company and Fort Vancouver.
Curated OER
The Treaty Trail: U.S. Indian Treaty Councils in the Northwest
Middle schoolers create a timeline with the major events of the 19th and 20th century dealing with Native Americans. They examine artifacts and discuss how they reflect culture. They also identify trade routes the Native Americans used.
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Tribal Origin Stories
The teacher reads and retells Californian tribal origin or creation stories that come from the traditions of a variety of California Indian tribes. Then, pupils get together in groups and retell the stories they just heard; just as...
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Respect for Land
Youngsters examine how people show respect and care for the land. Specifically, learners see how the Native Americans truly did care for and respect the land, and still do so to this day! They also explore how they themselves can care...
Curated OER
Book: The Northern Colonies: Quest for Freedom
Young scholars, after reading Chapter 1 in the book, "The Northern Colonies: Quest for Freedom," assess the diseases that killed Native Americans as well as the causes for the spread of disease during this time period. They contemplate...
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Elders' Stories
Very young learners study the ways that oral traditions play such a huge part in the culture of Native Americans. They see how Elders pass along stories to the younger generations. If possible, a tribal Elder comes into the class to...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: What Is Happiness?
Jack London's heart for adventure has come to define the spirit of America and its frontier. Selected passages from the foreword The Cruise of the Snark take eighth graders through London's construction and voyage of his ship before...
Curated OER
Looking at Ritual and Ceremony
Students explore Edward Curtis' photos of a Native American ritual and practice documenting their own religious rituals. In this photography analysis lesson, students analyze an Native American ritual in Curtis' photo. Students discuss...