Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Navajo Pottery: Beautiful Objects

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Young potters make their very own version of the classic Navajo Pottery. With helpful worksheets and applicable cross-curricular activities, the lesson is an enriching way to mold both your clay and the multicultural...
Activity
Curated OER

Navajo Weaving: A Lesson in Math and Tradition

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Combine geometry and tradition with a lesson that spotlights Navajo weaving. The book, The Goat in the Rug by Charles L. Blood and Martin Link hooks scholars before watching a video of Navajo people tending their sheep and beginning...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan: A Bird's Tale

For Teachers K - 5th
Who wouldn't love to get a letter from a blue bird? Elementary art enthusiasts analyze the social and historical context of Ason Yellowhair's Navajo piece, Bird and Cornstalk Rug. They examine the construction and images on the rug...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Navajo Sand Paintings

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Research the use of sand paintings in the Navajo tribe. Your students work together to design their own sand painting. They share their creation with the class describing what the symbols mean.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comparing Kwakiutl, Cheyenne and Navajo tribes

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders study the difference between the Kwakiutl, Cheyenne and Navajo tribes. They identify the people, resources, lifestyle and beliefs of the Kwakiutl, Cheyenne, and Navajo Indians. Afterward, they present their projects on each...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

The Díne (Navajo) Native American Tribe

For Teachers K
Students participate in a variety of activities to become familiar with the Navajo Indians. In this Díne (Navajo) Native American tribe lesson, students understand where the Navajo tribe lived and find them on a map. Students discuss the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Design a Navajo Rug -- A Lesson in Symmetry

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students investigate different types of Navajo rug design. They use a graphics program to create a rug-like design similar to the Navajo patterns they've researched.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Navajo Weaving

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the Navajo culture. In this Navajo Indians lesson, students gain information about their weaving and dancing. Students note the patterns in the weaving. Students create a dance that corresponds with the patterns they see...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Memorandum Regarding the Enlistment of Navajo Indians

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners examine the Navajo dictionary used by the U.S. military in W.W. II. They role-play Navajo messengers and Marine Corp staff. They research the Battle of Iwo Jima and confirm or discount the claim that Navajos made the victory...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Navajo Yei

For Teachers K
Students explore geometry in Navajo culture. In this geometry lesson, students search for different geometrical shapes in Navajo art. Students then create their own rug or jewelry design using geometrical shapes.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Ideas to Enrich Student Inquiry into the Holocaust

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners inquire about the Holocaust. In this Holocaust lesson, students read books and discuss their thoughts. Learners also collect current event articles from newspapers. Students investigate ghettos, Pearl Harbor and Navajo Code...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sand Painting

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore Navajo traditions and art. In this sand painting lesson, students discuss Navajo rituals and traditions prior to designing a sand painting that is representative of the Navajo ideal of the hozho.
Lesson Plan
Denver Art Museum

Putting Images into Words

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Engage your class in art analysis of Indian Look-Alike by Melanie Yazzie. Using this work of art as inspiration, writers compose a poem or short story. After a peer review session, the teacher conveys information about the work of art as...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sacred Art

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers view a PowerPoint about Tibetan monks to help them explain the culture's world views, myths and religious beliefs. They investigate Navajo sand paintings and compare how they are similar to the Tibetan monks' artwork.
Unit Plan
Curated OER

American Indian Art

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Students complete a unit of study about Native American visual art. In this visual art lesson, students complete five lessons to study Native American art.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Navajo Code Talkers

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students investigate the Navajo Code Talkers and their role in World War II. They complete a Webquest, explore various websites, encode a short message, analyze maps, answer discussion questions, and read newspaper articles about secure...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding and Fighting Stereotypes through Words and Images

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Use some provocative modern art to get your class considering stereotypes and the impact they have on us all. Your class will discuss the print art Indian Look-Alike by Melanie Yazzie and stereotypes in general before...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Inspired Innovation

For Teachers K - 5th
Throughout time, innovators have taken basic ideas and changed them into creative and cutting-edge designs. Kids tackle the topic of innovations in relation to traditional or creative objects. They discuss traditional Navajo pottery then...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Rooms in a Home

For Teachers 1st - 12th
Enhance your foreign language students' skills to describe a house. After reading a description of rooms in a house in their target language, they work to answer corresponding questions correctly. Additionally, they view a PowerPoint...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Discuss Current Events

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Investigate articles from the daily news and share opinions with classmates. Using current events, learners view a news program without sound and predict what news is being discussed by analyzing the visuals. Then they read news articles...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Code Talkers

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students investigate the Navajo code talkers contributions to World War II. They read and discuss a fact sheet, and create and decode secret messages using a Navajo code talkers' dictionary.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Childhood Portrait

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students practice descriptive writing by viewing auto-portraits of young children.  In this art analysis lesson, students examine an auto-portrait of their teacher as a young child and ask him/her questions about their youth....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock Art

For Teachers 1st
First graders create and share their own rock art. They listen and read stories: "Mathematics from Many Cultures" and "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush."
Unit Plan
Curated OER

American Indian Art

For Teachers 3rd
Student complete a month-long unit on the symbolic and practical reasons for American Indian artwork. They explore websites, discuss elements of design, create an Indian backpack, Kachina Doll, weaving, sand painting, and totem pole.