Alex: Native Cultures in the Americas

This lesson is part of a project-based, hands-on unit in which children discover the native cultures that existed in the Americas prior to the arrival of explorers. The students will "become" part of their assigned culture through research with a provided research guide to keep them on track. The students will be expected to present their culture to the class after completing research and will be graded by a rubric. The lesson includes the use of the trade book: The Discovery of the Americas by Betsy and Giulio Maestro. The unit has the overriding goal of representing the culture in a World Court Hearing against the explorers they encountered.