Legends and Stories of American Indians

The traditions, costumes, and the music of the Mardi Gras Indians, African-Americans and those with African American or Native American Heritage are the focus of a unit that introduces class members to a little-known group that...

Many families have special dishes they serve during holiday celebrations and get-togethers. Many of these recipes have been handed down from generation to generation and often come with stories. Introduce your middle schoolers to the...

Help learners connect with the idea of being centered as they explore the Hopi origin story. The Hopi people believe their Creator called them up out of the earth and told them to journey until they found a center space they could call...

Students examine how American Indians are represented in today's society. They read stories, analyze maps, and complete a chart and create an illustration about a specific tribe.

Most Americans don't connect the French and Indian War with the American Revolution. Yet, scholars consider the expensive war as a major cause of the conflict. Watching video clips of historians speaking about the conflict, budding...

Your class hears a Native American Indian point of view of Europeans' arrival in Louisiana. They assess how cultural perspectives (especially an insider's view) and native language can shape a story. Each pupil identifies the...

Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this activity about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their...

Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...

Students view and discuss a video on the legend of the Hope Diamond then compare and contrast other tales such as Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill and Johnny Appleseed. They analyze basic characteristics of these legends then use descriptive...

A mysterious woman. A humble sharing of a meal. A generous gift. The universal value of generosity is threaded throughout a core Choctaw legend on why the tribe began to grow corn. Using part of the Native American Sacred Stories series,...