Native American Thematic Unit

[wonderwoman]

Hello!
I am working on a thematic unit on Native Americans in the north east. I was wondering if anyone had any fun or interesting lessons or ideas for 4th graders. (they have to be Social Studies based)
Thanks In Advance!

 

[thiswayup]

dear wonderwoman

I had a graduate child's lit class and did my "presentation" an Western PA Native American authors (which there are few in this area, so I had to broaden it). I have a bibliography of books and a few lesson plans for native american units. Also, in a class I took to get my 2nd cert. in elem., we broke down in to co-op groups and had a page of indian art or graphics they used to communicate. We were then told to make our own murals with paint, crayons or markers using these drawings. Then the prof took all the murals and had several students wrap them around a frame of a wigwam (teepee). This was set out in the hall. We also used the jigsaw method to gather info on the "plains Indians". The prof used these things to show us a few teaching methods and how to incorporate them in class. My daughter is in 4th grade and would love to draw a mural or research NA (Native American) tools or clothing. See if there is an NA organization that has a NA story teller that could possibly come and demonstrate NA stories or history.
If you are interested in the NA bib and lesson plans, leave me a message on the sub. teacher board on this site.
I hope I was of some help.
Also go to LessonPlans Page.com, you may be able to find something there.

 

[KLSM]

Native American Unit Ideas

I recently taught a unit on Native Americans for my third grade class. I utilized a lot of outside materials. We studied the Southwestern Native Americans and the Plain's Native Americans.

A few things the students enjoyed:

I broke up the class into groups (I called them tribes). I gave them a map of the tribes we were studying and asked each group to pick a tribe name. From then on (in soicial studies) , each group was known as this tribe name.

Each tribe predcited their lifestyle based upon their location as well as identified their location on the class map.

I had each tribe create their own tribal symbol. They had to explain why they chose that symbole and why it was important to that tribe.

I taught the studetns N. A. sign language. Each group was responsible for designing a message to present to the class. They also taught their message to the class.

I had the studetnd study communication through petroglyphs and then had each studetn create his own petroglyph and present it to the class.

I hope these ideas are of some help. I found the studetns really enjoyed it when I included the creative arts into my S.S. lessons when possible.

Good Luck!