Tripping Back in Time

A Look at Native American Life
Created by: Cheryl Phillips
Grade Level: 5th
Wouldn’t it be neat if you could have the ability to travel back in time? Consider it done, with a catch….your destination will be my choice, not yours. You must go back in time when the Native Americans weren’t taken over by the Europeans. You will be assuming the role of a newspaper reporter and record the life styles of the Native Americans. Your end product will be the creation of a Native American Newsletter.
Task
You
will be working in cooperation with Mrs. Seigel, the Libraian, Ms. Phillips,
the Instructional Technologist, and your classroom teacher. All 5th
graders will be participating in this project.
You have plenty of time, so please be thorough and do a terrific job!
Your newsletters will be posted on our Website as a resource for other 5th
grade Virginia Students so do a professional job!
Working together in groups will be the name of the game. Preferably in groups of four. Each traveler will be responsible for researching, word processing, and adding a graphic to at least one news article. You need to agree on a theme and title for the newsletter and work together to create the final newsletter. The group will choose one of the following Native American tribes of North America on which to base the information of the newsletter: Arctic (Inuit), Northwest (Kwakiutl), Plains (Sioux), Southwest (Pueblo), and Eastern Woodland (Iroquois) Each article will feature one feature of tribal life and will report everyday events as if they are happening or have just occurred.
Process:· Location of tribe – including maps
· Clothing – including those worn by men, women and children
· Living accommodations – including specific descriptions of living quarters and how the accommodations were constructed
· Diet – including hunting and/or gathering techniques
ResourcesOverview
of the History of Native Americans:
Britannica
Online “Native
Americans”
Native
American Resources:
Maps:
“Maps
of Native American lands”
Tribes
by Regions in the United States:
Housing
and Hunting:
“Native
American Tribal Guides”
The
Food of Native Americans:
Herbal
Medicine of the Native Americans:
“Traditional
Herbal and Plant Knowledge”
Art
and Culture:
Religion
and Beliefs of the Native Americans:
Where
to find your graphics and Illustrations
Google has a great image search, so try there first, then you can try one of these:
NativeTech:
REGIONAL OVERVIEW OF NATIVE AMERICAN CLOTHING STYLES
Index
of Native American History Resources on the Internet
..
Native
American Facts for Kids: Resources on Native Americans
for
Project
Rubric|
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Virginia Standards of Learning Objectives for this activity include:
a) locating where the American Indians (First Americans) settled, with emphasis on Arctic (Inuit), Northwest (Kwakiutl), Plains (Sioux), Southwest (Pueblo), and Eastern Woodland (Iroquois).
Essential Understandings |
Essential Questions |
Essential Knowledge |
Essential Skills |
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Kwakiutl inhabited the Pacific
Northwest coast, characterized by a rainy, mild climate. Sioux inhabited the interior of
the United States, called the Great Plains and characterized by dry
grasslands. Pueblo inhabited the Southwest in
present-day New Mexico and Arizona, where they lived in desert areas and
areas bordering cliffs and mountains. Iroquois inhabited northeast North America, the Eastern Woodland, which is heavily forested. |
Analyze and interpret maps to explain relationships among landforms, water features, climatic characteristics, and historical events. (USI.1f) |
b) describing how the American Indians (First Americans) used their environment to obtain food, clothing, and shelter.
Essential Understandings |
Essential Questions |
Essential Knowledge |
Essential Skills |
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Interpret ideas and events from different
historical perspectives. (USI.1d) Analyze and interpret maps. (USI.1f) |
NETS
Standards 1-6 Performance Indicators:
grades 3-5 1, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10