|
Literature
|
|
The Legend of
Indian Paintbrush by Tomie dePaola
The Legend of
the Bluebonnet by Tomie dePaola
Squanto and
the First American Thanksgiving by Joyce Kessel and Lisa Donze
Squanto,
Friend of the Pilgrims by Clyde Bulla
People of the
Breaking Day by Marcia Sewell
The Circle of
Thanks by Joseph Bruchac
Corn Is
Maize: The Gift of the Indians by Aliki
Tepenum’s
Day: A Wampoanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times by Kate Waters
|
|
Songs/Poems
|
|
Ten Little
Indians
One little, two
little, three little Indians.
Four little,
five little, six little Indians.
Seven little,
eight little, nine little Indians.
Ten little
Indian boys.
Ten little,
nine little, eight little Indians.
Seven little,
six little, five little Indians.
Four little,
three little, two little Indians.
One little
Indian boy.
 |
Sitting Like
an Indian
Sitting like
an Indian (arms crossed)
Sitting like
an Indian, just like an Indian.
Sitting like
an Indian, just like an Indian.
Sitting like
an Indian, just like an Indian.
Just like an
Indian brave. (fingers behind head for feathers)
Beating my
tom-tom just like an Indian...
Showing my
feathers just like an Indian...
Sitting up
straight just like an Indian...
Just like an
Indian CHIEF! (use fingers of both hands for feathers)
|
|
Ten Days of
Thanksgiving
On the first
day of Thanksgiving the Natives gave to me...
a
pumpkin in a pumpkin patch.
On the second
day of Thanksgiving the Natives gave to me..
Two
turkey gobblers,
and a
pumpkin in a pumpkin patch.
On the third
day of Thanksgiving the Natives gave to me...
Three
Native headdresses,
two
turkey gobblers,
and a
pumpkin in a pumpkin patch.
On the fourth
day of Thanksgiving, the Natives gave to me..
four
cornucopias,
three
Native headdresses,
two
turkey gobblers,
and a
pumpkin in a pumpkin patch.
On the fifth
day of Thanksgiving, the Natives gave to me...
five
bows and arrows,
four
cornucopias,
three
Native headdresses,
two
turkey gobblers,
and a
pumpkin in a pumpkin patch.
On the sixth
day of Thanksgiving, the Natives gave to me...
six
pairs of moccasins,
five
bows and arrows,
four
cornucopias,
three
Native headdresses,
two
turkey gobblers,
and a
pumpkin in a pumpkin patch.
On the
seventh day of Thanksgiving, the Natives gave to me.
seven
Native teepees,
six
pairs of moccasins,
five
bows and arrows,
four
cornucopias,
three
Native headdresses,
two
turkey gobblers,
and a
pumpkin in a pumpkin patch.
|
On the eighth
day of Thanksgiving, the Natives gave to me..
eight
woven blankets,
seven
Native teepees,
six
pairs of moccasins,
five
bows and arrows,
four
cornucopias,
three
Native headdresses,
two
turkey gobblers,
and a
pumpkin in a pumpkin patch.
On the ninth
day of Thanksgiving, the Natives gave to me...
Nine
ears of corn,
eight
woven blankets,
seven
Native teepees,
six
pairs of moccasins,
five
bows and arrows,
four
cornucopias,
three
Native headdresses,
two
turkey gobblers,
and a
pumpkin in a pumpkin patch.
On the tenth
day of Thanksgiving, the Natives gave to me...
ten
native tom-toms,
nine
ears of corn,
eight
woven blankets,
seven
Native teepees,
six
pairs of moccasins,
five
bows and arrows,
four
cornucopias,
three
Native headdresses,
two
turkey gobblers,
and a
pumpkin in a pumpkin patch!
|
|
Class/Student
Books
|
|
Ten Little
Indians
Make a book
by cutting and gluing Indian figures to numbered pages.
|
Animal Tracks
Book
Use animal
track symbols (or have students draw an animal track) and a picture
of the animal to make a class book. Each illustrated page should
read, “I see the _____ tracks.” |
|
Indian Symbol
Book
After reading
Indian Paintbrush, make a predictable chart about Indian symbols.
Display a chart of common Indian symbols. Then allow each student to
choose a favorite. Record the choice on a predictable chart:
This is a teepee. (Ann)
This is a buffalo. (Blake)
Take a
picture of each child holding the Indian symbol he painted onto a
crumpled brown grocery bag that has been dipped in water and allowed
to dry. Make this into a class book with predictable text, such as
“This is a teepee,” said Ann. |
Indian Symbol
Circle Story
Print out a
page of Native American symbols and “buffalo skin” on which to write
a story using the symbols. Compile these into a class book.
http://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-7198.html
 |
|
Math
|
|
Feather Sort
Ask each
child to bring a feather to school (or provide feathers for them.)
Discuss attributes by which the feathers could be sorted (size,
color, texture). After sorting the feathers according to one of the
attributes, make a graph .
|
Indian Beads
String 2 or 3
colors of beads on yarn in an AABB or AABBCC pattern. Dyed macaroni
and/or cereal could be used in place of real beads.
 |
|
Addition/Subtraction Readiness
After
reciting the poem, Ten Little Indians, talk about what occurs when
you add “one more”. Use flannel board pieces or unifix cubes to act
out the poem. Then do the poem in reverse and discuss “one less”.
|
Totem Pole
Shape Count
Design a
totem pole and fill in with various shapes (triangles, circles,
squares, ovals, diamonds). Have students color each shape a
designated color and then count how many of each shape.
|
|
Indian Drums
Cover a
coffee can with decorated construction paper. Use the drum to create
musical “patterns” or count drum beats.
 |
Indian
Counting Game
Find five
small, flat stones. Paint a moon on one side of four of the stones
and a star on one side of the remaining stone. Children take turns
shaking the stones from a wooden bowl or basket. Children get one
point for each moon and two points for a star. Each child counts his
points and the one with the highest count wins. For younger
children, they could count out unifix cubes as a visual connection
to the number of points awarded for the moon and star symbols.
|
|
Social
Studies
|
|
KWL Chart
Begin a unit
by making a KWL chart about Indians (What We Know, What We want to
Know, and What we Learned).
|
Native American Visitor
After
looking at many pictures of different tribes, try to have someone of
Native American descent, possibly even a parent, visit and answer
questions.
|
|
Mapping
Native American Tribe Locations
Find or make
a flat map of the US and tiny replicas of several types of homes.
Place the homes on the places around the country according to where
they belonged. Put the leaf covered wigwams and long houses on the
east coast and in Michigan, the teepees on the plains, a bark
covered long
house on the Pacific north west, a sand covered pueblo in the
southwest, a hogan in the mid-southwest and the thatched roof on
poles in the Everglades.
http://uwf.edu/coehelp/tcomm98/rstevens/part3.htm
http://www.germantown.k12.il.us/html/homes.html#longhouse
Both sites
above have photos of types of Native American housing
|
Native American
Names
Discuss
how many Native American names are taken from nature because nature
is so important. Talk about what a tribe is and how your class can
be like a tribe. Have each student give themselves Native American
names by combining a describing word with a
word from nature (animal, plant, weather, landform...) Or send home
a note asking parents to help their child think of an appropriate
name to fit their personality. Try to stick to animals that are
native to your area so Flying Elephant is not a choice. Some
examples of names are Silver Hawk, Mountain Flower, Chattering
Chipmunk, Running Deer. Allow the students to use these names during
various activities. For kindergarten, it's another opportunity to
create a new name chart for alphabet letter practice and new nametag.
|
|
This idea came from a teacher on the Kinderkorner web ring:
To turn a playroom into a Native American village, I covered our
play loft with paper to make a pueblo, a round table with paper to
make a Navaho hogan and constructed a teepee in another corner. I
used real rocks and construction paper to make a council fire in the
center of the room. I had a large loom near the hogan for a
community weaving projects, a cardboard box canoe and 'bear skin'
rugs near the teepee as well. We had a cabbage patch baby named
'Little Rain Drop' that could be wrapped in a real rabbit skin and
tied onto a papoose board. They could go hunting by tossing bean
bags at pop cans covered with pictures of real deer, rabbits, turkey
and buffalo (Thank you, National Geographic!). They could fish from
the canoe with a magnet pole. (I made felt fish with magnets sewn
inside. These could be 'cooked' over the fire better than paper
ones.) My students learned about picture writing and naming
ceremonies. I had them go home and come back with a name that their
family decided best described them. (I will never forget the little
girl who proudly proclaimed herself 'Chattering Chipmunk'!) Their
names were added to a tagboard headband that had been painted with a
pattern. We made drums from oatmeal and coffee cans and dancing
bells by stringing jingle bells onto ribbons or gluing them onto a
popsicle stick with hot glue and feathers. Every day at the end of
the day we would have a 'council fire' to talk about our day and I
would award feathers for good workers, good helpers, kind friends
and one -only one - 'eagle feather' a day. Our 'Harvest Feast' taste
fest always included venison strips, cornbread and fruit slices.
|
|
Science
|
|
Animal Tracks
Use animal
track templates to make animal tracks in clay or in plaster or to
create rubbings of the tracks.
|
|
Art
|
|
Wigwam
Cut a 9” x
11” sheet of tagboard into 1” x 9” strips. Staple two strips
together to make a circle for the base. Curve three strips over the
base and staple in place to form the frame. Glue a coffee filter to
the frame. Cut a door and fold it back. Glue leaves, straw, bits of
grass, or torn brown paper bags to cover the filter and finish the
wigwam. (Copycat, Nov/Dec 95)
|
Indian Symbols
Paint a symbol on a crumpled grocery bag that has been dipped in
water and allowed to dry to make it more realistic looking. Use
these symbols for a class book or to make a predictable chart.
|
|
Totem Pole
Cover a paper
towel roll with a totem pole motif.
 |
Grocery Bag Vests
Turn bag upside down and cut up
the middle and around the bottom of the bag to make a hole for the
neck. Cut out the sides to make armholes. Turn inside out and
decorate with Indian symbols. Fringe the bottom by cutting
approximately 4 inch slits about one inch apart.
|
|
Canoes
Cut two canoe shapes from a
grocery bag or index paper. Punch holes along the side and bottom
edges. Sew with yarn. Glue Indian figure cut-outs inside the canoe.
 |
Papoose
Stack two pieces of construction
paper and cut two rectangles (approximately 8 inches x 6 inches).
Keeping the two pieces stacked, round the corners of the rectangles.
Make a horizontal cut across one of the rectangles approximately
one-third of the way down. Punch holes through both of the stacked
pieces around the edges. Use yarn to sew through the holes and
create a pocket. Decorate an Indian baby figure and place in the
papoose. Tie a length of yarn to the top edges of the pocket so the
papoose can be worn on the child’s back.
|
|
Indian Headbands
Decorate a sentence
strip with geometric shapes. Fit to child’s head and staple. Glue
craft feathers to paper feather cutouts and then staple these
feathers to the band. For a more realistic look, cut two index paper
rectangles approximately 2 inches wide by 5 inches long. Glue
feathers the length of the rectangles. Staple these to the bottom of
the headband on each side of the face.
 |
Teepees
Decorate a
construction paper semicircle and roll into a cone shape. Glue
toothpicks at the top opening to simulate the wooden frame.
 |
|
T-shirts for Native Americans
Dye T-shirts light brown. Have
children draw symbols on the shirts. Cut slits around the bottom and
put beads on them.
|
Quiver of Arrows
Cut two rounded
pockets and punch holes around the edge. Decorate the quiver shape
with Indian symbols. Sew, leaving a long piece of yarn that makes
the quiver “wearable”. Program arrow cutouts with vocabulary words
to practice.
|
|
Recipes
|
|
Tortilla
Tepees
Cut a 7 inch
tortilla in half and form each half into a cone, overlapping
slightly and leaving a center top opening about one-half inch
across. Secure with a toothpick. Dip ends of pretzel sticks in
canned frosting, then insert 3 pretzel sticks into center opening of
each tepee and spread slightly apart, pressing against inside of
tortilla to adhere. Dilute food coloring with water and use a
paintbrush to make designs on the the side of the tepee.
|
Squanto's
Corn
Squanto
taught the Pilgrims to plant corn by putting fish in a small hill of
soil with the corn seed. The fish provided the growing corn with
food. Use these materials to act this out.
Crush two
Oreo cookies in a ziplock baggie. Put half this “dirt” into a clear
plastic cup. Add goldfish cracker fish and candy corn “corn”. Cover
with more oreo dirt.
 |
|
Popcorn
Pop popcorn,
and tell the story of it being the first cereal! (the Native
Americans introduced it to the Pilgrims) Make little canoes
out of paper and eat your popcorn out of it.
|
|
|
 Click
here to go to the Thanksgiving page. |
Click here to go to the Thanksgiving page. |
