Lesson Plans for Teaching Reading With
a Native American
Theme
Day 1 - Inuit
Vocabulary Word of the Day
amulet -An object worn, especially around the neck, as a charm against evil or injury; good luck charm
There came a day when Mattak went on a hunt and forgot his lucky amulet, a bit of ivory carved like a raven's foot.
-fur or claws; encourage strength or
hunting skill
-small carved animals; help with a successful hunt
-a piece of Salmon skin; makes a girl a good seamstress
-an owls claw; gives a boy strong fists
Images for Vocabulary Cards http://www.mce.k12tn.net/indians/reading/images_for_native_american_vocab.htm
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Show the map of North America. Point out where the Inuit people live. Discuss the climate in this region of the world. What animals live here? What did the people eat that lived in this area 200 years ago? (Sea very important) How did they keep warm? What type of houses did they live in?
Activity - Then and Now (Multicultural Folk Tales by Teacher Created Materials, Inc. - Page 38)
Explain that the students are going to read a folk tale. Explain what a folk tale is using Multicultural Folk Tales by Teacher Created Materials, Inc. - Page 70. Then read to the students Song of Sedna. Students complete the remainder of page 70 "Folk Tale Record Sheet" after reading. (Revised sheet here.)- Take AR Test
Sequencing Activity (Multicultural Folk Tales by Teacher Created Materials, Inc. - Page 29)
Activity - Make amulet.
Day 2 - Inuit
Vocabulary Word of the Day
| igloo | An Inuit or Eskimo dwelling,
especially a dome-shaped winter dwelling built of blocks of packed snow
Permanent home were made of stone and earth. They were built partially underground. Whale ribs sometimes supported the roof. Temporary winter hunting lodges called igloos were made from snow and ice. The Inuit formed a circular foundation of ice blocks. They stacked smaller blocks to create a dome at the top. A small hole was left for ventilation. Gaps in the ice blocks were filled with soft snow and the inside was lined with furs. |
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Using the snow knife she had brought with her, Sedna showed her husband how to carve out heavy blocks of ice and build a proper igloo.
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Students read Song of Sedna Readers' Theater (Multicultural Folk Tales by Teacher Created Materials, Inc. - Pages 30-33)
Art Activity - Sugar Cube Igloo (Multicultural Folk Tales by Teacher Created Materials, Inc. - Page 60)
Day 3 - Northwest Coastal Indians
Vocabulary Word of the Day
| plank | a heavy thick board, flat
timber, piece of wood
Most villages consisted of large rectangular houses. Each housed 30 to 40 people. They were made by covering large beams with planked sides gabled in the north. The posts were often decorated with carved figures. The earth floors were divided by woven mats into family units. Several families lived in one of these large structures. Each family was allowed a space about the size of a barn stall. Each family had its own fire, but cookfires in the center of the building were shared. Farther south the homes had low conical roofs. In the north sweat houses were built for both men and women, and for men only in the south. Large totem poles carved from tree trunks stood in front of the homes. The totem poles showed the titles of the head of the household. |
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Highlight on US Map where the Makah live. Discuss the climate in this region of the world. What animals live here? What did the people eat that lived in this area 200 years ago? What type of houses did they live in? Look at drawings in folder (2 pages)
Read Clamshell Boy - Take AR Test
Read - The Storytelling Totem Poles (Native Americans by Instructional Fair - Page 27)
Make totem poles.
Day 4 - Plains Indians
Highlight on US Map where the Plains tribes live. Discuss the climate in this region of the world. What animals live here? What did the people eat that lived in this area 200 years ago? How did they keep warm? What type of houses did they live in? Look at drawings in folder (2 pages)
Vocabulary Word of the Day
roam - To move about without purpose or plan; wander, stray
He told her that he was the leader of all the wild horses who roamed the hills.
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Reading Rainbow - The Gift of
the Sacred Dog (30 minutes) - Take AR Test
A powerful, strikingly illustrated folk tale and Native American legend, about a
boy who brought the gift of horses to his people and the significance of the
horse to the Plains Indian.
LeVar visits the Crow Agency in Montana and observes a special ceremony of the
Old Elk family. He shows viewers how contemporary and traditional Native
American life and traditions meet. Viewers also learn that some words we use
have Native American roots.
Read The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses (book with audio) - Take AR Test
Activity - These books are book written and illustrated by Paul Goble. Have students compare and contrast the two books. Have students look at the sun at the beginning and end of The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses and in the middle of The Gift of the Sacred Dog. If time allows have students draw a sun with the narrow triangle rays similar to the ones in the books.
Day 5 - Plains Indians
Vocabulary Word of the Day
| teepee
tipi |
To build the teepee the women took long poles and stuck them in the ground in the form of a circle. They leaned the poles together at the top. The poles were fastened with hides. The poles were covered with buffalo hides. Two longer poles were attached to the top corners. The were used to remove the smoke from the fire. The teepee opening always faced east. The outside of the teepee was decorated with paintings of animals, stars, or other objects. The Plains Indians had little furniture. Their beds were made from buffalo robes, skins with the hair left on. They also had back rests. Food, clothes, and belongings were stored in parfleches. A parfleche was a strong pouch made of buffalo hide. |
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Read Sitting Bull - Take AR Test
Activity - Make tepees from
felt. Decorate with paint. - See Native Americans by Instructional Fair, Inc.
pages 35-36
Discuss and show pictures of various Indian homes. Discuss the reasons for
different types of Indian homes. Then show pictures of various tepees. Tell how
a tepee door always faced east so that the wind blew against the back of the
tepee and so that the rising sun could wake and warm the sleeping family when
the flap was left open. Tepees were made from buffalo skin and held up by poles.
Tepees could be made from 10-40 hides and were made, set up, and taken down by
Indian women.
Day 6 - Plains Indians
Vocabulary Words of the Day
| parfleche | An untanned animal hide soaked in lye and water to remove the hair and then dried on a stretcher; used by the Plains Indians to carry their possessions; a folded bag used to carry things, made from the hide of an animal |  |
Page 6 - When she finished the garment, she tied all the pieces together in a parfleche decorated to match.
Page 8 She bundled clothing for herself around her quilling needles and filled her parfleche with food stores she'd been putting aside.
Page 14 Quillworker untied the parfleches from the travois and sent the dogs back to her mother.
| quill | The hollow stemlike main shaft
of a feather; One of the sharp hollow spines of a porcupine or hedgehog.
Quillworker Page 6 - The design was magnificent, with each color of quills radiating from another. QUILLWORK |
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Read Quillworker: A Cheyenne Legend - Take AR Test
Inside a Tepee! (Native Americans by Instructional Fair, Inc. page 37) - Following Directions/Problem Solving
Students make a parfleche. Use colored toothpicks and glue onto the flap to emulate a quill pattern
| Parfleche |
 |
Background
Information
A parfleche was used by the Plains Indians to
carry their possessions. It was made from a buffalo hide. The hide was cut
into a large rectangular shape. Belongings were placed on the center of the
hide. Next the hide was folded like and envelope and tied with rawhide straps.
The parfleche was made water proof by covering it with a glue made by boiling
the tails of beavers.
Day 7 - Plains Indians
Vocabulary Word of the Day
scout - To spy on or explore carefully in order to obtain information
Page 14 - Grandfather chose six braves to be scouts.
Read Little Hawk's New Name- Take AR Test
Finish parfleche.
Day 8 - Plains Indians and Southwest
Vocabulary Word of the Day
buckskin - A soft strong leather, usually yellowish or grayish in color, made of deerskin.
"Find a buckskin as white as this," she told him.
Little Gopher looked at the white buckskin and on it he saw colors as bright and beautiful al those made by the setting sun.
Many months ago, he had found his pure white buckskin, but it remained empty because he could not find the colors of the sunset.
Tomorrow take the white buckskin and go to the place where you watch the sun in the evening.
Little Gopher gazed at the white buckskin and he was happy.
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Reading Rainbow - The Legend of
the Indian Paintbrush (30 minutes) - Take AR Test
A Native American story of Little Gopher following his destiny, as revealed in a
Dream-Vision of becoming an artist for his people and bringing the colors of the
sunset down to the earth.
LeVar visits the Pueblo Indian people of Taos, New Mexico where Mother Earth plays a crucial role in their art. He interviews a painter, a family of pottery makers, and a family of dancers. Each explains the traditions behind their art and the Native American culture.
Take quiz
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/indians/reading/paintbrush.htm
(Includes main character, setting, problem, & comprehension)
Read The Legend of Bluebonnet - Compare and contrast The Legend of Bluebonnet to The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush
Read "A Secret Indian Story" from Indian Crafts and Activity Book page 12.
Activity - Make a buckskin painting - On felt have students create a painting similar to the ones in The Legend of the Indian paintbrush. "Southwest Symbols" in Native Americans by Instructional Fair, Inc. page 23 OR "A Picture Story" by Native Americans by Teacher Created Materials, Inc. pages 31-32
Day 9 - Southwest Indians (Pueblo)
Highlight on US Map where the Pueblo and Papago live. Discuss the climate in this region of the world. What animals live here? What did the people eat that lived in this area 200 years ago? What type of houses did they live in? Look at drawings in folder (2 pages)
Vocabulary Word of the Day
| pueblo | the communal dwelling of an Indian village of Arizona, New Mexico, and neighboring areas consisting of flat-roofed stone or adobe houses in groups sometimes several stories high |
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Read Arrow to the Sun - Take AR Test
Read The Desert is Theirs - Take AR Test
Activity - Make Kachina masks or dolls.
| Kachina Doll |
|
Background Information
The Pueblo thought Kachinas were ancestral spirits
who returned with the clouds and rain to help their people. Over 300 different
Kachinas were believed to exist. Pueblo Indians believed that these spirits once
lived among the people, but they became offended when not enough attention was
paid to them. Before leaving the Kachinas taught their people to dance. Pueblo
held religious festivals and ceremonies in which they asked the Kachinas to
bring rain and make their crops grow. They used drums and rattles in the dances
during the ceremonies. They often danced in masks and chanted. When a boy turned
13, he was invited to the kiva where the identity of the Kachinas was revealed
to him. Girls were not brought to the kiva, but they were also told the secret
of the Kachina.
Directions for a Wooden Spool Doll
For each doll purchase:
| Masks |
 |
 |
Directions for masks
Activity - Make painting using colored glue on black paper.
Day 10 - Southwest Indians (Navajo)
Highlight on US Map where the Navajo Indians live. Discuss the climate in this region of the world. What animals live here? What did the people eat that lived in this area 200 years ago? What type of houses did they live in? Look at drawings in folder (2 pages)
Vocabulary Word of the Day
| hogan | a Navajo Indian dwelling usually made of logs and mud with a door traditionally facing east |
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Read Annie and the Old One
Annie and the Old One "A Family Affair" from The Mailbox, Primary, Oct/Nov 1992
Annie and the Old One "Remembering the Reasons" from The Mailbox, Primary, Oct/Nov 1992
Activity - Make weaving
Day 11 - Southwest Indians
Vocabulary Word of the Day
| loom | An tool used for making thread or yarn into cloth by weaving strands together at right angles; a frame on which weaving is done |
![[JPG picture, 16k]](../reading/Weaver1_sml.jpg) |
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Read Annie and the Old One - Take AR Test
Annie and the Old One - Sequencing Strips http://www.mce.k12tn.net/indians/reading/annie_and_the_old_one_sequencing.htm
Activity - Finish weaving
Day 12 - Eastern Woodlands (Seminole)
Highlight on US Map where the Seminole live. Discuss the climate in this region of the world. What animals live here? What did the people eat that lived in this area 200 years ago? What type of houses did they live in? Look at drawings in folder (2 pages)
Vocabulary Word of the Day
| chickee | a Seminole dwelling usually made of logs and grass with open sides and a raised floor |
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Reading Rainbow - And Still the
Turtle Watched (Show book part only.) - Take AR Test
A turtle carved in rock many years ago by Native Americans watches the river
below. In the span of time it observes many ecological changes with a great deal
of sadness.
Read Dancing with the Indians (book with audio) - Take AR Test
Tell and Draw Stories from Native Americans by Teacher Created Materials, Inc. page 48-59.
Activity -
| Drum |
 |
Directions
Day 13 -Northeast Woodlands
Highlight on US Map where the Algonquian and Iroquois live. Discuss the climate in this region of the world. What animals live here? What did the people eat that lived in this area 200 years ago? What type of houses did they live in? Look at drawings in folder (2 pages)
Vocabulary Word of the Day
| dreamcatcher | a Native American craftwork
consisting of a small hoop covered with string, yarn, or horsehair mesh and
decorated with feathers and beads and believed to give its owner good dreams
Background Information |
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Reading Rainbow Knots on a
Counting Rope (Show book part only.) - Take AR Test
A Native American tale about Boy-Strength-of-Blue-Horses and his grandfather
reminiscing about the boy’s birth, his first horse, and his first horse race
where he faces his greatest challenge—his blindness.
Read Dreamcatcher - Take AR Test
Make dreamcatchers.
Day 14 - Northeast Woodlands (Iroquois)
Vocabulary Word of the Day
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Reading Rainbow - Giving
Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message (Show book part only.) -
Take AR Test
The feature book is a prayer of the Iroquois Indians celebrating the precious
and rare gift of the natural world — and the resources of the earth. On a fall
day, LeVar stops to express appreciation for the gifts of the earth.
Read - Little Runner of the Longhouse
Activity - Finish dreamcatchers.
Day 15 - Northeast Woodlands (Pocahontas)
Vocabulary Word of the Day
portrait - A likeness of a person, especially one showing the face, that is created by a painter or photographer
While she was in London, Pocahontas" portrait was painted by an artist.
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Reader's Theater - Pocahontas
Story Map - Teacher Created Materials, Inc. Page 21
Story Summary Sentence Strips - Teacher Created Materials, Inc. Pages 12 - 13
Pocahontas Game - Teacher Created Materials, Inc. Pages 42 - 46 (2 games made)
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Day 16
Vocabulary Word of the Day
toil
Page 6
When work and toil are done,
Gather all together,
Turn three worlds into one.
toil - to labor continuously; work strenuously.
Find six words that mean the same as toil.
| labor | ease | work | be lazy | exertion | nine-to-five |
| relax | idle | plug away | slave | dawdle | putter |
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Read Thanksgiving on Thursday - Take AR Test
Have Thanksgiving dinner.
