Date: 10/30/06 / Grade: 4th GT
Topic: Native Americans in Texas (5-7 days)
Objectives:
1. The students will be able to identify several Native American tribes in Texas and describe at least one in depth.
2. The students will research a particular tribe then create an “artifact” to be presented to the class. The artifacts will eventually create a class “museum”.
3. The students will know the geographic location of various tribes.
4. The students will write a letter to their parents describing a week with Native Americans.
Lesson Sequence:
Day 1 (Introduction):
1. Open the lesson by reading Tommie dePaola’s book, “The Legend of the Bluebonnet” to the class.
2. Discuss the book and find out what the students already know about Indians.
3. Read and discuss pages 90 – 106 out of the textbook so that the students are somewhat familiar with four major tribes in Texas.
4. Have students fill in the table about Native Americans (see attached).
Day 2-3 (Research):
1. Discuss what artifacts are – students read about this in the previous lesson.
2. Explain to the students that they will be creating an artifact at home to bring in to the class and place in the class museum. The artifact should look authentic and they should be able to explain how their tribe would have used it. They should also create an information card to be displayed with their artifact. Provide students with handout containing guiding questions (see attached)
3. Students will be assigned a particular tribe to be their focus.
4. Allow time for students to explore teacher-provided books about Texas Indians and research them on the internet to find information about their tribe.
5. Instruct students to use this information to come up with ideas for artifacts and to complete the handout given to them.
6. At the end of each day of research, have students talk about one interesting thing they learned so far.
Day 4 (Map):
1. As a class, students will create a large map of Texas on which they will place a few pieces of information about their tribe in the location where their tribe lived. They will also label the regions of Texas on the map.
2. As each student places their tribe on the map, discuss how the geographic location of the tribe would have affected the lifestyle of those people.
3. When the map is finished, if time remains, students may continue researching their tribe.
Day 5 (Letters):
1. Have students close their eyes and imagine the Indians that they have been studying. Instruct them to imagine themselves there with the Indians.
2. Once the students have a mental image, tell them that they will now be writing a letter to their parents. They should pretend that they have just spent a week living with their tribe and now are writing home to tell their parents about their experiences.
3. Before the students begin writing, review the format of a letter.
4. Allow students time to write their letter.
Final Day (present artifacts):
1. Students will bring in their artifacts and present them to the class.
2. As each artifact is presented, have the student discuss things they learned about that tribe and allow other students time to ask questions.
3. Guide the discussion, assessing that each student has gathered the required information about their tribe.
4. Once each student has presented their artifact, allow the students to arrange the museum.