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Lesson 2 Overview:

There are many possible lessons to teach about the Woodland Tribes. Teachers should select from the lessons below those that fit their time schedule and their students’ interests. This lesson concentrates on how the environment shapes peoples’ way of life, and how a group of people expresses that connection through legends. The emphasized skills include: writing a reflection, scaffolding, and incorporating documents into an essay. A parallel task mirroring the NYS English Language Arts Book 2 Listening and Writing activity is included.

Suggested time allowance: 6 class periods

Standards:

• ELA: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1.
• SS: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2.

Essential Unit Question: In what ways did geography influence Native American life?

Resources/Materials for this lesson:

• Banks, James A. et al. New York: Adventures in Time and Place. New York: Macmillan /McGraw-Hill, 1998.
• Classroom maps and globe
• Levine, Ellen. If You Lived With the Iroquois. New York: Scholastic, 1998 (Q)
• Chart paper, markers, paper, pencils
• Maestro, Betsy and Guilio. Discovery of America. New York, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1991.
• Oestreicher, David M. Algonquin of New York. New York: PowerKids Press. August 2003 ISBN 0823964272 (med)
• Gaines, Richard. Algonquin. Edina, MN: ABDO Publishing Company. September 2000. ISBN 1577653831 (low)
• Quiri, Patricia R. Algonquins. New York: Scholastic Library Publishing. May 1992. ISBN 0531200655 (med)
• D’Apice, Rita. Algonquian. Rourke Publishing, 1992. ISBN 0531200655 (med)
• What We Know About Native Americans chart (included)
• Comparison chart Iroquois and Algonquin (included)
• Native American region map (included)
• Native American tribes of New York State map (included)
• Copies for each student of the Grade 5 NYS Elementary Level Social Studies DBQ, Nov. 2001
• Overhead transparencies of each document from Grade 5 Elementary Level Social Studies DBQ from 2001
• Native American Legends websites. (See Unit Overview)
• “Chipmunk and Bear Legend” www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/loreindx.html
• Robbins, Maril Lu. Native American: Tales and Activities. “Spirit of Corn Legend”. Huntington Beach, CA: Teacher Created Materials, 1996. (included)
• Writing rubric (included)
• Vocabulary and definitions
• New York State Testing Program February 2000 Grade 4 English Language Arts Rubric (included)
• Library Resource Books. (See bibliography in Unit Overview)
• CRQ: Contributions of Native Americans
• Chipmunk and Bear Legend ELA Listening and Writing activity

Activities/Procedures:

Note to the teacher:

The books below provide an excellent description of the arrival of the first North American native people. The teacher may want to have students trace the path of the nomads across the Bering Strait on a world map (not included). This can be done before handing out the Regions map on Day 1 or as a separate lesson (not included).

• Levine, Ellen. If You Lived With the Iroquois. New York: Scholastic, 1998. (Q)
• Maestro, Betty. Discovery of the Americas: From Prehistory through the Age of Columbus. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1991.

Day 1: The First North American Native Peoples

1. Have students work in groups to write down on the chart “What We Know About Native Americans” (included) what they already know about Native Americans and their natural resources. Compile a class list on chart paper. Point out to students that there were no stores available and that all the products to fulfill their needs/wants came from their environment.

2. Review the term natural resources (from Grade 3) with students. (See Glossary)

3. Distribute the Native American Regions map (included). Discuss the various regions as a class. Ask students to speculate what they think the term region means. Ask them to explain how this map is divided up by region and which natural resources are found within each region. Ask students to identify the region in which they live. (The teacher may choose to have students create a key and color the Native American Regions map as a homework assignment.)

Day 2: Background information on Woodland Indians (Iroquois and Algonquin)

Background for the Teacher:

• There are two tribes, Iroquois and Algonquin, that lived within the Woodland Region. Their natural resources were similar. At times the different tribes used them in different ways.
• Natives who lived in the Woodland Region depended on the forest environments such as the deciduous and coniferous forests of the Northeast.
• In order to obtain food, clothing and shelter, the native people of the Northeast developed tools to help them survive within their area.
• The Woodland tribes hunted animals such as, moose, caribou and deer inland in northern areas. Along the coast, they fished for shellfish and used materials from the ocean to create decorative ornaments and trading goods. Native Americans also harvested many plants. Their three main crops were corn, beans, and squash (which were called The Three Sisters). Stone, clay and animal skins were used for household utensils, weapons and clothing.

1. Use a variety of Iroquois and Algonquin resources (whatever is available to you) to complete the comparison table. (included) A suggested list of books is below. This can be done as a class, a group or individually.

• D’Apice, Rita. Algonquian. Rourke Publishing, 1992. ISBN 0531200655 (medium)
• Levine, Ellen. If You Lived With the Iroquois. New York: Scholastic, 1998. (Q)
• Oestreicher, David M. Algonquin of New York. New York: PowerKids Press. August 2003 ISBN 0823964272 (medium)
• Gaines, Richard. Algonquin. Edina, MN: ABDO Publishing Company. September 2000. ISBN 1577653831 (low)
• Quiri, Patricia R. Algonquins. New York: Scholastic Library Publishing. May 1992. ISBN 0531200655 (medium)

2. Review the information/chart as a class being sure to discuss how geography affected everything from diet, shelter and clothing to politics and religion

Day 3: Use the Background information on Woodland Indians (Iroquois and Algonquin) to complete Document Based scaffolding questions.

1. Refer back to the map Native American Tribes of New York State to review where the Iroquois and Algonquin tribes lived.

2. Divide students into 7 small cooperative groups. Distribute the Document Based Question from the New York State November 2001 Social Studies Assessment..

3. Assign a different document from the DBQ to each group. Ask students to work in small groups to answer the question(s) from the document assigned to them. Using the Jigsaw Method of Cooperative Learning, students present their responses as the teacher records their information onto an overhead transparency. The rest of the students listen and take notes on their master copies.

Day 4: Model how to write an essay based on information from documents and students’ knowledge from social studies.

1. Activate prior knowledge of how the Iroquois and Algonquin used nature and the natural resources around them to meet their needs and wants.

2. Engage students in a writing activity by facilitating a discussion while modeling (on chart paper or overhead or computer screen) how to write a well-organized essay using the 7 documents looked at on Day 2 to complete the following task:

Describe how the Iroquois and Algonquin have used nature and the natural resources around them to meet their needs and wants.

Remind students to:

• Include an introduction, body and a conclusion
• Use information from the documents in your answer
• Include details, examples, or reasons in developing your ideas.

Day 5: “The Chipmunk and the Bear”

Note to teacher: Students are required to complete a listening and writing task on the New York State English Language Arts Assessment. Using the Iroquois Legend, “The Chipmunk and the Bear,” the teacher can model the successful completion of this task.

1. Print out the booklet for each student. (included)

2. Access “The Bear and the Chipmunk” by clicking on www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore56.html

3. If students have not been exposed to this task before, follow the directions as you model each step of the booklet. If they have, let them complete the booklet on their own, and then grade it using the NYS rubric.

• Booklet
• Rubric

Day 6: “The Spirit of Corn” (optional)

1. The teacher may use “The Spirit of Corn” legend as a listening or reading comprehension assessment. Students write a journal reflection about the theme or lesson of the story.

Evaluation/Assessment:

• Rubric for Spirit of the Corn Reflective Activity.
• Teacher Observation.
• Native American scaffolding response to the DBQ on Native American Indians.
• Writing Rubric for “The Chipmunk and the Bear” (included)
  

Vocabulary (See Glossary for definitions):

Revised 2/1/07