Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native American Storytelling

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine the background of Native American myths and legends.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders read a myth out loud to their classmates.  Students compare and contrast their myths with other...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Mandan Buffalo Dance and You

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students create short oral presentations describing how Native American tribes use dance, poetry, music, art and other expressions to make a dedication to a physical concept or thing.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Go Native!

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students explore the five Native American regions. They compare and contrast the dwellings, clothing, and tools of the Native American groups. Students research one group of Native Americans. They build totem poles, pueblos, weave...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Whose Rock Is This Anyway?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students will seek to understand the events at Pipestone Quarry and what may have caused them. Pipestone Quarry in Pipestone, Minnesota, bears the mythic red Sioux quartzite called Pipestone or Catlinite.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Buffalo-Ta Tanka

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners study the buffalo. They watch a video and read a story about the buffalo and what it meant to Native American Indian tribes. They practice naming the parts of buffalo in Lakota.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Living in America (The Earliest Years)

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders work in groups to study a particular group of Native Americans. They use a study guide to guide their research and use the internet and text resources to gather information. Students post their research on a class web page.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Health Enhancement Traditional Games

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders participate in Tribal games. In this tribal nations lesson, 4th graders play games that help improve on the physical skills for survival, invention, and problem solving. They discuss what is needed for survival and how...
Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: Indian Wars and Battle of Little Bighorn

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the series of events and conflicts in the Indian Wars that culminated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, or Custer's Last Stand. Includes questions for students at end.
Website
PBS

Pbs: Teton Sioux Indians

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from PBS contains an article on the Teton Sioux Indians and the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Website
PBS

Pbs: Yankton Sioux Indians

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides information on the Yankton Sioux Indians and the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Handout
Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Carnegie Museum: North South East West: American Indians and the Natural World

For Students 9th - 10th
Web companion site to the Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. It focuses on American Indians' relationships with the natural world and explores four different visions: the Tlingit...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

National Anthropological Archives: Lakota Winter Counts: Teachers' Guide [Pdf]

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learn about the Lakota Sioux, and their 'winter counts' pictographic calendars of a community's history. These provide a unique look into the history of the Lakota Sioux people. Winter counts represent a rich Lakota tradition of oral...
Website
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: The Dakota Conflict Trials of 1862

For Students 9th - 10th
This site offers an in-depth study of the 1862 Sioux uprising. The framed web pages offer a chronology of the uprising , a cartoon history, pages of maps, biographies of key figures, accounts of the trials and the execution, an...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The End of Resistance

For Students 5th - 8th
Find a brief recounting of resistance by several Indian tribes in an attempt to maintain their territory. See how the settlers participating in the Oklahoma land rush stole land set aside for several Indian tribes.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Massacre at Sand Creek

For Students 5th - 8th
A sad recounting of one of the most brutal attacks on Indians during the Indian Wars. Read about the Sand Creek Massacre and the retaliation it prompted.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Native American Cultures Across the United States

For Teachers K - 1st
Students explore different aspects of the cultures of the First Americans in this lesson plan. Stereotypes are often associated with Native Americans through movies and in the context of the Thanksgiving holiday. Specific information and...
Unit Plan
Other

The Weekly South Dakotan: South Dakota History for 4th Grade

For Students 3rd - 8th
From the very beginning and through the twentieth century, this comprehensive collection of lessons will enrich students studying the history in between and the effects on South Dakota.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: Camping With the Sioux: Fieldwork Diary of Alice Fletcher

For Students 9th - 10th
A fascinating site that presents the story of Alice Fletcher who traveled to Dakota Territory to live with Sioux women. Click on dates on the calendar for diary entries. Also includes historic photo gallery.
Website
Other

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the history and culture of this Native American tribe in North Dakota. Includes statistics on the tribal community.
Website
A&E Television

History.com: French and Indian War

For Students 9th - 10th
The French and Indian War saw two European imperialists go head-to-head over territory and marked the debut of the soldier who would become America's first president.
Article
A&E Television

History.com: 10 Things You May Not Know About Sitting Bull

For Students 9th - 10th
Get the facts about one of the most legendary Native Americans of the 19th century. Sitting Bull was born around 1831 into the Hunkpapa people, a Lakota Sioux tribe that roamed the Great Plains in what is now the Dakotas.
Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Nara: Teaching With Documents: Sioux Treaty of 1868

For Teachers 9th - 10th
The National Archives and Records Administration highlights the Sioux Treaty of 1868. The instructional activity provided here relates to the power granted to the president and the Senate in Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, of the U.S....
Website
PBS

Pbs: New Perspectives on the West

For Students 9th - 10th
This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....
Website
Other

Wounded Knee Museum

For Students 9th - 10th
Virtual tour of the massacre at Wounded Knee from a museum dedicated to preserving the history of what happened there.