Curated OER
Building Vocabulary: Touching Spirit Bear
Two activities are provided for you here as you start to read Touching Spirit Bear with your class. First, introduce them to some of the new vocabulary they'll encounter once they start reading. Then, complete two KWHL charts. For the...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Versions of a Story
Compare and contrast reading passages with the ever favorite story of Cinderella. The versions in focus include an Italian version and a Native American story followed by three questions designed to share similarities and differences, as...
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Creation Stories
Learners read and research American Indian creation stories as a way to understand the origins of American Literature. They conduct Internet research utilizing Internet search engines. They create an online report page as well as write...
Curated OER
The Story of Sitting Bull
Learners complete activities with the book The Story of Sitting Bull by Jeffrey A. Rucker. In this literature instructional activity, students review new vocabulary and practice finding capital letters. They read the story, answer...
Curated OER
The Telling: A Thanksgiving Story
students use literature to compare and contrast different points of view on the first Thanksgiving.
Listening Library
The Sign of the Beaver
Extend a class reading of the novel The Sign of the Beaver across all subject areas with this literature unit guide. From basic discussion questions and writing prompts, to a research project about tracking animals, this resource offers...
Curated OER
Exploring Animals in Literature
Celebrate Be Kind to Animals Week while teaching empathy and allegory with creature-related texts
Curated OER
Eloquent Words
Logan’s Lament, a speech delivered by Mingo Chief Logan in 1774, provides pupils with an opportunity to not only study the historical events surrounding the battle between Native Americans and the Europeans for the West Virginia...
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The Railroads and Settlement of the Great Plains
Enhance your American literature unit with this resource, in which readers access the Nebraska Studies website and read about "Railroads and Settlement." They search for a photograph of some aspect of the railroad from the Prairie...
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The History of Maple Syrup
Students explore the process of harvesting maple syrup. In this science and history lesson plan, students make their own maple syrup and create a picture book that shows the Native American and American pioneer methods of making the syrup.
Curated OER
The Witch of Goingsnake
Students identify figurative language in a proverb and write an interpretation of the proverb prior to reading The Witch of Goingsnake. In this The Witch of Goingsnake lesson, students read a native American proverb and determine whether...
Curated OER
Identifying Types of Native American Stories
Students read Native American stories and record information on forms about them. They identify the type of story, its significance, and purpose. Students determine what the readers/listeners should learn from the stories.
Curated OER
American Literature: An Oblique Introduction
Eleventh graders research journals and periodicals of different accounts of Columbus and Latin America. They examine indigenous civilizations and design their own curriculum based on the information they have gathered.
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Indians of the Plains
Second graders, in groups, explore the Plains Indians and explore how the physical climate of the Plains region affected their lives.
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Coming To America
Students investigate the history of America with the help of children's literature. The story is structured as a timeline that begins at the time of Columbus and progresses to the present. The teacher reads the story with the class and...
Prestwick House
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie's coming-of-age social commentary is the focus of a review worksheet. Learners use clues from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to complete a crossword puzzle about the novel.
Dream of a Nation
Writing Interdisciplinary Essay
The Grapes of Wrath. The Jungle. Native Son. The Things They Carried. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. To address a current social, political, economic, or environmental issue, class groups pair the reading of a classic...
Curated OER
Sor Juana, la monja y la escritora: Las Redondillas y La Respuesta
Sor Juana, considered one of the first feminist writers and a great Latin American poet, is the topic and inspiration for this excellent activity. Use the introduction, guiding questions, and learning objectives to lead your class into a...
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Reader Response: Keith Gilyard and Mourning Dove
Students respond to Mourning Dove's Coyote Stories by discovering Native American storytelling. They create a traditional lodge and write their own stories.
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Comparative Folktales
Young scholars analyze Mongolian and Native American folktales and compare the two types. They discuss the importance of storytelling in nomadic cultures and read a story in small groups. Following the story, they answer questions and...
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Cinderella Trilogy
Learners look at three different versions of the Cinderella story. In this comparative literature lesson plan, students read the Chinese version "Yeh-Shen", the Egyptian version "Rhodopis," and the Native American version "The Hidden...
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Legends of the Navajo People
Second graders are read a story in which they begin to examine Native American legends. Using different legends, they discuss how they affected the future people of native peoples. They write a short story on the information they gathered.
Curated OER
Friday and Friends: A Prospectus of the Mexican Family through Children's Literature
Young scholars use literature to examine how the structure of families in Mexico has changed over time. In groups, they examine how their life now relates to their ancestors and the Spanish conquest of the area. As a class, they are...
Curated OER
Nineteenth- Century America in Art and Literature
In this historical letter writing learning exercise, students choose an aspect of 19th century American life that is of interest. Students write a letter from the point of view of a person in this time. Students exchange letters with a...