Lesson Plan
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Indigenous Cultures Change Over Time

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders research and take notes while viewing a video on the Navajo Indians. In this Indigenous people instructional activity, 4th graders use the notes they've taken to compare and contrast the Navaho tribe to other Indigenous...
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The Voices of Slavery

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders recognize and can describe the settlers of Early America. In this American colonies instructional activity, 4th graders research using primary and secondary sources, Native Americans, Europeans, and African Americans...
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Inference By Analogy

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students infer the use or meaning of items recovered from a North Carolina Native American site based on 17th-century European settlers' accounts and illustration.
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Big Dipper Story Wheel

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students research a Canadian Indian Tale. In this constellation lesson, students hear the story "Never-Ending Bear Hunt" which describes the constellations from the Native American perspective. They create their own constellation wheel...
Lesson Plan
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Jim Thorpe's Bright Path

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students read about the life of Jim Thorpe and answer focus lessons about the book.  In this Jim Thorpe lesson, students celebrate the American Indian culture and learn of the hardships Jim Thorpe overcame.  Students find...
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Our Small World

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students explore indigenous and Native cultures, and promote appreciation for the contributions from these cultures. They explore the concept of cultural conservation and gain more understanding about the issues that tribes face today. ...
Lesson Plan
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The Forest Community And Ethnobotany Past And Present

For Teachers 3rd
Students describe a forest as a living community. They determine members interact, and in many cases, depend on each other for their basic survival needs. They investigate how dependent the Native Americans were on the forest...
Lesson Plan
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The Treaty Trail: US Indian Treaty Councils in the Northwest

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students research and examine primary sources concerning the Washington Territory. For this Native American removal lesson, students view portrait images created by Gustav Sohon. Students then read several biographies that correspond to...
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Learning to Respect Each Other

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Discover how important Martin Luther King Jr. is to our society. For this civil rights lesson, investigate how Dr. King was an advocate for nonviolence and how he fought for civil rights for all Americans. Read and analyze Dr. King's "I...
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It's (Not) Just a Bug: Simulating Invasive Insect Predation on a Plant Population

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students reflect on challenges that face farmers in cultivating crops, including insects. They then simulate how crops are affected by native and non-native insect populations and the options farmers have to protect their crops. Finally,...
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Traditional Tribal Homelands of Washington's Plateau Nations

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students investigate the Plateau tribes. In this Native American lesson, students use a political map of Washington state to identify the location of the Plateau tribes. Students brainstorm the needs and wants of the tribes and use an...
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Early Explorers

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders examine how the environment and climate affected Pre-Colombian settlements. In this civilization lesson, 5th graders view pictures of different Native American tribes in different places and discuss how different groups...
Lesson Plan
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I've Felt the Same Way

For Teachers K - 4th
Students recognize various differences between their lives and the lives of people living in the 19th century Chicago area. They hear stories from people living in four different historical time periods and match the stories to their...
Lesson Plan
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Frieze Design in Indigenous Art

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students describe Frieze designs using the work of indigenous people.  In this math instructional activity, students create 7 frieze designs using different patterns.  They create one row of repeated art and repeat...
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Aboriginal Statistics

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders analyze statistics of Native Americans by creating graphs.  For this data analysis lesson, 4th graders define different statistical terms and practice finding those statistics from groups of numerical information...
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Dark Days on the Prairie

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders research the location and causes of the Dust Bowl in 1935. In support, they interpret photos from that period in Oklahoma history, They also compare/contrast the American Dust Bowl to the dust storms that occurred in...
Lesson Plan
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Pottery Traditions

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students make and decorate a replica of a North Carolina coiled pot after summarizing why archaeologists study pottery and how Indian people of North Carolina made and used coiled pottery.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Colonizing the Bay

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders review the goals of John Winthrop.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders read Winthrop's speech and summarize his key points.  Students predict the possibilities for success and failure in the...
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Territory and Statehood of Iowa

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders recognize the steps to create a territory, a district and a state.  In this Iowa lesson, 5th graders discuss the three capitals and their importance.  Students recognize the key people in the development of Iowa....
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Now and Then

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students record transformations and their effects within and across cultures. Students study the life of specific people in a former time period and then in the present time period. This teacher focused on the Winnebago tribe, using her...
Lesson Plan
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Gathering, Traditions, and Nutrition of Our Food

For Teachers K - 12th
Students gain a better understanding of what it means to eat seasonally through learning about traditional hunting, gathering, and food preparation methods of Athabascan tribes. By interacting with Native American Elders and...
Lesson Plan
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Making a Colorado Brochure

For Teachers 4th - Higher Ed
Students create brochures reflecting the state of Colorado. In groups, they write about tourist attractions, important people, major cities, and statistical information. After writing, they create their brochure importing clip art and...
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Governance- Grade 9

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders participate in talking circles about how their classroom will function. For this self-governance lesson, 9th graders participate in talking circle activities to create rules that will govern their class. Students compare...
Lesson Plan
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The Desert is Theirs: Adapting to Our Environment

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students determine how animals and people adapt to the desert environment. In this desert lesson plan, students review vocabulary about the desert and how humans have to make changes to accommodate their environments. They listen to and...