Native American Folk Tales Social Studies Lesson Plan, Thematic Unit, Activity, Worksheet, or Civics, American History, or Government Teaching Idea

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Instructional Objective:
Students will work in groups to study the beliefs of different Indian tribes.

Anticipatory Set:
* I will ask if any of the students are familiar with the religions of Native Americans. I will explain that traditional Native American belief systems center upon the Earth.
* I will tell them that some Native Americans hold spiders in the highest regards because they believe that their people was created by someone named Spider Woman.

Activities:
1. I will read summaries of the folk tales, Spider Woman and How Grandmother Spider Stole the Sun.
2. I will ask the students if they have ever heard these stories before. Does anyone believe these stories?
3. I will explain that the different Indian tribes have slightly different belief systems. Today, we are going to study a few tribes in particular. We will see if their beliefs are very similar or different.
4. I will put children into small groups of four or five. I will give them each a job: Researcher, Recorder, Reporter, and Illustrator. I will explain that the researcher is to find the information. The researcher should tell this information to the recorder, who will write the information down. The illustrator will draw a relevant picture. This can be a picture of anything that you think represents the beliefs of your tribe. The reporter will share your information with the class.
5. Students will have thirty minutes to complete their research. When they are finished, I will ask the reporter from each group to stand up and tell us about the beliefs of his or her tribe.
6. After each group has presented its findings, I will ask which tribes were the same and how. Which were different and how? Did any seem to be exactly alike? Did any seem to be completely different?

Adaptations:
Cassie (LD)- I will ask Cassie to be the illustrator. The other children can explain anything she doesn't understand, and they can give her ideas of what to draw.

Closure:
* I will ask the students why they think some of the beliefs are so different or so similar. Do you think it is because of where they lived?
* For homework, I will ask each child to find out what part of the United States his/her tribe lived in. Tomorrow we can compare the different tribes, and determine if their beliefs may have been shaped by the location they lived in.

Evaluation:
Students will be assessed on their participation and behavior within their groups.

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