AND NATIVE CULTURES
- small clay flower pots or dishes
- writing materials
- large ziplock bags
- Divide students into groups of
three or four. Purchase one small clay flower pot or
dish for each group.
- Have students create an alphabet
without using letters or numbers. Tell them not to share
their ideas with other groups or tribes. They may use
symbols, animals, lines, etc but they must have a complete
- Create a message, motto, or saying
that represents their group or tribe.
- Label, draw, paint that message
in their newly created "alphabet" on their
clay pot. Have each member "sign" the pot or
dish using only their symbol alphabet.
- Bag each item in a large ziplock
bag. Have students put a strip of paper in bag with their
names in 'normal' letters.
- Label each bag by group number
and class period. Mark in grade book who belongs to each
- After the classes are gone for
the day, drop, break, or smash each pot or dish (while
in the ziplock bag). These become your artifacts.
- Lay bags out on tables. All bags
from one class will now go to another class so that there
will be no hints as to whose bag it is.
- From the bags of each class, pull
and mix a few shards. You want each bag to have the parts
to its pot plus one or two from another bag and missing
a piece or two. You might also want to do away with a
small piece or two. In a real dig site, you may not find
- When the class returns the next
day they will get a bag of artifacts from another "tribe's
site". Have students draw each piece with its symbols
for later research and exchange. They must now reconstruct
the pottery, figure out the language and the message.
They may also have to figure out who has any of their
missing pieces or work around the missing shards.
- Have them present their findings
and what the writings mean or what they think it means.
- Make copies of each groups drawings
and findings. Return that info to the original group
for study and discussion.
- Other suggestions: Make a chart
showing each "language". Display the artifacts
OAK PARK MIDDLE SCHOOL
LAKE CHARLES, LA
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF
Students get a hands-on experience and
opportunities to role play while pretending to be part of
Christopher Columbus' crew.
explorer food (biscuits,
beef jerky, cheese, raisins, water?)
used masking tape on the floor and all students had to
sit inside the tape, items to "trade"--old scarves,
material swatches, fake beads etc.)
Gentle Ocean CD (optional
but very cool effect)
Explain that todays
lesson is to get a feel for what Columbus' crew experience
during their days at sea.
Assign a student to
be Columbus, and a student to be the "cook."
Columbus is responsible
for leading the crew and keep the peace.
The cook is responsible
for giving out food (small portions!!)
Each child should receive
an item to "trade" when they reach their destination
(they could bring this in from home too)
Students should climb
aboard and if you use Gentle Ocean sounds you should play
Cook gives out food
Columbus leads the way - meanwhile you should pull a student
aside and ask him/her to start to revolt against Columbus'
rule. Have the student claim they are tired, hungry, and
lost and they want to go home. It is Columbus' job to get
the crew to stay on target! (This is a fun part I think!)
Conclude the lesson
with a journal activity on how Columbus must have felt
and how other members of the crew must have felt.
Management tip: Any "unruly" crew
members are thrown overboard and have to give up their
trade item and sit out for the lesson.
RADNOR TOWNSHIPT SCHOOL
TWO NATIVE AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
NATIVE AMERICAN DIORAMAS
- shoe box
- construction paper
- tooth picks
- any other materials the students want
to bring in for their dioramas
- The teacher explains that the dioramas
should show examples of their tribe's lifestyle, for example,
their homes, food, and clothing. It should also show what
the terrain is like, for example, Calusas are found on
the southern coast and Apalachees are found in the northern
part of the state.
- The students then use a variety of
materials to complete their dioramas; they need to use
more than just construction paper.
- Students work on their own in class
creating their dioramas. They should have at least two
class periods to work on them. They should work individually
and should be able to use their notes, textbook, and other
resources (provided by the teacher) to assist the accuracy
of their creation.
- The dioramas are then displayed in
the classroom or school after the are completed.
NATIVE AMERICAN QUILT
- construction paper
- The lesson is introduced by the teacher
having the class choose a tribe other than the one they
researched for their diorama.
- They are given construction paper
and asked to think of a "scene" for the tribe
they choose. The scene should be of the village and will
show the tribe's lifestyle and at least one custom.
- Each paper needs a sentence at the
bottom that provides a decent detail about the tribe and
has the tribe's name.
- Each student will have to have their
paper facing the same way, so that it can be made into
- Since time is extremely limited,
the teacher should punch holes in the papers and string
them together to form a quilt.
- The teacher then can hang the quilt
in the classroom for everyone to enjoy.
no school listed
no city listed
COMMUNITY BUILDING IN YOUR
CLASSROOM: JIGSAW PARTNERS
- This is one way of mixing up your new
class on the 1st day of term and getting them to meet each
- construction paper
- Make up some cards (Approx 3inches
x 8inches / 8cm x 20cm) with WELCOME printed on them
- Draw a line, dividing each piece into
2, using a different pattern for each line.
- Laminate them if you want to reuse them.
- Cut each card into 2 pieces along the
line, making 2 jigsaw pieces.
- Shuffle the pieces.
- As you greet each student in the
schoolyard, or in the line-up, hand out the shuffled pieces,
explaining only that the students should keep them flat & not
swap with anyone.
- As the students hang up their bags,
tell them to go into the classroom and find their matching
jigsaw piece, completing the word "Welcome",
and to sit either beside or opposite their jigsaw partner.
- Finding their partner encourages
everyone (including new or shy students) to mingle & hopefully
splits up groups that might exclude new students.
- Tell the class that they will sit in
these places until you decide to change them.
- Collect jigsaws for reuse.
- PINKY GRIFFITHS
ST. JOHN BOSCO SCHOOL
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO, CANADA
COMMUNITY BUILDING IN YOUR
CLASSROOM: SECRET ITEM
- This activity allows everyone in the
class find out more about each other, and you to discover things
about your students that you may not otherwise know. It takes
quite a bit of class time, but if you spread it out over the
1st two weeks, doing a few students a day, it can be done.
The activity has the added benefit of aiding reading/language
skills by developing deductive reasoning and inferencing skills.
- large brown lunch bags 1 per student
and one for you.
- This activity works best if you can arrange
your class in a circle. Once you get into a circle the 1st
time, it becomes a quick & easy thing to do and is a handy
process to teach the kids for any future class discussion.
- Start off by opening a brown lunch bag,
into which you have placed an item that "says" something
about you; something that is not really obvious. Don't tell
the class that it belongs to you.
- If necessary, describe the item. Then
ask the class what this item "says" about the person
who owns it; what personal qualities the item infers. For example,
if it is delicate and well cared for, the person obviously
takes care of things, &
is responsible enough to be allowed to bring it to school, likes
doing whatever the item represents etc. you are looking for personal
& character traits.
- Tell the class that the item belongs
to someone in the room & ask if they would like to guess
to whom the item belongs. Take 3 guesses & then come clean,
giving a short explanation of why you chose this item.
- Explain to the class that they are to
bring in to school something that really says something about
them, something that is important to them. (I have had anything
from something "my Grandma gave me" to a universal
joint from a large car engine!!!) The item should "say" something
about them that the class would otherwise probably not know.
- The item should not be valuable (I.e.
no gold jewelry etc.), and they must have their parent's permission
to bring it to school.
- The item could be something that a relative
gave them, something they made, or something they have collected
- Above all, they MUST NOT tell anyone NOT
EVEN THEIR CLOSEST FRIEND in the class - what they are bringing.
- All secret items are to be placed in
the brown bag if at all possible, and their name written INSIDE
the bag, and brought to school A.S.A.P.
- Instruct students to make sure they are
discreet when they bring their item to you and store them safely
in a large bin. (I try to put the bin in a safe place at night,
just in case, or if a student does bring something really special
(worth stealing!), with permission, I lock that particular
bag in my cupboard each night, until it is pulled from the
- When quite a few bags have accumulated,
get into circle mode & pick a bag from the bin, repeating
the process that was followed with your item.
- Allow students to speculate and infer
personal attributes from the item. Don't let them get away
with "They like soccer" if it is a soccer trophy,
as this is too obvious. They should say what type of person
might have a soccer trophy. I.e. probably fit/athletic, responsible/reliable turned
up for practices, did not let team down etc.
- After guesses, allow student to explain
& say a little about him or herself. Having something as
gives even the shyest student the courage to participate and
the new students an "in" to the class.
- If you keep the sessions to about half
an hour, the students do not have a chance to get bored and
do improve in their deductive reasoning and inferencing skills.
- The student whose item was picked gets
to pick the next bag from the bin.
- submitted by
- PINKY GRIFFITHS AND TAMARA PICHUR
ST. JOHN BOSCO SCHOOL
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO, CANADA
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
- large sheets of colored butcher paper
- Divide students into groups of five
or six. Provide each group a large sheet of colored butcher
- Instruct students to draw a large
flower with a center and an equal number of petals to the
number of students in their groups.
- Through discussion with their group
members they are to find their similarities and differences.
They should fill in the center of the flower with something
they all have in common.
- Each member fills in his/her petal
with something about them that is unique--unlike any other
member in their group. Students should be instructed that
they cannot use physical attributes such as hair color,
weight etc. (to encourage more meaningful discussion with
their group members). Students should be encouraged to
be creative in their ideas and drawings.
- Students share with the large group,
teacher leads discussion about similarities and differences,
and the flowers can be displayed.
A.C. NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL
BALCH SPRINGS, TX
AN OPENING TIME-LINE PROJECT
To help students understand
time lines, I try to associate as much of my teaching as
I can to real life situations.
- 8 X 11 poster boards
- photos of various years of each student's
- I ask students to make a time line
of their life starting at birth and each year after that
up to their current age.
- I supply them with 8 x 11 poster
boards that they tape together by the end to make the time
- They put the year of their birth
- They are asked to write one important
thing for each year. I suggest that they ask their parents
for pictures to put on their time lines.
- I also, as a teacher made a time
line ahead of time and showed them it as an example.
- I put these outside of my room on
a bulletin board before Open House or Back-to-School Night.
Parents are excited to look at everyone's pictures. This
is also a great way to get to know your students!
KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE
FOR YOUR STUDENTS
History texts are woefully inadequate.
Most of today's History texts, across the United States,
have been so watered down in an effort to placate various
special interest groups and be politically correct that there's
little content left.
It's up to the teacher to draw the information
together and present it in a meaningful way. However, the
surest way to kill students' interest in History is to teach "names
I've always found that it's the little
things that make History come alive for classes. We don't
all have to dress up like George Washington or stage a mock
pirate battle in front of our students to hold their interest.
Students love stories, and, after all,
History is the grandest story of all. Therefore, it should
be presented that way. Bring out the personal side of History's
characters and the trivial tidbits of the past's great events.
You will find that this will provide the matrix for a greater
interest and a better understanding on the part of the student!
Yes, as the text tells us, Hannibal
was the first to take an army across the Alps, but it cost
him three-quarters of his army before he had even fought
his first Roman. Was it worth it? Was he a hero, a patriot,
an egomaniac, or simply a vengeful son? What went through
his mind when the Romans tossed his brother's head in his
camp?.....The possibilities are endless.
The texts don't supply the answers;
they don't even supply the questions! The teacher has to
research the subject and know the background behind the event.
He or she has to come to class prepared to awe, inspire,
and titillate; loaded to the gills with information and the
enthusiasm to transmit his or her love of History to the
[Editor's note; see the History
section on the EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES page for excellent
History links to materials.]
This is a tall order for today's harried
teachers. Loaded down with meaningless bureaucratic meetings,
buried in paperwork, less and less time to cover the required
curriclum, coping with broken families, kids that have been
abused, one social problem after another...but it works...and
it's all worth it when that kid in the back (the one who's
usually up at the office) exclaims, "Cool!" right
in the middle of today's lesson.
E.V. CAIN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
PUTTING TOGETHER THE PUZZLE
PIECES OF HISTORY
- 60 or more piece child puzzle
- On the first day of school, I give
each student 2-3 pieces of a 60 piece child's puzzle.
- I then ask the students to, two at
a time, to approach the table at the front of the room,
and try to put the puzzle pieces where they belong.
- After all the students have tried,
I ask them why they thought I asked them to do such a difficult
task. The correct response should be something like this:
History is like a puzzle. There are often missing pieces.
There are many ways that the pieces can turn to look right.
We don't always have all the answers. But, we can make
some educated guesses (straight pieces go on the borders,
colors are kept together, etc.) and put together what we
- After the puzzle is complete, we
can still see the lines of the pieces. In other words,
we don't see a perfectly clear picture of what happened.
We see most of what happened, and that is what History
is all about....putting puzzle pieces together!!
- submitted by
- MICHELLE ROACH
STALEY MIDDLE SCHOOL
This lesson is geared mainly for the
social studies lesson, but could be used for every subject.
- posters of directions (such as arrows
pointing left, right, up, down and a person seeming to
walk backwards, forward, and sideways),
- signs of stop, one way, stoplight,
- signs of places that you would need
to look or follow to get there (I found pictures of all
different kinds of signs like school crossing, pizza place,
handicapped, woman, man, etc. and showed the students each
one and asked them to identify them),
- books on maps and directions (such
as a "getting lost" book)
- Start out with a statement like "Stop!
Look out the window."
- Discuss what word made them look
out the window.
- Tell them that stop is a kind of
direction which you must obey or you could get hurt.
- Ask them if they know why they could
- Now show the students the posters
of directions and have them identify what they are.
- Read the book on directions about
getting lost, and then talk about ways that they can get
help if they ever do get lost.
- Play a game such as "Simon Says"
and say everthing in directions, such as "take a step
or "take a step to the right".
- Eventually lead up to saying two
directions like take a step forward and then take a step
to the left.
- Review with the students ways to
get help if they get lost, and read the book on getting
- Ask them what are some other ways
that they can use to find their way around. The answers
could be maps and signs.
- Finally use the signs that you have
about handicap, woman, man, school crossing, pizza place,
etc. and ask them to identify them and tell where they
would find each one.
WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
HOW HISTORY IS RECORDED
- I begin by talking about the way
we record our history, and discuss the fact that our history
is mainly written down in history books, but it is also
inherent in all written material in our culture.
- Point out that newspapers and magazines
are the most obvious examples of that. But, since there
are other ways of recording history, I usually begin a
discussion of how the Native American tribes usually had
a tribe historian who had histories of every family in
the tribe memorized for up to six or seven generations
back. And all of that history was handed down orally; they
had no way of writing.
- I then ask the students to go home
and bring back a story from their parents about something
the parents can remember when they were kids. I also include
some questions about where their parents were born, and
where their grandparents were born. (Out of a group of
eleven students this year, and this is in the Seattle area,
only four of the students were born in the Seattle area.
One student was born in Cambodia; her parents were born
in Cambodia, and another set of parents was born in Taiwan;
six sets of grandparents were born outside the US, and
when you go back that far, the grandparents are from all
over the country). This leads to some interesting comparisons
and a very easy discussion of diversity. We all have our
- The stories that the kids share about
their parents are always interesting and diverse. The stories
also trigger many other stories that the kids already knew
but couldn't think of when prompted. This whole sharing
experience takes at least an hour, since the kids really
get wound up in comparing "the old days"
to today, and comparing their family histories. Inevitably,
they find out that not all history is written down in history
As a side-note, one of my Instructional
Assistants (about 50-ish) went home and called her sister
long distance and talked for two hours. She thanked me
for making this assignment, and she told me that she learned
more about her family than she had ever known in her whole
life. This exercise also gets kids to sit their parents
down at the table and TALK!
Within the next couple of weeks, I am
going to have the students repeat this exercise with another
twist. Bring in a story about how your family celebrates
the holidays, and another story from a parent about their
most memorable holiday celebration. I know that we're going
to learn about the Chinese new-year from this, and we'll
definitely see some more diversity. I can't wait. This is
not a discussion on religion, but a discussion on family
REDMOND HIGH SCHOOL & ODYSSEY JUNIOR HIGH
HISTORY'S RELATIONSHIP TO ONE'S LIFE
Many students think "history" is
political and military events that happened long ago and
has little relationship to their own lives. This activity
shows that everyone has a personal history that is affected
by the times in which they live.
- Have students draw a horizontal line
on a piece of paper starting with their birth year and
ending with the present year.
- Have them write or draw five important
events that have happened in their lives next to the year
- The teacher draws a horizontal line
on the board starting with the year of birth of the oldest
student to the present. Ask students to identify important
events that have occurred within their lifetimes, be sure
to include social and cultural events as well as political,
economical and military .
- In groups or a classroom discussion
consider the ways in which they are affected by the times
they live in.
- For homework have students ask their
parents or any older person to list some historical events
that have happened in their lifetime. The next day list
the responses along a timeline on the board.
- Conclude the lesson by repeating
the message that everyone has a personal history that affects
or is affected by the times in which they live.
SEVEN HILLS MIDDLE SCHOOL
NEVADA CITY, CA
COMMUNITY BUILDING IN
YOUR CLASSROOM: STRAW ACTIVITY
- This FUN activity will allow the
students to automatically develop the basic attitudes that
you would like to be foremost in your class.
- 1 bundle of approximately 40 drinking
straws per group
- roll of masking tape
- Divide the class into groups of 4
(3 if necessary, but preferably not 5)
- Hand out a bundle of 40 straws to
- Give each group about a meter (yard)
of masking tape.
- Instructions to the class:
- You are going to construct the
tallest, FREESTANDING structure that you can, using
only the straws and the tape that you have been given.
- You will get no more tape, so
use it carefully.
- You may not anchor your structure
to a desk, or the floor with the tape.
- BUT you must work in complete
silence during the entire process.
- If you do talk, a straw will
be taken from your group each time you do speak. (Note
for you only: Taking a straw from the 40 provided,
will not really make a difference, as few use them
all, but be extremely strict and have a couple of "sacrificial
lambs', and the silence rule will be effective.)
- Say that there will be absolutely
no talking from this point onwards. (Remove straws
quickly if they do speak.)
- Suggest that group keeps an eye
on the time. (They may begin to gesture at this point.)
- The "silence" rule
will cause some consternation, but just say that there
are various ways of communicating, only one of which
- Assign a space in your room for
- Set a time limit; say 15 mins.
- Walk around the room taking straws
if necessary and give a 5 & then a 2-minute warning.
Observe how productive groups work & make a mental
note of any actions, both positive & negative to
comment on later.
- When the time is up, go to the
various groups with a couple of metre (yard) sticks
and measure each one.
- Congratulate the winners, & commiserate
with the rest of the class. Always stress the process
rather than the results. I.e. Did you enjoy the task/challenge?
If you did, then you won. Students usually enjoy this
task; they find it a different type of challenge.
- Now is the time for discussion.
Ask if they learned anything by doing this. (You'll
be awed by the answers.) Ask the most successful group,
what made them successful and what didn't work. Ask
the other groups what worked for them and what didn't.
- Ask how they managed to communicate
without talking & emphasize that communication
of all types, is vital if we are to succeed in anything.
- You should end up being able
to elicit the following responses from your students;
some will need guided questions, others will come up
- As you get the required responses,
make a chart of the basic ideas. The bracketed notes
are FYI only.
- Communicate: find a way,
somehow to let others know what you mean. (Vital
in the current climate of learning. Students not
only have to know what they are doing, they have
to be able to explain it to others.)
- You need a strong foundation
on which to build anything. (This applies to learning
and practicing basic skills.)
- Respect everyone in your
group by including them. (This should come from
discussion about people who were made to feel left
out; who weren't allowed to contribute, and how
- Respect other people's ideas
and efforts. (Whose idea helped the group? Maybe
an idea wasn't used, but it could spark another
idea. Everyone can contribute in one way or another.)
- Respect property, both yours
and other people's. (If you got mad & wasted
tape or straws, you only hurt your group and therefore
- Listen, not only with your
ears, but also with your head and your heart. (Sometimes
just acknowledging another's ideas makes them feel
- Try out new ideas; take good
risks. (Some students may say that they thought
an idea wouldn't work, but they tried it & were
- Take responsibility for your
actions. (If you suggest something that doesn't
work, admit it, apologize
& move on; if you suggest a successful method,
don't laud it over everyone else.)
- Respect other people. (The
most important rule; encompasses all the above.)
- A true story that you can credit
to your own child or a nephew etc, and that applies to
being left out is something that happened to my son. He
was 7 yrs old and came home from school one day looking
dejected. I asked him what he had done at school. He replied "I
learned how not to make dinosaurs!" I asked what he
meant, thinking that he had made a mistake or something.
He replied, " My group had to make a dinosaur and
I didn't get to help so I guess I learned how NOT to make
dinosaurs."!!! I tell my students this story every
year & they usually get the point. Any time we have
group work, I remind them to make sure that no one learns
how NOT to do it!
- submitted by
- PINKY GRIFFITHS
ST. JOHN BOSCO SCHOOL
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO, CANADA