NATIVE AMERICANS LESSON

Student: Peter Lynch Professor: R. Moroney

Course EDU: 521.02 Date: 4/29/14

Grade: 4 Topic: Native Americans Content Area: Social Studies

Lesson Objectives

Following excerpts from Lois Lenskis book Indian Captive, students will participate in a class
discussion, then identify and create a list characteristics of Iroquois life during the 1600s on a
story map.

Following the creation of story maps, students will construct a paragraph-long diary entry based
on life in the 1600s from the vantage point of an Iroquois child, along with an original
illustration to accompany the entry, attaining a minimum score of 20 on a teacher-constructed
rubric.

CCLS /+NYS

English Language Arts Standard (CCSS): Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and
Collaboration (SL.4.4):

Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using
appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak
clearly at an understandable pace.

Indicator:

This will be evident when students respond to teacher prompts during the lesson that
ensure student comprehension, and when students are prompted to support their
opinions with textual evidence.

English Language Arts Standard (CCSS): Language Use: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
(LS.4.4):

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases
based on grade four reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

Indicator:

This will be evident when the teacher prompts students to define or clarify new or
unfamiliar vocabulary words in the story based on context clues.

English Language Arts Standard (CCCSS): Writing: Text Type and Purposes (WS.4.2):

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Indicator:

This will be evident when students create original journal entries based on the life of a
child living in an Iroquois village in the 1600s.

English Language Arts Standard (CCSS): Language Use: Conventions of Standard English
(LS.4.2):

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation,
and spelling when writing.

Indicator:

This will be evident when students create original journal entries, remaining mindful
of basic capitalization and punctuation rules, and using appropriate classroom
resources to proofread.

English Language Arts Standard (NYS) #2 Listening:

Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression.

Indicator:

This will be evident when students identify elements of character, plot, and setting, and
when taking notes on story maps to record and organize information from the read-aloud.

English Language Arts Standard (NYS) #1 Speaking:

Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.

Indicator:

This will be evident when students ask questions about the text, summarize information,
state a main idea with supporting details, and explain lines of reasoning.

English Language Arts Standard (NYS) #3 Writing:

Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression.


Indicator:

This will be evident when students write an original journal entry using vivid language
and details from the text.

Social Studies Standard (NYS) #1.3: History of the United States and New York:

Students will: use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major
ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New
York.

Indicator:

This will be evident when students gather and organize information about the important
accomplishments of Native American Indians, their livelihood in the 1600s, and their
relationship to settlers.

Engaging the learners

The teacher will ask for two student volunteers from the class and instruct them to role-play
villagers from an Iroquois tribe. The teacher will act as if he were being held captive by the two
Iroquois, as reflected from the books plot. He will ask the class for advice about ways to escape
from the two Iroquois. After the students advice is considered, the first student actor will hand
the teacher a pair of moccasins, while the other will hand him a clay pot, both gifts alleviating
the teachers fears, causing him to reconsider escaping. The teacher will prompt the students for
interpretations of the skit.

Materials

Moccasins, clay pot, a copy of the book Indian Captive by Lois Lenski, Smart Board, computer
with internet access, story maps, notebooks, pencils, construction paper, markers.

Learning Strategies

Role Playing: This will be evident during the motivation when the teacher and two students act
out a portion of the books plot.

Group Discussion: This will be evident when students pause to discuss the books characters,
setting, and plot.

Direct Instruction: This will be evident when the teacher performs the read-aloud.

Independent Work: This will be evident when the students create journal entries and original
illustrations to accompany the entries.


Exceptionality

The student with a graphomotor disability will be permitted to use an electronic story
map application on a portable device for the pre-writing construction phase and a word-
processing program to assist in the writing of the journal entry.

The hearing impaired student will receive an adaptation that will allow them to watch a
signed version of the book on a portable device during the read-aloud.

Differentiation of Instruction

Non-proficient writers will receive a more basic story map to guide them in the
construction phase of their journal entries. Journal entries will be no more than six
sentences long.

Proficient writers will be required to create a journal entry of at least eight sentences
long.

Gifted learners will be required to write eight to ten sentences in their journal, and
correctly use at least three key terms from the read-aloud.

Developmental Procedures

Students will take notebooks, pencils, and graphic organizers and form a group in a
portion of the room designated as a class meeting space. They will be told that they will
listen to excerpts from the book Indian Captive by Lois Lenski.
(Has anyone ever heard of the author or the book before? Judging by the books cover,
what sort of person do you think the main character is like? How do you think the author
will portray Native Americans? Settlers? How do you think the relationship between the
Native Americans and the settlers will be portrayed by Lois Lenski?)
Students will be told that they are to take notes about important character traits, the
setting, and the plot on their graphic organizers. The teachers will guide the note-taking
process by asking questions about important elements of the story and writing those
responses in appropriate columns on the Smart Boards graphic organizer.
(What is the character Molly Jemison like? How would you describe her? What is the
name of the Native American tribe? What river do they live near? What fort was Molly
taken from? How is Molly treated by the Native Americans? How would you describe
life in the Iroquois village? How would you describe life in the 1600s?)
After the reading, the teacher will recap with the students and encourage them in a
discussion to clarify the meaning of the text, including key terms.
(Who can briefly summarize the main ideas in the story? Can anyone add to those ideas?
Has everyone who shared their ideas been correct in their observations of the text? Is
everyone satisfied with the organization of their story maps? Does anyone need help in
further organizing their graphic organizers? How would you define some of the terms
weve read today: frontier, primitive, captivity, settlement, gnarled, et. al.?)
Students will return to appropriate writing spaces and begin to construct their journal
entries in notebooks. Students will take turns presenting their entries to the class as they
complete them.
(What are some elements he/she included in their entry? What was particularly strong
about this students writing? What stood out? What sorts of strategies did you use when
completing your entry? Was what you wrote about your favorite part of the story?
Why?)
As students complete their entries, the teacher will distribute construction paper and
markers explaining that good authors, at times, provide their readers with a visual aid to
support the big idea or major theme behind their work.
(Think about your journal entries and consider the major theme or big idea behind your
work. You are to imagine that your work will be published as part of a new expanded
edition to Lois Lenskis book. How would you illustrate the main idea of your entry in
this new edition of the book? What do you want readers to see and why?)

Artifacts and Assessment

Students will successfully create a story map from their note-taking during the listening portion
of the lesson.

Students will develop an original journal entry from the point of view of a child living in an
Iroquois village in the 1600s.

Students create an illustration highlighting the main theme behind their journal entry.

Independent Practice

Following the lesson, students will break into groups of three or four and read their journal
entries to each other. Students will offer warm and cold feedback to one another about the
overall impact the journal entry had on each student in the group.

Students will be encouraged to use feedback they received from reading buddies and apply it to
future writing assignments.

Follow-up: Direct Teacher Intervention and Academic Enrichment

Direct Teacher Intervention: The teacher will work independently with those students who
struggle with the writing process and, if necessary, reread excerpts from the text until they
exhibit an acceptable level of comprehension, while supporting and guiding them on the
completion of their story maps. The teacher will also utilize technological support with the
Weebly web page: nysnativeamericans.weebly.com in supporting student comprehension of the
Native Americans in New York State. The teacher will then guide students in the completion of
their journal entry with details from the text, emphasizing the basic layout of the writing process
(beginning, middle, end).

Academic Enrichment: Students in need of academic enrichment will be given access to an
electronic version of the story and assigned to read the text beyond what was covered in the
group read-aloud. These students will be required to create journal entries depicting life in the
1600s over the course of a weeks time. Students will share their entries with the class at the
end of the week that the lesson took place.









































Teacher References

Baldino, C., Bright, D., Lynch P. (2014, April). NYS Native Americans. Weebly.com.
Retrieved From http://nysnativeamericans.weebly.com/

Follow the guide: retelling graphic organizer. (2014). Retrieved from
http://printables.scholastic.com/printables/detail/?id=41818

Graphic organizer: organizational outline. (2014). Retrieved from
http://printables.scholastic.com/printables/detail/?id=35510

Lenski, L. (1941). Indian captive: the story of Mary Jemison. New York: Frederick A. Stokes
Co.