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The Pack contains associated resources for the learning experience, typically in the form of articles and videos. There is a teacher Pack (with only teacher information) and a student Pack (which contains only student information). As a teacher, you can toggle between both to see everything.
Here are the teacher pack items for Native Americans:
Overview In this experience, students examine a map of Indigenous homelands. Then they learn about the many different types of homes built by the Indigenous people. Next they examine the relationship between the Native people of the plains and bison. Finally, they read an Apache legend and reflect on its message. Note that this experience focuses on the diversity among Native American people. It does not attempt to teach students about specific groups of people. If you have access to leveled readers that describe Native American life, assign them to the students in parallel to this experience. Estimated duration: 35-45 minutes Vocabulary words: Objective
Before European colonization, North America was home to many Native nations. These nations had their own homelands, languages, cultures, governments, and ways of life. Native nations are still here today and continue to shape the United States. Today, there are hundreds of federally recognized Native nations in the United States, including American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages. In this experience, you will learn about several Native nations and compare how their homelands, environments, cultures, and ways of life are similar and different.
Objective
Look at the map. It shows general areas where different Native nations lived before large-scale European settlement. These areas are not exact borders. Some Native nations lived in permanent communities, while others moved during different seasons to hunt, gather, fish, farm, or trade. Some homelands and travel areas overlapped.
What do you notice about where different Native nations lived? What might the map show about how Native nations were connected to different environments, such as forests, plains, deserts, rivers, or coasts?
Have students look through one another’s posts and notice patterns in the map. Encourage them to identify similarities and differences in the environments where Native nations lived, such as forests, plains, deserts, rivers, lakes, and coasts. Ask students: Why is it important not to make one general statement about all Native nations? Guide students to understand that Native nations had distinct homelands, languages, cultures, governments, and ways of life. Some communities lived in permanent towns, while others moved seasonally for hunting, gathering, fishing, farming, or trade. Remind students that the map shows general areas, not exact borders, and that some homelands and travel areas overlapped.
