Discovering the Taino A WebQuest for 5 th and 6 th Grade Students Integrating Social Studies, Language Arts, and Tech

1. Student Page Introduction Task Process Resources Evaluation Conclusion Teacher Page Credits Discovering the Taino A WebQuest for 5th and 6th Grade Students Integrating Social Studies, Language Arts, and Technology Designed by Mrs. Deborah Schelmay dschelmay@trschools.com Based on a template from the WebQuest Page Photo from TravelTravelTravel.com

2. INTRODUCTION When Columbus arrived on the islands of the Caribbean in 1492, he encountered a civilization of people that had existed for thousands of years. These people are called the Taino and they greeted Columbus and his men in a friendly fashion. Yet in the years to follow, Columbus and his counterparts nearly destroyed a culture of over two million people. You and your team have been hired by an international film production company to produce a documentary about the Taino people and their culture. Many people are uninformed about this pre-Columbian civilization. Your documentary will help others understand the people who existed in the islands of the Caribbean long before Columbus ever arrived. Photo from Caribbean Online Puerto Rico

3. THE TASK As a member of the production crew, it is your job to create a documentary about the Taino people. This documentary will be created in Microsoft PowerPoint. The Bahamian Islands Humanities Council has asked that you explain the significance of the ball game, the cacique, the areyto, zemis, and other aspects of Taino culture. It is critical that the viewers understand not only the daily life of the Taino, but their contributions to the present. This will take much careful planning and research. However, in the film world, it is well-known that a documentary made by your team is always first-rate. Photograph from ElMuseo.org Photo from ElBoricua.com

4. THE PROCESS Step 1: You will divide into groups of three or four students. Each student will choose a role: Executive Producer Director Graphics Analyst Sound Technician

5. The Executive Produceroversees the entire documentary. This person organizes the documentary and helps the rest of the crew decide on areas of research. The Directorkeeps the entire group working and on task. You have a tight production schedule and all time must be used wisely. The Graphics Analystcollects and saves pictures or animations that may be used for the documentary. An attractive documentary is a must! The Sound Techniciancollects and saves sound bytes that may be used for the documentary. Music and sound effects can influence the viewer.

6. Step 2. Decide upon areas of research. Meet as a group and discuss topics that should be covered in the documentary and who will be responsible for researching those topics. Keep in mind that your intended audience knows very little about the Taino culture. Remember that the Bahamian Islands Humanities Council has asked that you definitely include certain aspects of the culture. Will these topics be enough to give the viewer a well-rounded view of the Taino and how they lived? If not, what should be added? Here are some questions to think about: How did the ball courts play a role in determining the results of disputes? How did the Taino system of beliefs affect daily life? In what ways did caciques control the community’s relationship with the spiritual world of their beliefs? What universal need of humans is fulfilled by the areyto? How did the natural resources of the islands support the Taino economy? Photo from ElMuseo.org Photo from ElBoricua.com Questions from “Indigenous Peoples in Caribbean Prehistory” Photo by Carol Lee

7. Step 3.Using the websites provided in Resources, research your specific areas. Keep notes including websites used in a Microsoft Word document. Step 4. Once information has been collected, it is time to organize. The Executive Producer meets with the entire team to decide in what order the information will be presented. A storyboard will be created. The storyboard will be amended to reflect any changes during the process. Step 5. It is time to begin the PowerPoint presentation. Each student is an assistant producer responsible for creating a part of the documentary that covers the areas he/she researched.

8. PowerPoint Presentation Your team is responsible for a PowerPoint presentation that describes aspects of the Taino culture. Each student is responsible for creating a part of the documentary that covers the areas he/she researched. All slide shows should contain: Appropriate backgrounds, graphics, and readable, edited text. Title slide which contains the name of the slideshow and authors’ names. Three or more content slides that describe the aspects of the culture being studied. Bibliography slide that properly lists the resources used. Remember that content is most important and should be carefully researched and clearly catalogued.

9. Resources http://www.taino.org/2001f_art.html Taino.org Archaeology of the Caribbean http://welcome.topuertorico.org/reference/taino.shtml Taino Indians Culture http://www.elmuseo.org/taino/tainoworld.html Taino World http://www.taino-tribe.org/ Government of the Jatibonicu Taino People http://prboriken.com/taino.htm Puerto Rico Taino Culture http://www.archaeology.org/9809/newsbriefs/taino.html Taino Finds http://members.aol.com/STaino/ Biaraku First People of a Sacred Place http://ponce.inter.edu/tibes/tibes.html Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center http://www.taino.org/ Taino: The Archaeology of the Caribbean http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/anthro/caribarch/columbus.htm#top Florida Museum of Natural History: Christopher Columbus http://www.elboricua.com/BoricuaKidsTainos.html Boricua Kids http://www.elboricua.com/history.html El Boricua http://www.friendsvinp.org/archeol/lesson/back.htm Background for Teaching of Caribbean Prehistory

10. Conclusion Knowledge is like the wind… once obtaining it, you can go anywhere. --Yellow Horse Now that you have completed this quest, you have learned a great deal about a culture that existed more than five centuries ago. In uncovering the mysteries of the Taino, you have gained new knowledge and, as a result, you have formed opinions. When you know about the practices and beliefs of a culture, it is easier to understand and respect that culture. Can you apply these ideas to your lives today? In what way? Ultimately, all new knowledge encourages you to ask more questions and to seek more answers. What questions has this quest encouraged you to ask?

11. Evaluation

12. Teacher Page This unit is designed for fifth and sixth grade students and it integrates social studies, language arts, and technology standards for New Jersey. Students should have advanced composition skills and be comfortable using Microsoft PowerPoint. The students, who will implement this WebQuest, have little or no knowledge of the people Christopher Columbus first met when he arrived in the Americas. This unit will help them understand that there was an entire, well-established civilization already living in the part of the world that they have always thought was ‘discovered’ in 1492. Standards

13. Standards New Jersey Language Arts Standards Addressed 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 New Jersey Social Studies Standards Addressed 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7 New Jersey Technology Standards Addressed 8.1 Please click on the underlined words to link to pertinent information about specific standards.

14. Credits I would like to thank the following sites and materials for being instrumental in the creation of this WebQuest project: Informational Resources ColumbusQuest http://www.quest.classroom.com Indigenous Peoples in Caribbean Prehistory http://www.friendsvinp.org/archeol/lesson/elem.htm Rethinking Columbus The Next Five Hundred Years edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson; Rethinking Schools, Milwaukee, WI The WebQuest PAGE http://webquest.sdsu.edu/ Animations, Borders, Pictures Boricua Kids http://www.elboricua.com/BoricuaKidsTainos.html Carol Lee carolee@islands.vi Caribbean Online Puerto Rico http://www.col.com/islands/prico/sights.html Clip Art Connection http://www.clipartconnection.com/animations/index.html?start=16&gid=17086 Government of the Jatibonicu Taino People http://www.taino-tribe.org/ Taino World http://www.elmuseo.org/taino/tainoworld.html TravelTravelTravel.com www.traveltraveltravel.com/ carib_puerto_rico.htm