Our Native Americans : Iroquois A Thematic Unit for English Language Learners

1. Walter Eliason, Rider University Joyce May, Fisher Middle School NJ TESOL NJBE Spring Conference - May 2009 Our Native Americans: Iroquois A Thematic Unit for English Language Learners

2. Presentation Overview Process for Creating a Thematic Unit Rationale – Native Americans Enduring Understandings Learner Considerations WIDA Standards L2 and Content Areas Instructional Planning - Iroquois Essential Questions Lesson Plans Assessment Resources/Technology

3. Thematic Unit School Curriculum and Resources Thematic Unit for Instruction Full Lesson Lesson Segments

4. Building a Thematic Unit - Guidelines  MEANINGFUL CONTENT - Language can be developed when teaching content Consider the school’s C & I requirements Set the TIME and PLACE Incorporate ELP standards Gather resources Collaborate Develop instructional plan

5. Unit Context Native Americans and today Philadelphia 1776 town crier reads Declaration Colonies: Jamestown and Plymouth Colonies develop: regions produce and trade Thanksgiving then and today

6. Native Americans - Rationale To learn about another culture is a path to understanding one’s own culture. Middle school ELLs missed Native Americans elementary schools curricula. Background knowledge valuable to the ELLs; develop in literacy and cross-cultural empathy

7. Enduring Understandings Understand native inhabitants and immigration as a foundation for growth of USA Demonstrate empathy for both natives and colonists Recognize the study of history as important to knowledge of self Show respect and tolerance for all Americans Compare/contrast Native Americans with today’s people

8. Learner Considerations English language proficiency levels according to ACCESS Age and interests of the students Learning styles and personalities Variations in the development of skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking Ability to contrast another culture to their own culture Conferences with School personnel regarding ELLs

9. Standards NJ DOE recognizes WIDA Standards Performance Definition: level of proficiency Model performance indicators (MPI) will be identified: expected outcomes

10. L2 and Content Content Objectives Iroquois Indians: Location, Shelter, Clothing, Family, Government Language Objectives Vocabulary development Native to Modern American Structure development Verb structures: simple present to past, used to + verb Adverbs: now, then, usually, always, sometimes Possessives

11. Essential Questions Who were the first people to live in the USA? Can you tell us how the Iroquois lived in the Colonial times (1600-1700)? Can you compare these things with how you live in 2009? Can you talk about clothing, food, shelter, family life, history, and government?

12. Lesson Plans Part 1: Map Study - Building Background Knowledge Part 2: Storytellers Part 3: Wampum Part 4: Shelter and Clothing Part 5: Family and Government

13. Assessment - How do you assess language development and content learning at the same time?

14. Can Do Descriptors - ELPs Levels Pre K-12 DevelopingExpanding WIDA 2007

15. Resources/Technology Librarians from middle and elementary schools, and county libraries offered suggestions for resources and teaching materials. Internet yielded valuable resources. www.nativeamericansunit.wikispaces.com

16. YOUR Ideas for Thematic Units

17. Lesson 1 Students will interact with website: The Journey of Mankind. http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/ This interactive site provides an overview of man’s migration for the past 160,000 years. Students will identify reasons for migration and relate to their individual reasons for their (im)migration to the US. Students will note the migration patterns into North and South America.Using Inspiration, students will create webs identifying what they would like to learn about people who settled in the northeastern United States where they currently live. Students will read text If You Lived With the Iroquois by Ellen Levine pp. 6-7 on where the Iroquois settled.Pre-European maps with Native American Settlements will be compared to present day map of the United States. http://www.nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/pdf/outline/states.pdfhttp://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/early_indian_east.jpg

18. Lesson 2 Students will read Levine text pp. 11-13, 79, about Iroquois language and storytellers. Students will brainstorm ways storytellers could remember their stories. Introduce key vocabulary before reading stories: tracks, moccasins, fooled / boast, bidding, horizon, stripe. Students will read Iroquois folktales “Rabbit and Fox” and “Chipmunk and Bear” and retell using either written or picture prompts. Using a Venn diagram, students will identify common elements in two Iroquois folktales. Students will identify personal and universal themes in the stories and connect them to their lives and the today’s world. http://www.readingquest.org/pdf/story_map.pdfStudents will write an OEQ related to the story/ies. Rabbit/Chipmunk uses trickery to outsmart Fox/Bear. - Describe how Rabbit/Chipmunk outsmarts Fox/Bear. - Why is Rabbit/Chipmunk trickery successful? What lesson does this teach about life?

19. Lesson 3 Introduce key vocabulary related to reading: beads, shell, messenger. Students will read Levine text pp. 14-15 about wampum. Students will view sample wampum on the projected screen http://www.nativetech.org/wampum/wamphist.htm.Students will create a virtual wampum using website http://nativetech.org/wampum . Students will identify 5 significant life events and create a paper wampum with symbols to represent those events. A culminating activity will be the creation a modern day wampum, a bead keychain with a symbol in the pattern.

20. Lesson 4 Introduce key vocabulary related to reading: Stockade, logs, storage, compartments. Students will read Levine text pp.16-20 about Iroquois longhouses. Students will view pictures/drawings of longhouses on a projected screen. http://www.nativetech.org/clothing/clothing.htmlhttp://www.nativetech.org/clothing/regions/region5.htmlUsing graph paper and oaktag, students will create a scale model of a longhouse or using natural materials students will create a replica of a longhouse.Students will read Levine text pp.33, 36, and 38, about Iroquois clothing. Students will view pictures/drawings of clothing on the projected screen. Students will dress a virtual paper doll in Native American dress.http://www.nativetech.org/games/paperdolls/index.html Students will create a moccasin out of felt and sew with plastic gimp.

21. Lesson 5 Students will read Levine text p.23. Students will create a new family incorporating Iroquois family definitions (fireside family and longhouse family) to their present day family. Students will share the names of their new mothers and siblings. Students will read Levine text p.39, 46. Students will read Levine text p.24-5 about Iroquois family. Students will read Levine text pp. 71-4. Using information fro the text, make a Venn diagram comparing/contrasting Iroquois government to US government. Discuss aspects of the Iroquois government you feel positive. Read p. 76 of Levine text about government leaders. Write OEQ: How is government of the Iroquois similar to US government? What aspects of Iroquois government do you feel should be a part of the US government?