Content Area & Grade Level    Curriculum Standards

Implementation Overview    Entry Level Skills & Knowledge     Teacher Resources

Content Area and Grade Level

This webquest has been designed to support the Grade 2 curriculum in History/Social Science, which are part of an interdisciplinary unit based on Native American studies.  Strands and Standards addressed by this project include:

• History Strands
• Geography Strands
• Economics
• Civics

In addition, student presentations will address oral language skills using English Language Arts, Standards 20 and   Media Standards 26-28.

Curriculum Standards

Using a jigsaw cooperative learning model, the students will explore the lives of Native American children living in tribes from across the United States.  The students will develop an awareness of how climatologic and geographic influences affected choices made in shelter and customs.   Through the use of the final presentation/video product, all students will obtain background on a selected group of Native tribes according to the five regions of the United States.

History/Social Science

Learning Standard 2A-Historical Understanding: Students will understand the meaning, implications, and import of historical events while recognizing the contingency and unpredictability of history-how events could have taken other directions-by studying past ideas as they were thought, and past events as they were lived, by people in their own time.

Students will discuss the consequences of choices they make and compare their choices with the choices and consequences of story characters.

Learning Standard 4-Society, Diversity, Commonality and the Individual: Students should be expected to learn of the complex interplay that has existed from the beginning of our country between American ideals......

Students will listen to stories about Native American and European explorers' experiences. describe teh difficulties and successes that they and others experienced in a new culture. learn about the experiences of Native American children.

Learning Standard 9:  The Effects of Geography: Students will learn how physical environments have influenced particular cultures, economies, and political systems, and how geographic factors have affected population distribution, human migration, and other prehistoric and historical developments, such as agriculture, manufacturing, trade and transportation.

Students will: after reading about Native Americans in New England discuss seasonal settlements.  understand what motivated European explorers to find a new world.

Implementation Overview

This webquest is organized to be one of the first of a series of sessions which will become part of the Grade 2 History/Social Science unit for the second quarter.  It will involve a number of classes and will be structured for cooperative learning.  As an introductory activity, the teacher(s) will read aloud from Lynne Cherry's A River Ran Wild.  Students will then be introduced to the WebQuest format in a large group session; the computer teacher and classroom teachers will outline the format of the activities and what research requirements the students must complete.  The WebQuest is meant to be completed over a period of 10 days, and it is followed by a period of 5 days, during which students work with the computer teacher to tape the interview segments.  Student will present their information to the whole group via tape.

Entry Level Skills and Knowledge

It is expected that students will complete a KWL chart prior to beginning this thematic unit.  Students will need to organize their Internet research using a graphic organizer (to be supplied by the teacher) and will be expected to know how to navigate through a web page.  Safe Internet practices and teacher/adult oversight will need to be reinforced throughout the investigative stages.

Pre-requisite learning for the students include:

• identification of US map, direction identification, identification of landforms (such as mesa), environment, and climate
• concept of how people meet their needs individually and in groups by what is available to them in their surroundings

The teacher will be expected to know how to navigate through the links on a web page and will need to establish a rubric for project evaluation.  The teachers will also use or adapt a matrix of required information (the Research Guide to be posted here) developed to assist the students in analyzing the collected data and drawing the conclusions about the affect of climate on living customs for Native American tribes.  Teachers will also need to anticipate students' needs for vocabulary development before and during the project.

Additional Teacher Resources for Background, etc.

Web Resources for Teachers (some of these are in the Student Area, too)

Print Resources for Teachers

American Indian activity book. (not given). New York: Edupress.

Calloway, C.G. Indians of the northeast. (1999). New York: Checkmark Books.

Hoven, L. Thematic unit: Native Americans (Intermediate). (1990). Huntington Beach, CA:  Teacher Created Material.

Moger, S. Pilgrims - Complete theme unit developed in cooperation with Pilgrim Hall Museum. (1995). New York: Scholastic, Inc.

Pendergast, J. The bend in the river. (1999). Tyngsboro, MA: Merrimack River Press.

Smith, A.G. East-to-make Plains Indians tepee village. (1990). Toronto: General Publishing.

Smith-Baranzini, M. and H. Egger-Bovet.  USKids history: Book of the American Indians. (1994). Boston: Little Brown.

Siegel, B. Indians of the northeast woodlands. (1992). New York: Walker and Company.

Literature Links (Tribal Geographical Locator in Parenthesis):

Ashrose, C. The very first Americans. (1993). New York: Grosset & Dunlap.

Bruchac, J. and J. London. Thirteen moons on Turtle's back. (1992). New York: Putnam.

Cherry, L. A river ran wild. (copyright). Publisher. (Northeast-Nashua)

dePaola, Tomie. The legend of Indian paintbrush. (1993). New York: Scholastic. (Plains)

Doherty, K.M. and C.A. Doherty. The Wampanoag. (1995). New York: Franklin Watts. (Northeast-Wampanoag).

Ekoomiak, N. Artic Memories. (1988). New York: Henry Holt. (Inuit).

Flanagan, A.K. A true book: The Wampanoags. (1998). New York: Children's Press. (Northeast-Wampanoag).

Fritz, J. and T. dePaola. The good giants and the bad pukwudgies. (1982). New York: Putnam. (Northeast-Wampanoag)

Hamilton, V.  In the beginning: Creation stories from around the world. (1988). New York: Harcourt Brace.

Holling, H.C. Paddle-to-the-sea. (1969). New York: Trumpet.

Jeffers, S. Brother eagle, sister sky. (1991). New York: Scholastic. (Northwest Coast)

Landau, E. The Abenaki. (1996). New York: Franklin Watts. (Northeast-Abenaki)

Longfellow, H.W. and S. Jeffers. Hiawatha. (1983). New York: Scholastic. (Northeast-Algonquian)

Martin, B. & J. Archambault. Knots on a counting rope. (1987). New York: Trumpet Books. (A Reading Rainbow Book).

Martin, R. & D. Shannon. The Rough Face Girl. (1992). New York: Scholastic. (Algonquin Cinderella Story).

McDermott, G. Arrow to the sun. (1974). New York: Penguin Books. (Southwest-Pueblo)

McDermott, G. Raven. (1993). New York: Scholastic. (Northwest Coast)

Miles, M. Annie and the old one. (1971). Boston: Little Brown. (Southwest-Navajo).

Miller, J. American Indian Foods. (1996). New York: Grolier.

Quiri, P.R. The Algonquians. (1992). New York: Franklin Watts. (Northeast-Algonquians)

Steptoe, J. The story of jumping mouse. (1972). New York: Scholastic.

Strauss, S. Coyote stories for children. (1991). Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words Publishing.

Tomchek, A.H. The Hopi. (1987). Chicago: Children's Press. (Southwest-Hopi)