TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Nov 14, 2021
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
Native Knowledge 360 Education Initiative - Smithsonian Institute
Grades
K to 12tag(s): native americans (91), thanksgiving (24), westward expansion (38)
In the Classroom
Replace some (or all) of your current written Native America resources with the genuine artifacts and stories available for viewing on this site. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to organize important information and resources found on this site to share with students. As students learn about Native Americans, instead of written or oral presentations, ask student groups to create quizzes for their classmates using a quiz-creation tool like Baamboozle, reviewed here. Baamboozle is a quick and easy resource for creating and sharing quizzes for teams of two. As a final project, transform and extend student technology and learning by using Book Creator, reviewed here, to create class books sharing information about Native Americans. Book Creator is a digital book creation site offering the ability to add images, text, video, and more. Be sure to share student-created books on your class website or blog after publication.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Reading Treks: The Journey of York The Unsung Hero of the Lewis and Clark Expedition - TeachersFirst
Grades
2 to 6tag(s): 1800s (72), commoncore (75), explorers (64), lewis and clark (14), native americans (91)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the many suggested classroom uses for this resource found on the Instructional Guide (PDF). Consider using the historical information and primary sources from the book to have students create timelines of the important events throughout the time of Lewis and Clark's explorations. Find a variety of free online timeline creation tools at located here. Using the map and locales, trace and then calculate distances for some of Lewis and Clark's travels.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Treks: Buffalo Dance The Journey of York - TeachersFirst
Grades
10 to 12tag(s): 1800s (72), commoncore (75), explorers (64), lewis and clark (14), poetry (189), westward expansion (38)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the many suggested classroom uses for this resource found on the Instructional Guide (PDF). As a class, discuss social justice situations within the school, the community, state, nation, and the world. To enhance learning and the discussions of online information, use Fiskkit, reviewed here, as a collaborative discussion tool. Fiskkit allows you to highlight and add comments to online articles. Have students share their written work, including poems, to Pathbrite, reviewed here. Pathbrite includes free resources for creating and sharing online portfolios that include images, written work, and video making it perfect to use for sharing student work during parent conferences and when submitting college applications.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Native American Heritage Month - Described and Captioned Media Program
Grades
K to 12tag(s): commoncore (75), native americans (91)
In the Classroom
Include these videos as part of your studies of American Indians and their heritage. Engage students by making the videos interactive using Edpuzzle, reviewed here, to add both teacher and student comments. Use Google My Maps, reviewed here, for extending learning when students create virtual field trips sharing locations and information found during their research of American Indians. Have students create interactive timelines using Timeline Infographic Templates, reviewed here, for younger students, or Timeline JS, reviewed here, for older students who can include music, photos, videos, maps, comments, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian - Northwestern University
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): difficult conversations (58), native americans (91)
In the Classroom
We have come a long way from the study of Native Americans as a single generic group. Careful use of the images and narratives from Curtis' work can help illustrate that outdated mindset and provide a contrast to today's understanding of the contributions indigenous Americans have made to US history and culture. Share these images on your interactive whiteboard or projector as part of a guided discussion.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Carlisle Indian Industrial School - Dickinson College
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): colonial america (95), cross cultural understanding (157), difficult conversations (58), diversity (38), history day (40), identity (28), native americans (91), westward expansion (38)
In the Classroom
Too often US history survey classes broadly consider Native Americans and their role in the original colonization of North America, or their role in Westward Expansion, without taking the time to understand the differences among nations, or the impact of European settlement on these pre-existing societies. Even if there isn't time for in depth study, consider asking students to study the individual record of one young man or woman approximately their own age who attended the Carlisle Indian School. How old was he when he left home? What skill was she trained in? What happened to him after he left Carlisle? Enhance student learning by having students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about the individual they researched. This personal contact with the real life of another student from another time and another culture will reduce the tendency to stereotype Native Americans as they so often are during the study of US History. Of course, the site is also a wonderful resource for in depth research such as a National History Day project. Were the identities of these people stolen? Use the resources Analyzing Before and After Photographs... and the Telling Lives: The Lost Ones Documentary Film to discuss identity and whether or not that was taken from these students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Ancestral Pueblo People - National Park Service
Grades
6 to 10tag(s): archeology (25), geology (64), native americans (91)
In the Classroom
Assign this activity in pairs when studying native Americans. The student challenges teach about the Ancestral Pueblo people and how they adapted to their harsh environment. The text portions might be challenging. Pair weak readers with a strong reader. Allow your ENL/ESL students to try using a text to speech program such as Text to Speech Reader, reviewed here, that will allow these students to follow the text as the article or passage is read to them.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Seminole Tribune - Seminole Tribune of Florida
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): civil rights (194), cross cultural understanding (157), cultures (132), myths and legends (21), native americans (91)
In the Classroom
Use this site to study the Seminoles as part of a unit on Native Americans. Have students enhance their learning by comparing and contrasting to the Native Americans within your own state or region. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Use this as a resource when discussing civil rights. In language arts class, use it to explore legends.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum - 2012 Seminole Tribe of Florida
Grades
2 to 10This site includes advertising.
tag(s): native americans (91)
In the Classroom
Explore the Seminole Tribe through the online collections and museums. Use the sources as primary and secondary to supplement other class materials. Use the Seminole Tribe to compare and contrast the native American tribes found in your area. Explore the Seminole Tribe in your unit on Civil Rights. Use this site to discover the leadership that lead to the Seminole Tribe of today. Be sure to begin your study with an anticipation guide. End your unit with a post assessment dispelling the myths in the anticipation guide.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Navajo Code Talkers - Navajo Code Talkers Foundation
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): cryptography (5), native americans (91), world war 2 (149)
In the Classroom
Share this site with your students on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) during your World War II unit or a unit on Native Americans. This would be a great link to share during Native American Heritage Month. Enhance student learning by replacing pencil and paper and use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to create a visual comparison of the Code Talkers vs other World War II battle units or cryptographers. Put a link to Fun Facts For Kids on station computors or your website for your students to learn even more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Native Voices: Native Peoples' Concepts of Health and Illness - U. S. National Library of Health and Medicine
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (157), medicine (55), native americans (91)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a resource for Native American, American History, health, and other units. View videos on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) together. Have groups of students view videos on individual tribes, then enhance learning by challenging students to create a newspaper article using the Newspaper Clipping Generator or use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to create a visual comparison of tribal beliefs-- or perhaps comparing with "mainstream" beliefs in their own culture.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Museum of the American Indian - Smithsonian
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): native americans (91)
In the Classroom
Use the images on this site to create a picture walk in your classroom during a unit on Native American culture. Select 10-15 of the more descriptive and diverse images, hanging them around the classroom in different places. Have students rotate around the classroom, moving every 30-45 seconds jotting down what they see in each image. At the end of the walk, have a class discussion based on what students saw in the images and what the walk has portrayed about Native American culture in the time period being studied. This is a great way to introduce the unit in a non-lecture format.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Surrounded by Beauty - Minneapolis Institute of Art
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): art history (86), native americans (91)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a learning center or station during a unit on Native American culture. Have students explore the site with the intentions of presenting summaries of specific cultures or artworks. Have students enhance their learning by creating a multimedia presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint Online, reviewed here. Microsoft PowerPoint Online allows students to narrate a picture. Challenge students to extend their learning by finding a photo of the art, the tribes or the regions (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report. To find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try Pikwizard, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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