Who are American Indians and what do they look like?
Lesson #: 5
Grade: 4th
Subject Area: Social Studies
Context
This is the second lesson and this is going to be the connection between the conversation of prejudice and American Indians. By doing the lessons in this order, as a teacher, you are able to offer a specific framework to look at American Indians and allow for the students to take on the perspective of breaking down preconceived notions.
Materials
Introduction/Investment
For this introduction, put up some of the answers from the exit sheet that the students wrote as they left class. These questions should be selected based on where you want the class to go. If the responses on the exit slips are not where you would like the discussion to go, answers like the following would be good places to start:
The selling piece would be to have the students watch a movie, Pocahontas, and ask what they notice at different parts of the movie. You can be selective in what parts you show the students or you can show the whole movie. Have the students pick out the things that they notice about the American Indians and how they are represented in the movie.
Content
For this lesson, like the previous lesson, there is little content that is necessary to the discussion, but you would want to be prepared for questions of any kind that could come up in the process of the lesson. The most important thing that has to happen in terms of preparation is the acquiring of pictures of American Indians that represent them in different facets of their life and culture. Pictures that show American Indians as people, not just the preconceived ideas that we have based on Disney and other mainstream thoughts.
Whole-Class Activity
As a class, once there has been a discussion and the class has come up with a definition of what an American Indian looks like, show the class a short video that shows American Indians in a stereotypical way. Once the video has been shown, break the students into groups and show them a picture of an American Indian in the day-to-day appearances. Have these groups discuss the differences between then pictures and the video that they just saw.
Practice
In the small groups, have the groups share what they thought and realized about the pictures and the videos. Have copies of the pictures and some of the important information about the picture subjects.
Assessment
The assessment for this would be completely informal based on the participation during the whole-class discussion, the small group interactions, and any other time during the lesson.
Grade: 4th
Subject Area: Social Studies
Context
This is the second lesson and this is going to be the connection between the conversation of prejudice and American Indians. By doing the lessons in this order, as a teacher, you are able to offer a specific framework to look at American Indians and allow for the students to take on the perspective of breaking down preconceived notions.
Materials
- Exit slip responses
- Video showing American Indians in a stereotypical way (Pocahontas)
- Pictures of American Indians from Wisconsin
- Whiteboard/Chalkboard
Introduction/Investment
For this introduction, put up some of the answers from the exit sheet that the students wrote as they left class. These questions should be selected based on where you want the class to go. If the responses on the exit slips are not where you would like the discussion to go, answers like the following would be good places to start:
- I think of headdresses and feathers
- I think about Tee-Pees
- Pocahontas
- Anything that would offer the means to begin a discussion about American Indians.
The selling piece would be to have the students watch a movie, Pocahontas, and ask what they notice at different parts of the movie. You can be selective in what parts you show the students or you can show the whole movie. Have the students pick out the things that they notice about the American Indians and how they are represented in the movie.
Content
For this lesson, like the previous lesson, there is little content that is necessary to the discussion, but you would want to be prepared for questions of any kind that could come up in the process of the lesson. The most important thing that has to happen in terms of preparation is the acquiring of pictures of American Indians that represent them in different facets of their life and culture. Pictures that show American Indians as people, not just the preconceived ideas that we have based on Disney and other mainstream thoughts.
Whole-Class Activity
As a class, once there has been a discussion and the class has come up with a definition of what an American Indian looks like, show the class a short video that shows American Indians in a stereotypical way. Once the video has been shown, break the students into groups and show them a picture of an American Indian in the day-to-day appearances. Have these groups discuss the differences between then pictures and the video that they just saw.
- The reason for this is to begin to have the students ‘see’ what an American Indian looks like and how that relates to what they talked about before.
Practice
In the small groups, have the groups share what they thought and realized about the pictures and the videos. Have copies of the pictures and some of the important information about the picture subjects.
- Who they are, what tribe/nation they are a part of, etc.
Assessment
The assessment for this would be completely informal based on the participation during the whole-class discussion, the small group interactions, and any other time during the lesson.
- A very good way to modify this aspect of the lesson is to talk to a particular student during the day to see what they took away from the lesson. This would be a great way to connect with a student that does not like to share.
