Folklife Resources for Educators

Materials Related to Indians of North America--Languages

There are 3 titles in this list.

Lewis & Clark - The National Bicentennial Exhibition Teaching Units and Lesson Plans
by Missouri Historical Society
http://www.lewisandclarkexhibit.org/4_0_0/index.html

Curriculum materials for grades 4-12 with a virtual exhibit of the "Lewis & Clark: The National Bicentennial Exhibition" that explores the cultural landscape the explorers encountered in the early 19th century. The teaching units with lesson plans and suggested activities cover the topics of: Preparing for the Trip; Politics & Diplomacy; Women; Mapping; Animals; Language; Warriors/Soldiers; Trade & Property; and Plants, each comparing and contrasting Lewis and Clark's experiences with what those of the Native Americans they met might have been. The lessons are geared to upper elementary, middle school, and high school levels, are inquiry-based, and use primary source materials, artifacts, and Indian interviews featured in the online exhibition. Also includes video clips, maps, and a variety of documents. Units are linked to Missouri State Standards and National Council for the Social Studies and National Science Teachers Association standards.

Sponsoring Organization:
Missouri History Museum
P.O. Box 11940
St. Louis MO 63112
(314) 746-4599
http://www.mohistory.org/

Native Words, Native Warriors
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/codetalkers/

Interactive curriculum website for grades 6-12 that explores the lives and experiences of American Indian Code Talkers, the servicemen who used their traditional tribal languages to transmit secret messages for the US military during World War I and World War II. Includes lesson plans, correlated to National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies and National Standards for History, captioned photographs, maps and documents, discussion questions, activities, and audio recordings of spoken word and Native American music.

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

The Woman Who Turned Herself to Stone - Teacher's Guide
by Susan Eleutario
http://www.ndstudies.org/media/prairie_artists_mary_louise_defender_wilson_the_woman_who_turned_herself_to

Teacher's guide for "The Woman Who Turned Herself to Stone," a documentary featuring Dakotah and Hidatsa storyteller Mary Louise Defender Wilson from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in south-central North Dakota. The story told in the video describes a young girl who loved nature so much that she found a way to remain in the midst of it forever. Materials in the guide offer an opportunity for students to explore issues such as the significance of language in culture and storytelling, the cultural expectations of adolescence, and the interactions between the physical environment and human activity. The video is approximately 6 minutes long and is available on the website. Lesson plans in the teacher's guide (22 p. PDF) have benchmarks and standards for grades 4-8 for Language Arts and Social Studies.

Sponsoring Organization:
North Dakota Council on the Arts
1600 E. Century Avenue, #6
Bismarck ND 58503-0649
(701) 328-7590
http://www.nd.gov/arts/