Exploring How Native Americans Lived in Harmony with
Nature
HOW IT WORKS
Exploring How Native Americans Lived in Harmony with
Nature is an interdisciplinary program that infuses the elements of balanced literacy
pedagogy with technology, arts, and research. Through explorations
using a variety of resources (trade books, photographs, a film strip,
cooking, and trips), students become familiar with how Native
Americans of the Northeast, like the Iroquois and Algonquians, lived. In
particular, they learn how and why Native Americans respected
the natural environment. The components of balanced literacy play an
integral role in the students’ explorations. For example, shared reading
lessons are used to build up their knowledge base as well as to
model comprehension strategies that readers use to make sense of
nonfiction materials. Strategies include stopping after each paragraph
to determine the main idea and supporting sentences, using context
and syntactic clues to decipher unfamiliar words, and underlining
and note taking. Students also learn how to use nonfiction elements
(illustrations, captions, labels, etc.) to construct meaning. Children
practice these strategies with new text to gain competency as well as
to learn new content material. Afterward, they collaborate with a
peer or work by themselves to apply these skills in researching their topics
on how Native Americans used natural resources to survive.
They learn how the research they compile and the various features of
HyperStudio can be integrated to create a multimedia project.
THE STUDENTS
Twenty-five students of various levels of achievement
and learning abilities participated in the program. Originally, this unit was covered
in fourth grade, but was adapted to third grade and can be further
modified to meet the needs of older students.
THE STAFF
This is Meelai A. Chow’s second year teaching
third grade in P.S. 124 since completing her master’s degree. Wei Yee Chan, the Multimedia
Lab teacher, assisted with the technical aspects of the program. After
seeing how excited students got in computer class, the need became
apparent for the creation of an authentic opportunity for them to apply
technology to what was being taught in class. The individual programs
complemented and enriched each other.
WHAT YOU NEED
Trade books with ample illustrations and of various
levels are necessary. To make the learning more concrete, a film strip or video
and a trip to the Smithsonian Museum of Native Americans are
encouraged. A multimedia Lab equipped with computer, KidPix,
HyperStudio, and word-processing software is needed for the second
part of the program.
OVERALL VALUE
How Native Americans Lived in Harmony with
Nature makes learning more meaningful to students because subject areas are
interconnected. The exploratory approach of the program also
reinforces the idea that students and teacher are learning together
and teaching each other. As the students actively participate and
collaborate in this exploration, they gain insights into how
Native Americans depended on and respected nature. In essence, students
become teachers as they apply what they have learned to create a
research report using an innovative medium that will be showcased in
the school’s literacy fair to celebrate their creativity and talents. |