Writing and sculpting using Native American Storytelling and Symbols

Courtney Cleghorn

We all must write, but it is what you do with it that makes a difference. This unit is for 4th grade Special Education students but can be used with all students. This unit's goal is getting students to write, develop their writing, and have story and a bowl or plate with symbols that they use in the story carved in it when they are finished. The 4th grade curriculum has a unit on Native American culture. My students will either write a creation story about something that happened to them that changed them, or a fable or myth that will explain something that they don’t understand. Students that are writing creation stories will be pulling ideas from a real-life event. Mentor texts will be used to model writing and how to use a graphic organizer. While completing the story the students will focus on setting development, characterization, voice and dialog. These ideas follow standard CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.