American History from the Perspective of the Native Americans

Shannon McCann

Introduction/Rationale

I am an elementary school teacher at Oberle Elementary School in Bear, Delaware, which is in the Christina School District. The school is located on 500 Caledonia Way, Bear, DE, 19701 in the neighborhood of St. Andrews. Oberle Elementary School serves about 594 students who are enrolled in the school grade bands of kindergarten to fifth grade. The students live in the Christina School District lines of Bear, Newark, and New Castle in the northern part of Delaware. Within Oberle Elementary there are 34% of students who are English Language Learners, 42% of students who come from low income families, 11% of students who have disabilities, and 0.84% of students are homeless. The school’s population is very diverse because there are children who are 15.49% Caucasian, 28% African American, 51% Hispanic, 3% Multi-Racial, and 0.04% Asian American.

At Oberle Elementary School, I am in a third grade general education classroom teacher where I teach reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. In my class, I service 26 diverse students that range from various learning styles from visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Due to Covid-19, Christina School district is using a hybrid schedule, so I am concurrently teaching with 13 students in the classroom and 13 students who are on Zoom at their homes. On Mondays and Tuesdays, I have my “Hybrid A” group in the classroom. Then on Thursdays and Fridays, “Hybrid B” group of students are in the classroom. On Wednesdays, everyone is learning virtually from the comfort of their home on Zoom. Within my class, I have students who receive Special Education and English Language services throughout the school day. The students who receive the services are taken out of the general education setting about 30 minutes to an hour of the school day.

Content Objectives

While teaching social studies in my third grade class, I have noticed that little to no students really understand the beginning history of the United States. A majority of the students and their families come from foreign countries such as Mexico and Puerto Rico. While other students have learned in previous grades about how Christopher Columbus, who sailed for Spain, founded the “New World” and how immigrants from Europe began to settle the land in America. The unit plans in the past that contain information about Christopher Columbus illustrate him as a hero for finding a new land for people to settle on while there had already been Native Americans living there previously for many years. Many textbooks begin the United States history when Christopher Columbus coming to the Americas and they completely leave out the details about the Native Americans who were there before any foreign explorers’ step foot on the beaches of the

“New World.” Due to past unit plans and textbook, the students know very little about the Native Americans who originally lived in America before Christopher Columbus arrived with his ships across the Atlantic Ocean. I believe that there is so much more to the history and origin of Native Americans that began way before any Europeans landed on the beaches of the United States in 1492.

In this social studies curriculum unit, I want to teach my students the true beginnings of American history, which originates from the Native Americans and not Christopher Columbus. I want to start from the beginning of America’s history by using Dunbar-Ortiz’s book, Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People, for background information and to assist in guiding me through this unit plan’s curriculum.1 I will also be using various essays and articles to assist in deepening the understanding of Native American’s true history. I will also use Native American creation stories for students to comprehend the origins of the country that they live in today. Within this curriculum, I want to teach my students what the Native American villages and culture were like before and after the Europeans arrive on their shores. Most importantly I want to teach my students the Native Americans perspective of Christopher Columbus and the Europeans coming to America. I believe that this curriculum will give the students a better understanding of who the Native Americans were and the true history of America.

Within my social studies unit, there will be three parts to it. The first part of the unit plan will be about the Native Americans such as their life style and traditions. In this part of the unit plan, I will teach my students about the types of houses the Native Americans lived in, the food they ate, and their religious beliefs. I will mostly focus on the Northeastern Native American tribes because my students live in Delaware and I want them to understand that there were indigenous civilizations near where they live today. I will also briefly explain the Native American tribes across the United States just so the students understand that there were people living throughout our nation way before any European came to the Americas.

In the second part of the unit plan, I will teach my students about the First Thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Native American tribe. The students will learn about the relationship between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Native American tribe. We will discuss how they compromised and worked together in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In the last part of the unit plan, I will teach my students about a tribe from Puerto Rico called the Taino. I think my students whose families that come from Puerto Rico will enjoy learning about the first people that lived in their ancestor’s homeland. The Taino tribe are the Native American people that Christopher Columbus first met when he sailed for the Spanish and landed on the small island of Puerto Rico. I will teach the students about Christopher Columbus and his voyages across the Atlantic Ocean to the “New World.” We will discuss how brutal Columbus mistreated the Native American tribe Taino in Puerto Rico by taking their land, enslaving them and spreading diseases throughout the Americas.

Essential Questions

Within this unit, there are some essential questions that I want students to be able to answer by the end. I want them to answer, “How is the Native American view of America’s beginnings different from United States history textbooks?” I also want the students to be able to answer, “How do the Native Americans view the Europeans during the Colonial Era?” and “How do the Colonist view the Native Americans during the Colonial Era?” Finally, I would like the students to be able to answer “What is the relationship between the Native Americans and the colonists?” by the end of this unit.

Content Standards

After teaching this social studies unit the students will be able to do multiple tasks. The students will study historical events and persons within a given time-frame in order to create a chronology and identify related cause-and-effect factors. Students will draw historical conclusions and construct historical accounts from primary and secondary source materials. They will be able to examine historical materials relating to a particular region, society, or theme; chronologically arrange them, and analyze change over time. The third graders will explain why historical accounts of the same event sometimes differ and will relate this explanation to the evidence presented or the point-of-view of the author. Finally, the students will develop an understanding of Delaware history and its connections with United States history, such as Native American inhabitants before European contact. Students will study historical events and persons within a given time-frame in order to create a chronology and identify related cause-and-effect factors.

-Native American inhabitants before European contact

-- Who are the American people?

Teaching Strategies

Within all of my unit plans, I like to use a variety of teaching strategies. The use of diverse teaching strategies allows teachers to change the lessons up a little bit so it is not

the same thing every day. It also allows educators to provide the type of strategies that the students need to learn and progress in their education. Every student learns differently so it necessary to use multiple types of strategies within your unit plans and lessons. In my unit plan, I am going to use a variety of strategies because every child learns differently. It is the teacher’s job to implement diverse strategies in order to meet every student need in the classroom. In this Native American unit plan, I am going to use many strategies from whole group to small group activities in order to teach the students the content the best that I can. Here are the strategies that I plan to use:

KWL Chart

This is a charting tool that teachers can use in the beginning of a unit in order to understand the student’s prior knowledge of the content and what questions they have on the information that is going to be taught over the next few weeks. The “K” stands for what the students already know about the content. The teacher would write down the information that they students’ prior knowledge in this category of the chart. The “W” is for what the students want to learn. In this category of the chart, the teacher would write down the questions that the students were asking about the topic they are about to learn more about. Then the last part of the chart will be completed at the very end of the unit once all the lessons have been taught. This category has a “L,” which stands for what the students learned at the very end of the content material.

Think, Pair, Share

A question will be posed by the teacher to the students. The students will think about their ideas and answers for the question that was asked by the teacher. Then the children will turn to a classmate or partner next to them to share their answers with each other. Finally, the students will share their answers and ideas with the class.

Tea Party

In this strategy, the teacher will have the students form two concentric circles or two lines facing each other. Then the teacher will ask a question and the students will discuss their answer with their peer that they are facing. After about a minute, the outside circle or one of the lines will move to the right so there will be new students to have partners. Then the teacher will ask another question for the students to discuss. This strategy can continue with four or more questions. The Tea Party strategy allows students to discuss their ideas and answers with multiple peers within the classroom.

Small Group

The students will work in groups of 2 to 3 on activities such as worksheets and projects. The teacher will facilitate around the room or break out rooms on Zoom to answer any

questions that the students may have. The teacher will also check on the small groups to make sure that the students are staying on task.

Jigsaw

This is a teaching strategy of organizing students group work in order to help them collaborate and rely on one another in class. This is effective in accomplishing multiple tasks at one time and allowing the students to have a greater responsibility. First students are put into small groups and each individual has a certain topic that they need to comprehend. These groups will split up and go into groups with the specific topic that they were assigned to learn. Once these groups are done working together, then they will go back to their original groups so they can teach their partners the topic that they learned.

Four Corners

In this strategy, the students are given four choices and they record their answers based on the questions. Then the teacher designates one corner for each choice. The students will travel to the appropriate corner based on the question that the teacher poses. Then the students will pair up and discuss their answers.

Numbered Heads Together

In this strategy, the students will count from one to four in order to create their teams. All of the students who said number “one,” will be a group and so on. The teacher will pose a question to the groups and the students will have to work together in order to answer the inquiry. Then the teacher will call a number from 1 to 4 in order to ask the student groups to stand up and give their answer to the question. The educator will identify the correct answer and encourage the students to continue in having a discussion on the topic of the question in order to hear the ideas of each pupil.

Kahoot

This is an educational website that allows teachers to design their own trivia games in the classroom. Kahoot allows teachers to create their own questions and answers based on the content that they are teaching their students. The questions within the Kahoot game tend to be multiple choice or true-false questions. This website also has the games already made based on diverse topics in education such as reading skills and social studies topics. In order to play a Kahoot game, the teacher will log into their account on the website and choose the game that they want to students to participate in. The Kahoot website should be projected on a Smart Board. Then the students will go to the Kahoot website and type in the code for the game on their devices. The questions and answers

will come up on the screen and the students have to pick the best options to complete the game. The student who answered the most questions correctly will win the game.

Snowball

In this strategy the teacher will post flip chart papers around the classroom. Within the flip chart papers, each one will have a different question that the students will respond too, a sentence to complete, or a prompt to answer. The students will work in pairs or small groups in order to complete this activity. To begin, there will be a group at each flip chart and they will need to complete the task that is provided on the paper. Once the time is up, the teacher will say, “snowball,” and the groups will rotate to the next flip chart to complete the next task. The students will read the previous groups answers and they will add new ideas or different views to the flip chart. This will continue until every group of students have visited each station. Once all of the groups are done with the flip charts, the class will discuss each question or task in a whole group setting.

Whole Group

In whole group, the teacher will use direct teaching to all of the students in the class. When using the whole group strategy, the teacher will use Power Points, pictures and videos to assist in teaching the content in the lesson. The whole group strategy also allows for students to discuss as a class. When the students take turns talking about a certain topic, then the teacher can assess their knowledge and discover which children are grasping the concepts and to a certain extent.

Round Table

This is a cooperative learning strategy that covers an immense amount of content, builds team work, and the practice of writing. First, the teacher will ask a question that has more than more answer. Next the student in each group that writes one response on paper and passes the paper to the next student on their team. In the end, the groups with the greatest number of correct answers will earn points.

Carousel

In this strategy, the teacher will place chart paper around the classroom with different questions on them, which are related to the topic that they are learning about. The students will be in groups of 3 or 4. Every group will start at a different piece of chart paper and given a diverse color marker to write their answers in. The groups will rotate and move around the classroom to each piece of chart paper while answering the questions as a team in the marker that was given to them. The students will have about 2 to 3 minutes to answer the questions on the paper. Once all of the groups have visited each chart paper, the students will all sit down and have a whole class discussion of the

questions. At this time, the class can share what they have written on each poster. This strategy can be used at any time either at the start of a new unit, in the middle or as a review at the end of the unit.

Text Rendering

In this strategy, the teacher will provide each group with three strips of paper, one long, medium and small strip. After the lesson, the groups will write a sentence summary on the long strip of paper, a phrase on the medium piece of paper, and a word on the small strip of paper. Then the groups will share their ideas that they wrote down with each other. The teacher may post the groups pieces of paper on the wall for a gallery walk.

One Minute Papers

This strategy is a good source of feedback from the students after a lesson is taught. In order to use this strategy in the classroom, first the teacher will pose these questions on the board, “What was the most important thing you learned from the lesson?”, “What is still unclear about the lesson? What questions do you still have?”, and “What is one thing about the topic that you want to know more about?” Then the students will be put together in groups to have a discussion where they will talk with each other on the responses that they wrote based on the questions on the board. This will allow the students to see which answers that they have in common and discuss with the class as a whole.

Exit Ticket

At the end of a lesson, the students answer a couple questions or a short quiz in order for the teacher to see how much the students comprehended from the lesson. The exit ticket will allow the teacher to plan and navigate the future lessons for the students based on their comprehension on the material.

Classroom Activities

Activity One

In this activity, I will use a KWL chart in order to see what the children already know and what questions they have about the Native Americans. Then I will begin to fill in the gaps for the students by explaining who Native Americans are because many of the students in my class will know little to no information about them. First, I will read the book, “Native Peoples of the Northeast.”2 This book explains the tribes in the Northeast area about their culture, living style, and history. I want to use this book in my unit plan in order for the students to have a good understanding of who the Native Americans are.

Next, I will read the “Lenape Creation Story,” to the students as an example of a Native American creation story and I will explain that these are the tribe’s history that is passed from generation to generation.3 Then I will have my students participate in is creating their own creation story. The students will brainstorm their own ideas to create a creation story. I will have the students go through the writing process in this activity from brainstorming, drafting, editing, and publishing. Once the students are finished with the activity, then they can take turns in reading and sharing their creation stories. At the very end of the unit, I will come back to the KWL chart that we started in this beginning of this activity in order to see and understand how much information that the students comprehended about the Native Americans.

Activity Two

This activity will be about the first Thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag. First, we will discuss who the Pilgrims and Wampanoag people are. I will read a book called “Wampanoag,” the students will understand who the Wampanoag tribe is.4 Then I will have the students watch four to five minute BrainPOP video on the First Thanksgiving.5 I will also read a book called “The Story of The First Thanksgiving so the students will have a good understanding of the historical event that happened between the Native Americans and Pilgrims.6 We will talk about what these two people’s relationships were like and how they treated each other. I will have the students compare and contrast the first Thanksgiving to present day Thanksgiving. The students will work on the comparing and contrasting activity in small groups of two or three students in each. If the students are learning from home on Zoom, I will have breakout rooms for the students to work on the comparing and contrasting of the first Thanksgiving to present day Thanksgiving. Once the students are finished with comparing and contrasting, they will share with the class of what they found from the activity. To conclude the lesson, the students will participate in an exit ticket so I can understand the student’s comprehension of the material.

Activity Three

In the third activity, I am going to teach the students about the Taino Native American tribe from Puerto Rico and Christopher Columbus. Within this activity, I will explain that the Taino Native Americans were the people who originated in Puerto Rico and greeted Columbus and his men when they arrived on their shores of the “New World.” In order to learn about the Taino people, I will read various excerpts from books on Puerto Rico. Then I will teach the students about Columbus and his voyages to the “New World” in search of gold and creating colonies in the Caribbean islands. We will discuss the mistreatment that the Europeans did to the Native Americans such as spreading disease, taking over their land, and killing them. In this activity, the students will learn

about the Native American’s feelings of dislike and hatred towards Christopher Columbus and his European men.

In order to teach this lesson, I will read the book, “A Journey with Christopher Columbus”, about Christopher Columbus and his voyages to the “New World.”7 This book describes all of Christopher Columbus’s voyages, creating colonies, taking away land, and mistreating the Native Americans. It also includes primary sources throughout the book in order to show the students even more details about Columbus. Once we are done reading through the book, I will have the students compare and contrast the voyages that Columbus took to the “New World,” in order for them understand the events that occurred when he arrived each time with his ships and men. The students will compare and contrast the voyages by using a graphic organizer that they can write on or type in. The students will work on the comparing and contrasting graphic organizer with a partner in the class or in a breakout room in zoom. I will facilitate around the room and on zoom in order to answer any of the student’s questions. Once the students are done with the activity, we will share our answers with the class.

Resources

Bolognese and Raphael. The Story of the First Thanksgiving. Star Walk Kids Media, 2014.

I will use this book in the second activity of my unit plan in order to describe the historical event between the Pilgrims and Wampanoag tribe during the First Thanksgiving.

BrainPOP. “Thanksgiving.” BrainPOP, 2020. https://jr.brainpop.com/socialstudies/holidays/thanksgiving/

This is a video on Thanksgiving from BrainPop.com that I going to use as an overview of the historical event.

Calloway, Colin G. New Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. https://hdl-handle-net.udel.idm.oclc.org/2027/heb.01362. EPUB.

I will use this source for its pictures and images along with some of the primary sources within it.

Calloway, Colin G. One Vast Winter Count: The Native American West before Lewis and Clark. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003. https://hdl-handle-net.udel.idm.oclc.org/2027/heb.03497 . EPUB

I will use this source for its pictures and images along with some of the primary sources within it.

Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People. Beacon Press, 2019.

I want to use this book source to assist me in teaching the students the Native American views of the United States history through their eyes. This book will allow the students to see that America’s history did not start with Christopher Columbus and other Europeans sailing over the Atlantic Ocean to “discover” America.

Hamilton, John. Puerto Rico. ABDO Publishing, 2017.

This book source describes the Taino tribe in Puerto Rico and their encounter with Christopher Columbus.

Hėtakonanu'laxk. “The Lenape Creation Story.” The Grandfathers Speak, Native Languages of the Americas, 2020 http://henryhahn.net/myths/lenapecreation.html

This source is the Lenape Creation Story and I will use this in the first activity of my unit plan in order to give the students an example of a Native American creation story.

Heinrichs, Ann. Puerto Rico. The Child’s World Publishing, 1980.

This book source describes the Taino tribe in Puerto Rico and their encounter with Christopher Columbus.

Horn, Rebecca. "Indigenous Manuscripts and the Historiography of Early Mexico." American Indian Histories and Cultures, Marlborough: Adam Matthew, 2013. Web. Accessed May 21, 2020. <http://www.aihc.amdigital.co.uk.udel.idm.oclc.org/FurtherResources/Essays/Mexico>.

This essay describes the early Native Americans in Mexico and how the Spaniards came to take over their villages. I would to use this source to assist me in explaining how the Europeans began to take over lands in the Americas and explain how the Native Americans were treated.

Hoxie, Frederick E, and Peter Iverson. Indians in American History: An Introduction. 2nd ed., Harlan Davidson, 1998.

This book is about Native Americans in history. I would like to use this to assist me in explaining the relations between Native Americans and the Colonists.

Kagan, Spencer & Kagan, Miguel. Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing, 2009. 1.800.933.2667. www.KaganOnline.com.

This book source includes a variety of diverse teaching strategies that can be used within the classroom.

Kallen, Stuart A. A Journey with Christopher Columbus. Lerner Publishing Group, Inc, 2018.

I will read this book to my students in the third activity of my unit plan because it is a good resource in explaining Christopher Columbus’s voyages to the “New World” and how he mistreated the Native Americans.

Lajiness, Katie. Wampanoag. Abdo Publishing, 2017.

I will use this book in my second activity in order to give the students a good background knowledge of the Wampanoag tribe when we are learning about the First Thanksgiving.

Linde, Barbara M. Native Peoples of North America: Native Peoples of the Northeast. Garth Stevens Publishing, 2014.

I will use this resource in activity one of the unit plan to assist the students in understanding who the Native Americans are and how they lived. This source is on a third grade reading level.

Owings, Lisa. Exploring the States: Puerto Rico. Bellwether Media, 2014.

This book source describes the Taino tribe in Puerto Rico and their encounter with Christopher Columbus.

Silverman, David. "Indians at the Center of Colonial American History." American Indian Histories and Cultures, Marlborough: Adam Matthew, 2013. Web. Accessed May 21, 2020. <http://www.aihc.amdigital.co.uk.udel.idm.oclc.org/FurtherResources/Essays/EuropeanPowers>.

This essay describes the interactions between the Native Americans and Colonists during early American history. I would like to use this source to help describe the construction of the thirteen colonies and the beginning of the Native American villages being pushed to the side of the Europeans.

Weatherford, Jack. 1988. Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World. New York, N.Y.: Crown.

This source will be used for background information on the Native Americans and how they changed the world.

Weatherford, Jack. 1991. Native Roots: How the Indians Enriched America. 1st ed. New York: Crown.

This source will be used to show the resources and many other qualities that the Native Americans have shared with America.

Weatherford, Jack. 1994. Savages and Civilization Who Will Survive? 1st ed. New York: Crown.

This source will be used to describe how badly Christopher Columbus and other Europeans treated the Native Americans by taking their lands and enslaving them.

Appendix

Delaware History Anchor Standard One: Students will employ chronological concepts in analyzing historical phenomena [Chronology]:

Students will study historical events and persons within a given time-frame in order to create a chronology and identify related cause-and-effect factors.

Delaware History Anchor Standard Two: Students will gather, examine, and analyze historical data [Analysis]:

Students will draw historical conclusions and construct historical accounts from primary and secondary source materials.

History Anchor Standard Three: Students will interpret historical data [Interpretation]:

Students will understand that historical accounts are constructed by drawing logical inferences from artifacts and documents

History Anchor Standard Four: Students will develop historical knowledge of major events and phenomena in world, United States, and Delaware history [Content]:

A) Students will develop an understanding of Delaware history and its connections with United States history, including: Native American inhabitants before European contact

B) Students will develop an understanding of Delaware history and its connections with United States history, including: Native American inhabitants before European contact.

Notes

1 Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People. Beacon Press, 2019.

2 Linde, Barbara M. Native Peoples of North America: Native Peoples of the Northeast. Garth Stevens Publishing, 2014.

3 Hėtakonanu'laxk. “The Lenape Creation Story.” The Grandfathers Speak, Native Languages of the Americas, 2020 http://henryhahn.net/myths/lenapecreation.html

4 Lajiness, Katie. Wampanoag. Abdo Publishing, 2017.

5 BrainPOP. “Thanksgiving.” BrainPOP, 2020. https://jr.brainpop.com/socialstudies/holidays/thanksgiving/

6 Bolognese and Raphael. The Story of the First Thanksgiving. Star Walk Kids Media, 2014.

7 Kallen, Stuart A. A Journey with Christopher Columbus. Lerner Publishing Group, Inc, 2018.