Native American Legends Week 2

I have lots of planning notes for this block on my website. Here was Week 2:

Monday, May 4

• recall and add "Sky Bear" to MLB
• look at the Southeast region on the North America Continent Stencil; discuss plants and animals of this biome; recall work with the Everglades Habitat Mat; ask children who had been to this part of the U.S. to describe it; consider shelter building and look at Mounds of earth and shell from the Native Dwellings series by Bonnie Shemie



• discuss mound builder culture along Mississippi and Ohio Rivers
• read new legend:

  

  How Thunder and Lightning Came to Be
  retold by Beatrice Orcutt Harrell, illustrated by Susan L. Roth
  Choctow - Southeast

Tuesday, May 5

• recall and add "How Thunder and Lightning Came to Be" to MLB

  it is always fun to see the variety in the summaries; here are today's

  
Two birds named Thunder and Lightning live in the sky.


  The Sun Father wanted to get Thunder and Lightning to tell everybody in the village that it was going to rain.


  
Don’t be scared of thunder and lightning. It’s just two silly birds!


• read quote from Susan L. Roth, the illustrator of How Thunder and Lightning Came to Be, in MaryAnn Kohl's Storybook Art: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of 100 Great Picture Book Illustrators



• read historical fiction by Albert Lorenz:
  Journey to Cahokia: A Boy's Visit to the Great Mound City

Wednesday, May 6

• ask families to watch video of new legend:


First Woman and the Strawberry
retold by Gloria Dominic
Cherokee - Southeast

Thursday, May 7

• recall and add "First Woman and the Strawberry" to MLB
• do strawberry art
• read new legend:

  

  The Legend of the Bluebonnet
  retold and illustrated by Tomie de Paola
  Comanche - Great Plains - Texas

Friday, May 8

• look at the Grasslands biome on the North America Continent Stencil; discuss plants and animals of this biome; consider shelter building and look at Houses of hide and earth from the Native Dwellings series



• look at bluebonnet seed packet
• recall and add "The Legend of the Bluebonnet" to MLB
• read new legend from Keepers of the Animals: Native American Stories and Wildlife Activities for Children by Michael Caduto and Joseph Bruchac

  

  "The First Flute"
  Lakota - Great Plains

• encourage families to participate in The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Global Big Day 2020 on Saturday, May 9 -- even 10 minutes counts!

Students begin to see patterns in the stories, and notice that the livelihoods and legends of Native people are deeply intertwined with the natural world. We have read tales of stars, thunder & lightning, fruits, flowers, and birds.

In learning about Native peoples' deep connection to the natural world, I think it is important that we take the time with our own children to stop and notice the beauty of the natural world around them. Participating in activities like National Astronomy Day and Global Big Day can help us model that!

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