ES PBL Grade 3: Iroquois and Lenape

Project-based learning is a critical aspect of SA’s school design.

We believe that students learn best when they are engaged in a topic from a cross-disciplinary perspective over an extended period of time. We also believe that students are more engaged when involved in creative exhibitions.

Scholars have experienced project-based learning before, engaging in deep study of one topic through field studies, projects, and creation of a museum.

Native Americans occupied this land before the Europeans. They were the original inhabitants of our continent and have a fascinating history and culture! We are going to study two cultures, the Iroquois and the Lenape, focusing on how they used natural resources to thrive and survive.

In this unit, your job is to fuel scholars’ excitement for the Iroquois and Lenape, help them become better readers and researchers, and develop their expertise about these fascinating Native American people and their way of life.

If you do your job well, your scholars will understand the following:

• The Iroquois and Lenape depended upon and used the natural resources of their environment for survival.
• The culture of both tribes reflected the importance of the natural world.
• Both tribes had organizational and social structures that allowed them to thrive and survive.
• European contact changed the lives and cultures of both tribes.

As in all reading units, your job as a teacher is to ensure that your students are reading at home and at school. Meet with the parents of any scholars who are not reading at home. If you cannot convince parents to ensure that their scholars are doing their homework, you need to manage up to leadership.

It is your responsibility to ensure that ALL of your scholars are reading 6 days a week at home!

Deer Tool Project

Scholars creates a display showcasing all the different objects that the Iroquois and Lenape made from the white-tailed deer.

Family Roles Diorama

Each scholar uses cardboard backdrops and clay to create a scene depicting men, women, and/or children carrying out the roles and responsibilities they had in the Lenape and Iroquois tribes. He or she creates a script to accompany the diorama, and uses the figurines to act out the scene on film.

Strawberry Festival Reenactment

Scholars reenact the Strawberry Festival by designating various scholars to be different clan members, then giving thanks and eating these “first fruits” (ripe strawberries) of the spring.

Diary Entry of a European or an Iroquois

Scholars take on different perspectives as they write historical fiction diary entries. They put themselves into the mindset of either a European encountering the Eastern Woodland Indians for the first time, or an Eastern Woodland Indian encountering a European for the first time.

Every day you will have 2 hours for your scholars to become investigators of the Iroquois and Lenape.

Your day might include:

Launch (5–7 min.)

This is brief. You need to quickly set your scholars up for success, without unnecessary teacher talk. Your purpose here is to allow your scholars to work independently as quickly as possible.

Read to Learn (45 min.)

Through Read Alouds (30 min.) and Shared Texts (15 min.), you will model how to research and develop expertise about a topic.

Writing (30 min.)

Through writing, scholars will further develop their expertise by recording the details and big ideas they have learned.

Independent Reading (30 min.)

Scholars will have time to both explore the topic through PBL-related texts and to read their just-right books.

Project Work or Field Studies (45 min. or more)

Scholars engage in the topic through hands-on, firsthand experiences and create projects to share and communicate what they have learned.

Scholars will also learn about the Iroquois and the Lenape in Art and Science. Talk with your Art and Science teachers to find out what your scholars are doing in their classes to learn about the Iroquois and the Lenape!

Art

Scholars will study the functional objects tribes made and used in their daily lives through pottery making, weaving, or mosaics.

Choose 2–3 engaging field studies over the course of the Iroquois and Lenape study. Here are some ideas:

Urban Park Rangers, City Museum of New York or local resource focused on Native American environments

Scholars travel to a local park or to the City Museum of New York to learn about the woodland environment that the Lenape inhabited.

New York Historical Society or local resource for Native American artifacts

An expert from the New York Historical Society brings artifacts to your classroom to share and study. Scholars explore and discuss how and why these artifacts were traded across Native American tribes.

American Museum of Natural History or local resource with Native American exhibits Research Trip

Scholars visit the AMNH: Eastern Woodland Indians, exploring three exhibits, sketching and determining what information is taught at each.

Give scholars a clear objective for each field study. Set explicit expectations for scholar behavior and learning, and for effective materials management.

Facilitating meaningful project-based learning is challenging, because there are materials to manage and the work is open-ended. But this is the very reason why it is important and engaging for our scholars.

Your level of preparation and your clarity of purpose make all the difference. You need to know what excellent third-grade work should look like, and you need to be driving to get ALL your kids’ work there!

Guard against exploration without rigor! Whether in the classroom studying a text or on a field study, scholars’ experiences should spark questions and further investigation about the topic.

PBL Museum

The culminating exhibition, or museum, showcases scholars’ project work, and most importantly, all that they’ve learned about Iroquois and Lenape. Get parents invested in their scholars’ academic work by communicating with them early on about the study and museum.

Use project work time to check in with scholars to see that their work demonstrates what they have learned. Is their work accurate? Is it neat and detailed? Does it demonstrate actual mastery of the content and their best effort?

Make a plan for preparing scholars to present their museum to visitors, guiding guests on a tour of their projects, and clearly demonstrating their excitement and expertise regarding the topic.

Effective Management of PBL Materials

Scholars will work with a variety of materials as they create their projects. Develop a plan to manage the materials, but keep the focus on the content! Ask your art teacher for advice on effectively managing the materials and working with any unfamiliar medium.

Scholars will use PBL journals and folders for their research and writing. Prepare these beforehand, making them special and exciting for scholars to use. Each journal’s cover should have a picture and the scholar’s name.

You will need lots of space! Plan how you will use your whole classroom, including wall space, to display scholar work.

Instead of teaching points, each guiding question will be the focus for the day or multiple days.

Who are the Iroquois and the Lenape?

What was the environment in New York City like when the Lenape lived here? How did the Iroquois and Lenape use their environment for survival?

What were the roles and responsibilities of men, women, and children in the tribes?

How did the Iroquois and Lenape trade goods with one another? Why was trading essential to both tribes?

What are the traditional beliefs and cultures of these two tribes? Why do they hold these beliefs?

How did the arrival of Europeans change the lives of the Iroquois and Lenape in New York? How can we teach others what we’ve learned?

Below is a list of additional Read Alouds and Shared Texts not included in the lessons; you can read these with scholars to build their content knowledge.

Read Alouds

• Native Americans Thought of It: Amazing Inventions and Innovations, by Rocky London
• Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back: A Native American Year of Moons, by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London
• Children of Native America Today, by Yvonne Wakim Dennis

Shared Text

Please refer to the Grade 3 Unit 3 Shared Text for inspiration.

What Does Success Look Like?

Who are the Iroquois and the Lenape?

Success is when scholars understand that the Iroquois and Lenape are tribes of the Eastern Woodland Indians.

Engage — 1 minute

Hook scholars into the Iroquois and Lenape people by telling them that they were the very first people to inhabit where we live now, the area that is now New York City!

Launch — 5–7 minutes

• Display “Where Did the Lenape and Iroquois Live in New York State?” maps.
• Scholars turn and talk to share what they want to know about the Iroquois and the Lenape.

Read to Learn — 15 minutes

• Read a Shared Text.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Scholars each write a paragraph about what they’ve learned so far about the Eastern Woodland Indians.
• With scholars back at their seats, distribute their journals.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Read to Learn — 30 minutes

• Read aloud excerpts from Lenape of PA, NJ, NY, DE, WI, OK, and Ontario (The Library of Native Americans), by Anne Dalton.

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
• Whether you are flying solo or teaching as part of a duo, start by making sure all kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone. Play classical or instrumental jazz music, but the volume should be low.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading level goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Is their oral language development lagging?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars as they read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What was the environment in New York City like when the Lenape lived here?

Success is when scholars are able to describe the woodland environment in the past and present.

Engage — 1 minute

Get scholars excited about traveling to a park where they will learn about the Lenape from an Urban Park Ranger, or visiting the City Museum of New York to also learn about the Lenape. Both programs will help scholars to understand what the physical world that the Lenape inhabited looked like, and how the Lenape used natural resources to survive and thrive. If you are outside the NYC area, find a local resource where scholars can learn the same.

Launch — 5–7 minutes

• Read a Shared Text to prepare scholars for the type of environment they’ll learn about either at the City Museum of New York or at a local park with the Urban Park Rangers.

• If scholars attend the Urban Park Ranger trip, scholars will:
  • Record their observations on what they see, hear, and smell.
  • Find an object from the natural environment and sketch and label it.
  • Sketch the woodland environment and describe it.

• If scholars attend the Museum of the City of New York trip, each scholar will create a storyboard about different objects that the Lenape made using resources from their natural environment.

Field Study

Travel to a local park to learn about the Lenape and their relationship to the natural environment. The Urban Rangers tour lasts one hour, and then scholars can stay to explore the salt marsh, forest, and plaque that shows where Manhattan was purchased.

Writing/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Post-trip, debrief with the class, discussing scholars’ observations and what they saw or learned about on their trip.

• Urban Park Rangers Trip
  • If you attended this field study, share scholar sketches from their trip sheets under the ELMO. Show scholars who carefully observed and sketched the woodland environment and the objects they found there. Show scholars “Woodland Photos” to reinforce the Lenape environment.
  • Scholars return to their desks and write in their journals about the woodland environment they observed, including how it looked and sounded.

City Museum of New York

• If you attended this field study, have scholars discuss the objects they learned about and how the Lenape created these objects from the natural world.
• Scholars return to their desks and write in their journals about an object they learned about and how the Lenape created it.

• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back.
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO.
• Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
• When kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading level goal and what’s holding her back.
• Listen to scholars read, and assess their struggles and level of understanding. Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

How did the Iroquois and Lenape use their environment for survival?

Success is when scholars understand that Lenape and Iroquois used natural resources to construct shelters.

Engage — 1 minute

Watch a video to spark a discussion on what a longhouse is.

Launch — 5–7 minutes

• Display Wigwam and Longhouse Photos. Have scholars turn and talk to share what they notice about the similarities and differences between the two structures.
• Create a Types of Shelter chart under the ELMO, and model filling in a few boxes.

Read to Learn — 15 minutes

Read the Shared Text “A Longhouse Village” from Life in a Longhouse Village by Bobbie Kalman.

Writing/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Scholars receive their own copies of the Types of Shelter chart. They use book bins filled with Independent Reading books on the Lenape and Iroquois on their tables to complete their charts.
• Each scholar draws a sketch of either a longhouse or a wigwam in his or her journal and then writes a description of this shelter.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their charts under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Read to Learn — 30 minutes

Read aloud excerpts from A Timeline History of Early American Indian Peoples by Diane Marczely Gimpel.

Independent Reading / Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
• When kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading level goal and what’s holding her back.
• Listen to scholars read, and assess their struggles and level of understanding.
• Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

How did the Iroquois and Lenape use their environment for survival?

Success is when scholars understand that Lenape and Iroquois used natural resources to create tools and obtain food.

Engage — 1 minute

Get scholars excited about their project today by showing them pictures of tools made from deer bones. Tell scholars that they’ll be learning all about how the Iroquois and Lenape used every part of this animal for something different!

Read to Learn — 15 minutes

Read a Shared text.

Launch — 5–7 minutes

• Explain to scholars that your class will create a display for their museum showing people all the different ways Native Americans used the white-tailed deer.
• Share an example of a finished project to inspire scholars and let them know what a completed project will look like.

Project Work — 60 minutes

• Deer Tool Project
  • Scholars each choose a tool, object, or piece of clothing to create using the “White- Tailed Deer” article or the “Deer Bone Tools” article as guidance. Then they create an illustration and caption for their chosen tool or other object.
  • Using an enlarged illustration of the deer, the class uses string to connect each “tool” and caption to the section of the deer it originated from, similar to the Deer Bone tools chart.

Read to Learn — 30 minutes

• Read aloud excerpts from Native Americans: The First Peoples of New York by Kate Schimel and Lynn George.

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
• When kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his reading level goal and what’s holding him back.
• Listen to scholars read, and assess their struggles and level of understanding.
• Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

How did the Iroquois and Lenape use their environment for survival?

Success is when scholars understand that Lenape and Iroquois used natural resources to create tools and obtain food.

Engage — 1 minute

There’s a special guest coming to the classroom today from the New York Historical Society who will show us different tools, clothing, and other household items that the Iroquois and Lenape made from natural resources!

Launch — 5–7 minutes

• Prepare scholars to learn how the Lenape and Iroquois made tools and other household items by reviewing what scholars have already learned the Iroquois and Lenape were able to make from the white-tailed deer.

Field Study

• An expert from the New York Historical Society comes to your classroom to describe the Lenape way of life and how they used resources from their environment to create objects. If you live outside the NYC area, find a local resource that can provide a similar experience for your scholars.

Writing/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Post-trip, debrief with the class, discussing scholars’ observations and what they learned.
• Scholars each select one artifact they saw, sketch it, and write about what it was used for and how it was made.
• Get your scholars focused and ensure that the room has a hushed tone. Narrate scholars who are meeting your expectations.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back.
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs and sketches under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Read to Learn — 15 minutes

Read a Shared Text.

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
• When kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his reading level goal and what’s holding him back.
• Listen to scholars read, and assess their struggles and level of understanding.
• Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What were the roles and responsibilities of men, women, and children in the tribes?

Success is when scholars understand the structure and division of work among the different members of the Lenape and Iroquoi

Engage — 1 minute

Get scholars excited about their project today by describing that your class will work together to make a 3D diorama of an Iroquois or Lenape family!

Read to Learn — 15 minutes

Read the Shared Text “Family Life: Roles and Responsibilities.”

Launch — 5–7 minutes

• Reinforce the expectations about using the materials respectfully.
• Encourage scholars to use their journals, Independent Reading books, and Read Alouds to help them accurately depict different family roles. Set a timer for each portion of project work (20 minutes to create the clay figure, 10 minutes to create the backdrop, and 30 minutes to write the script and film).

Project Work — 60 minutes

• Family Roles Diorama
  • Scholars work with partners; each pair chooses one family member that they’d like to portray. The partners depict their chosen family member carrying out one of their daily responsibilities. They paint the environment onto a cardboard backdrop, and form the family member’s body and any tools they need from clay.
  • For example, they might paint a forest backdrop with bushes and shrubs, and form a woman with a basket out of clay, bending over to pick a berry. Scholars can paint their clay figures as well, bringing their dioramas to life.
  • The final step will be to create a short script of what the family member would be saying as she completes her responsibilities. They’ll use this script to move the characters and have them “act out” their roles on film. Scholars will film each other acting out the scene.
  • Then the class puts their dioramas together, creating an entire village of families!

Read to Learn — 30 minutes

Read the Shared Texts “Iroquois Hunting Tools and Methods” and “The Three Sisters and the Lenape.”

Independent Reading / Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for 25 minutes.
• When kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his reading level goal and what’s holding him back.
• Listen to scholars read, and assess their struggles and level of understanding.
• Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

How did the Iroquois and Lenape trade goods with one another? Why was trading essential to both tribes?

Success is when scholars understand why and how the Iroquois and Lenape traded goods.

Engage — 1 minute

Get scholars excited by telling them that trading is a practice thousands of years old! Just as they trade stickers, pencils, and prizes, the Lenape and Iroquois traded goods.

Read to Learn — 15 minutes

Read Shared Text, preferably about the Hudson River.

Writing/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Scholars write in their journals about why and how the Iroquois and Lenape traded with other Native American tribes.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her writing goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Read to Learn — 30 minutes

Read the Shared Text “The Lenape: Manahatta” from Manahatta to Manhattan by the National Museum of the American Indian.

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
• When kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone, spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 5-6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his reading level goal and what’s holding him back.
• Listen to scholars read and assess their struggles and level of understanding.
• Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What are the traditional beliefs and cultures of these two tribes? Why do they hold these beliefs?

Success is when scholars understand the beliefs, cultures, and traditions of the Iroquois and Lenape.

Engage — 5 minute

Tell scholars that the Iroquois and Lenape had different values, beliefs, and traditions than the Europeans did—they even had their own calendar!

Launch — 5–7 minutes

• Read pages 16–17, “Clans,” from The Iroquois, by Charlotte Wilcox, with scholars. Scholars turn and talk to discuss the different roles within each clan.
• On chart paper, make a family tree with each clan member’s name. Have scholars provide you with each clan member’s responsibilities, and model how to jot notes.

Read to Learn — 15 minutes

Read the Shared Text “Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message,” by Chief Jake Swamp.

Writing/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• In journals, scholars select and describe one belief, tradition, or value the Iroquois or Lenape held.
• Spend the first few minutes making sure all kids are on task. Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations and using strong writing skills.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her writing goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger? Do they support their ideas with evidence? Is their writing simple and clear? Do they reread their writing?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs under the ELMO. Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Read to Learn — 15 minutes

Read the Shared Texts “The Haudenosaunee Calendar” and “The Lenape Calendar” adapted from The Haudenosaunee Educator’s Guide from the National Museum of the American Indian.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
• When kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his reading level goal and what’s holding him back.
• Listen to scholars read, and assess their struggles and level of understanding.
• Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

What are the traditional beliefs and cultures of these two tribes? Why do they hold these beliefs?

Success is when scholars understand the beliefs, cultures, and traditions of the Iroquois and Lenape.

Engage — 1 minute

Get scholars excited about their project of recreating the Strawberry Festival in their classroom today.

Read to Learn — 15 minutes

Read a Shared Text bout the Strawberry Festival.

Launch — 5–7 minutes

Reinforce for scholars how they must be respectful of the materials, and of each other, while deciding how to share the responsibilities of a clan as a table.

Project Work — 60 minutes

• Strawberry Festival Reenactment
  • Scholars reenact a Strawberry Festival using all the knowledge they have gained about Iroquois and Lenape beliefs and traditions. Film each table as they “give thanks” and as they create different recipes. Take photographs of the final food products!

Table groups work together to assign clan roles, such as the Clan Mother and Hoyaneh. Then they make the traditional strawberry drink using water and maple syrup. Read aloud the Shared Text “Giving Thanks: A Native American Morning Message” from Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message by Chief Jack Swamp. Pass around the drink to each member of the clan.

• Afterward, each table will use strawberries to make a recipe of their choosing to further celebrate the coming of spring. Film them as they create the recipes, and take photographs of the final products.
• Recipe ideas: Make strawberry jam to put on bread alone or with peanut butter, use strawberries and other fruits to make fruit salad, get pound cake and whipped cream to make strawberry shortbread, use a blender to make a strawberry smoothie, use spinach and strawberries with dressing to make a salad, mix strawberries with vanilla ice cream to make strawberry ice cream, or mix strawberries with lemonade to make strawberry lemonade.

Read to Learn — 30 minutes

Read aloud excerpts from If You Lived With the Iroquois…, by Ellen Levine, based on the interests and questions of your scholars.

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
• When kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading level goal and what’s holding her back.
• Listen to scholars read, and assess their struggles and level of understanding.
• Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

How did the arrival of Europeans change the lives of the Iroquois and Lenape in New York?

Success is when scholars understand how the Iroquois and Lenape peoples’ ways of life were negatively impacted by the Europeans.

Engage — 1 minute

You have the opportunity to visit the American Museum of Natural History (Hall of Woodland Indians)!

Launch — 5–7 minutes

• Read the Shared Text “The Lenape: Manahatta Changed” from The Haudenosaunee Educator’s Guide from the National Museum of the American Indian, to introduce how the Europeans changed the Lenape way of life. Prepare scholars to visit the AMNH, or if outside the NYC area, a local museum with a Native American exhibit.
• To research the Eastern Woodland Indians, scholars will visit three exhibits:
  • Tools and canoes they used
  • Clothing and games
  • Wampum and shelters

Field Study

Scholars see three exhibits at the AMNH (or local Native American exhibit), making a sketch, writing about what the exhibit taught them, and making a zoom-in sketch with captions.

Writing/Targeted Teaching Time — 60 minutes

• Post-trip, debrief with the class, discussing scholars’ observations and what they saw.
• Share scholar sketches under the ELMO.
• Scholars return to their seats to write about how the Lenape’s encounters with the Europeans changed them. Place applicable Independent Reading books in bins on the centers of tables.
• Get your scholars focused and ensure that the room has a hushed tone. Narrate scholars who are meeting your expectations.
• Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his writing goal and what’s holding him back.
• Have scholars tell you their big ideas. Can their big ideas be made stronger?
• Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars articulate and watch them write their ideas. Hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
• Choose two scholars who have strong ideas to share their paragraphs and sketches under the ELMO.
• Give scholars time to go back, reread, and revise their writing.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
• When kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading level goal and what’s holding her back.
• Listen to scholars read, and assess their struggles and level of understanding.
• Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

How did the arrival of Europeans change the lives of the Iroquois and Lenape in New York?

Success is when scholars understand how the Iroquois and Lenape peoples’ ways of life were negatively impacted by the Europeans.

Engage — 1 minute

Get scholars excited about their diary entry project today, where they’ll get to take on a perspective of their choosing—that of either a European or an Eastern Woodland Indian.

Read to Learn — 15 minutes

Read the Shared Text “The European Encounter: The Fur Trade and From Longhouses to Log Houses” from The Haudenosaunee Educator’s Guide from the National Museum of the American Indian.

Launch— 5–7 minutes

Remind scholars that their written letters must include what their perspective is; details that show their knowledge of the Eastern Woodland Indians; and neat, clear work.

Project Work — 60 minutes

• Diary Entry of a European or an Iroquois
  • Scholars have been studying the Iroquois and Lenape cultures and beliefs. They’ve also learned how the Europeans irrevocably changed their ways of life.
  • Now, they will get the chance to take on one perspective of their choosing to describe what it might have been like encountering one another for the first time! Scholars each write a historical fiction diary entry from the perspective of either a European seeing and meeting an Iroquois for the first time, or an Iroquois seeing and meeting a European for the first time.
  • The diary entry includes what their environment looked and sounded like, where they lived, what they ate, what they were wearing, what activities or games they were playing, and the roles different members of their families played.
  • Share a few diary entries before giving scholars feedback, then have them revise for the last portion of Project Work.

Read to Learn — 30 minutes

Read the Shared Text, “The Lenape: The Fur Trade” from The Haudenosaunee Educator’s Guide from the National Museum of the American Indian.

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
• When kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone, spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 5-6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify his reading level goal and what’s holding him back.
• Listen to scholars read, and assess their struggles and level of understanding.
• Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

What Does Success Look Like?

How can we teach others what we’ve learned?

Success is when scholars are able to teach others key information about the Lenape and Iroquois Indians.

Project Work — 60 minutes

• Provide scholars with work time to finish their projects and prepare the museum.

• White-Tailed Deer
  • Scholars collect natural resources (twigs, grass, flowers) from a nearby park and use these items to create replicas of items the Woodland Indians made, such as clothing, hunting tools, jewelry, combs, or utensils.

• Family Roles Diorama
  • Scholars use cardboard backdrops and clay to create a scene depicting men, women, and/or children carrying out the roles and responsibilities they had in the Lenape and Iroquois tribes. They create a script to accompany the diorama, and use the figurines to act out the scene on film.

• Strawberry Festival Reenactment
  • In their table groups, scholars reenact the Strawberry Festival by designating scholars to be different clan members, then giving thanks and eating these “first fruits” (ripe strawberries) of the spring. Take photographs and film segments of their festival to display at the museum.

• Diary Entry of a European or an Iroquois
  • Scholars take on different perspectives as they write historical fiction diary entries. They’ll decide whether they want to get into the mindset of a European encountering the Iroquois for the first time, or an Iroquois encountering a European for the first time.

• Display and label all project work.
• Plan and practice the format of the exhibition. What role will each scholar play? How will the museum flow?

Read to Learn — 30 minutes

Read aloud from the additional Read Alouds or Shared Texts.

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 30 minutes

• Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.
• Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 25 minutes.
• When kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone, spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 5–6 scholars. Ask each scholar to identify her reading level goal and what’s holding her back.
• Listen to scholars read, and assess their struggles and level of understanding.
• Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.

Use the next 5 days to work with scholars and increase their capacity to read and write.

The most important thing you can do is give kids independent reading, writing, and revision time.

Depending on their needs, work with scholars whole group, in small groups, or one-on-one to support them with the Tactics of Great Readers and Writ

Congratulations! You've reached the end of Unit 3: Iroquois and Lenape Project-Based Learning!

As a result of teaching this unit, you, as the teacher, have:

• Developed scholars’ content knowledge to answer the essential questions of the unit.
• Turned your scholars on to investigating and researching topics of interest.

Supportedscholars’abilitytothinkasbothreadersand writersof nonfiction—thinkingabout both the big idea and how it was presented by the author.

Your scholars can:

• Answer the essential questions of the unit, demonstrating their understanding of the topic— Iroquois and Lenape!
• Ask and answer their own questions about topics of interest by reading to learn.
• Understand what they read by noticing the choices the author made to convey the information and his or her ideas.
• Apply the same techniques of great nonfiction writers to teach others through their own writing.

Celebrate your scholar’s successes by acknowledging the expertise they now have about the Iroquois and Lenape as a result of the study, and by explaining what they can now do as readers and writers as a result of their work over the last several weeks. For example, scholars know how to craft a historical fiction diary entry!

Invite scholars to share what was most intriguing to them over the course of the study—and what they’re going to keep investigating on their own!

Reflect on your successes and stretches, as well as those of your scholars.

Look at your F&P results. Have your scholars grown as readers over the last month? Enlist parents to help get scholars over this hump!

Scholars must read at home, as well as in school. Are 100% of your kids reading 6 days a week at home? Make sure at-home reading is happening, and meet with families who are falling short to recommit them to this team effort.

Are 100% of your kids reading fluently? Are kids using all of the tools at their disposal to figure out the meaning of what they are reading?

Are 100% of your kids doing their literacy homework?

Going into the next unit, make specific reading goals for yourself. Set a percentage goal for how many children you will move in the next 15 days. Set a goal for children who are not reading at home. Who will you get to consistently read at home? Why are they stuck? Do they read most or all words correctly? What is their struggle with decoding? Do they understand what they’re reading? Do they understand the big idea? How will you partner with parents to support their growth?

If you are having trouble meeting your goals, do not wait until you have NOT succeeded. Consult your colleagues. Consult your leaders. ASK FOR HELP so you can meet your goals!