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Chapter Overview: The long restless nights in fear have finally come to an end, and the Ingalls family begins back to the daily routine. As Pa is working outside one morning, he calls to the family to come outside and join him in watching the parade of Osage Indians, lead by the “good Indian” that saved the settlers lives from the other Indians. The family watches in awe as the tribe passes on horse back with all of their belongings, leaving their home, and acting as though the family is not even there.
Chapter Themes: empathy, human rights, Native American movement
Chapter Activities
- Language Arts
- What’s in a name?
- Description: There are several words that are not commonly used nowadays that are used in the story. The children will find at least 5 words that are not familiar to them, or are not used in everyday language, and create a dictionary. The students can research the meaning in the book using context clues, in a dictionary, or online to add to their repertoire of vocabulary. Then, using their newfound knowledge, the students will use those words to summarize the chapter.
- Standards Addressed
- (3)1.11 develop vocabulary by listening to and discussing selections read aloud
- (3)2.1 identify and use pre-reading, during, and post-reading strategies to improve comprehension
- Dear Chief Du Chêne
- Description: The Ingalls family truly appreciated what the Osage Indian chief had done for their family’s safety. Given the opportunity, the family would like the chance to show their appreciation. The children will have that opportunity by writing a letter to Chief Du Chêne from an Ingalls family member’s point of view. In the letter, the children will need to express the family member’s feelings while watching the procession.
- Standards Addressed
- (3)3.4 identify and compare themes or messages (including author’s purpose) in reading selections
- (3)5.3 write friendly letters, formal letters, thank you letters, and invitations which address audience concerns, stated purpose, and context and which include the date, proper salutation, body, closing, and signature
- Mathematics
- Indians in the tribe
- Description: The children will try to determine how many Indians made up the Osage tribe in the chapter by using the descriptions from the author, the number of horses they predicted make a mile, and discussion with a small group.
- Standards Addressed
- (3)B.2 use inquiry techniques (discussion, questioning, research, and data gathering) to solve mathematical problems
- (3)C.6 determine relevant, irrelevant, and/or sufficient information to solve mathematical problems
- How many miles?
- Description:The Ingalls family watched the Indian tribe walk on for as far as they could see from east to west. The children are going to use the information about the number of hands long an average horse is, how many feet that would be, and then finally figure out how many horses would be required, head to rear, to complete a mile.
- Standards Addressed
- (3)1.12 model and explain multiplication and division as repeated addition or subtraction
- (3)C.6 determine relevant, irrelevant, and/or sufficient information to solve mathematical problems
- Social Studies
- A Nation built on Struggles
- Description: The children will identify conflicts that they have encountered while at school and how those made them feel. They will then research some of the major conflicts the Native Americans had with the settlers before the land was truly owned by the United States. They will then have to pick a side and have a debate about whether the Native Americans deserved the land or the settlers were correct in their actions.
- Standards Addressed
- (3)1.8 identify conflicts in the school and discuss peaceful resolutions
- 6.0 1700 to 1865 — Students understand the people, events, ideas, and conflicts that led to the creation of new nations and distinctive cultures.
- I want it!
- Description: The children will begin by creating a graphic organizer about the things that they want and things that they need. They will then highlight the wants and needs that they feel everybody in the world would want or need. After discussing that everybody has differences, the children will use the book to show the similar and different wants and needs of the settlers and Native Americans.
- Standards Addressed
- 6.0 1700 to 1865 — Students understand the people, events, ideas, and conflicts that led to the creation of new nations and distinctive cultures.
- (3)3.27 compare the wants and needs of people in different communities and the means used to fulfill those wants and needs
- Science
- Papoose
- Description: Laura longs to see a papoose, and finally sees one when the tribe passes the family. Laura begs to keep the baby, crying and throwing a fit when her parents tell her no. The children will use the description of the baby to determine what the mother looks like. Then, the children will describe which traits would be inherited from the Indian’s blood, and which traits would make the baby fit in to the Ingalls family (traits not inherited).
- Standards Addressed
- L2A Students understand that offspring resemble their parents.
- L5A Students understand that some characteristics are inherited and some are not.
- You are Me
- Description: The children will classify a list of characteristics that describes the horses’, settlers’ and Native American’s basic needs, behaviors, habitats, and characteristics. The children will not be informed what the list is, just that they should classify them into three groups and label each group with the animal that they believe it describes. After trying to create the list, and struggling to create three groups, the class will discuss how though different, the humans were treating their equals poorly during this time in history.
- Standards Addressed
- L5D Students understand that living things can be classified according to physical characteristics, behaviors, and habitats.
- L2D Students understand that there are many kinds of living things on Earth
Native American Adaptation
Most Native Americans had two choices when dealing with the US settlement of the west: resist and run or stay and adapt to the new culture. There were several tribes that chose each method. The resisters were the causes of several Indian wars, while the adapters gave up their culture to keep peace with the new inhabitants of the land.
The major adaptations of the Native Americans involved religion, education, and overall way of life. The children were expected to wear the clothes that the other children wore, often times being sent to boarding schools to learn the way of the “civilized” culture. They were taught educational subjects in school, as well as ways to be good Christians.
The adults were also expected to learn the way of the civilized by meeting with missionaries and changing the housing that they lived in, as well as who they lived with. From traditional longhouses that they had built for years, the Indians changed to the log houses that the settlers were accustomed to.
But the Indians were not the only people adapting. The settlers had to learn from the Indians as well. The Indians had lived and cultivated the land for hundreds of years before and therefore knew more about the land and what would grow. They introduced the settlers to new fruits and vegetables.
However, the Indians were suffering greatly from the disease that the Europeans brought with them. The Indians were not accustomed to or immune to the diseases and therefore were not surviving. Among the battles, the Indians also had to survive the germs and viruses they had never been exposed to. The Native Americans that chose to adapt and keep peace were ultimately killed in a way that took their culture and buried them with the lives of those who resisted.
Additional Resources
- http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/native_voices/nav3.html#tragedy
- A website with information about the affects on Native Americans from early interactions with pilgrims through western expansion.
- Loewen, J. W.(1996). Lies my teacher told me: Everything your American history textbook got wrong. New York, NY: Touchstone: A Division of Simon & Schuster.
- A great book for learning misconceptions taught in schools.
- Harvey, K.D. & Harjo, L.D. (Choctaw). Indian country: A history of native people in America. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing.
- Native American history book through the eyes of the Native Americans.
1 comment:
This is excellent work, Claire. You have a true gift for developing cross-curricular activities that align with historical children's literature.
Would writing a letter be the most authentic way to communicate with Chief Du Chene? What communication methods would the students recommend (e.g., providing a gift, inviting them for a meal, telling them thank you in person, sending an interpreter)? Have them decide and then prepare their communications using that method.
Perhaps after determining the number of Osage Indians in the chapter, students could learn more about Osage culture. Few in the U.S. recognize and appreciate the size and technological advances of the native people.
I love how you relate national conflict and personal conflict in your social studies activity.
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