Native Village Simulation

Lately, it's seems that science and social studies gets the short end of the straw.  The CORE is all about writing, reading and math.  Kids are working harder than ever, pushing themselves to go deep and yet they are STILL kids.  They like to have fun, experience parts of history and the world they have no clue about...am I right?

In 3rd grade we learn about Native American cultures; linking the learning with the region.  It's one of my favorite units since I can incorporate the habitats and natural resources throughout the unit.  This year our time for social studies and science has been quite condensed to say the least.  Usually we use books and the Internet to research and then take time creating art, food and playing games from each region.  This year I couldn't cross over into literacy for research due to our new curriculum soooooooo....I had to get creative.

Another 3rd grade teacher and I were each in the same situation, but her worries were in the colonial time period.  Well, two heads are indeed better than one, and we came up with a fabulous solution.  We would take a Friday to celebrate our learning.  Her room would be a colonial village and mine would be a native American village from the east coast during the same time period.  Planning what we would include was inspiring and reminded me why I love to teach!!

The day before was a ton of setting up, but well worth the look on the kids faces as they came into the room.  One area of the room was set up for learning about food and doing some sampling.  The couch area was the fire circle where the village would hear stories and work on their leather projects.  Another area was set aside to learn about birch bark baskets.  Finally the challenging part was creating a wigwam.  I was hoping to get some enthusiastic, creative parents - but that didn't quite happen.  I envisioned the wigwam for kids to read and work on weaving.  I had the bright idea that a screen porch structure might work......the one I had didn't have directions and I struggled for about an hour to put it together (I'm not very "build it" smart).  Once it was together I realized it was HUGE and not quite my vision.  I took half the pieces off and built a smaller version.  The legs needed bracing and I threw the screen tarp over the top and then put on the "bark".  I must say it turned out pretty close to my idea and was glad I put the time into it.

The day of the simulation we divided up our kids with half and half going to each room so there was a bit of a mix.  I had great volunteers.  One parent and a grandparent designed the birch bark project - made with paper.  They also ran this station.  Another volunteer who knows my classroom really well floated and helped kids our if they finished an area early.  I have an amazing community volunteer who loves to teach children about food.  She focused on corn, beans and squash.  She showed the kids the uncooked version of each.  They used a mortar and pestle to grind corn and took dried corn off the stalk.  All the kids sampled corn muffins, bean soup and a bit of squash.  I had the fun of showing kids moccasins made from leather and teaching about using hides.  Each of the villages made a little pouch from deer hides that my father-in-law found at a rummage sale.  It was a favorite project of many.

The kids learned so much, asked wonderful questions and were VERY appreciative.  Simulations bring to life the learning,  foster connections and build memories for a lifetime!!