TeachersFirst's Native Americans Resources

This editor's choice collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers and students learn about the rich heritage and legacy of Native Americans and to plan projects and classroom activities so students can explore the contributions and experiences of the native nations of North and South America.  Whether you spend one class exploring these resources or plan an entire unit on Native Americans, the ideas included in the "In the Classroom" portion of reviews will launch discussions and projects your students will not forget.

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Columbus/Indigenous Peoples' Day - Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Grades
9 to 12
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Visit this site to access resources for teaching about Columbus/Indigenous Peoples' Day through various perspectives. Resources include links to a primary source document from 1585,...more
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Visit this site to access resources for teaching about Columbus/Indigenous Peoples' Day through various perspectives. Resources include links to a primary source document from 1585, videos, guided readings and essays, and lesson plans. Free registration is required to access all of the materials provided.

tag(s): columbus day (6), cultures (132), explorers (64), native americans (91), primary sources (113), westward expansion (38)

In the Classroom

Use the materials shared on this site to enhance your current lessons about Christopher Columbus and Indigenous Americans. Many lessons include using organizational frameworks like Frayer Models and adding a Frayer Model to Google Slides or Microsoft PowerPoint for students to share their information digitally. Find ready-to-use Frayer Model templates on sites like SlidesMania, reviewed here, by using the search feature. As students explore the primary source documents and information shared during the lesson activities, use Padlet, reviewed here, to curate and share information with students. Add links for viewing primary source documents, supplemental articles, and videos related to the lesson topic. As a learning extension, ask students to share their understanding of history by creating websites using Site123, reviewed here, which provides documentation and reflection upon the different historical perspectives found during the lessons.
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National Museum of the American Indian - Smithsonian Institution

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K to 12
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The National Museum of the American Indian contains an expansive collection of Native American artifacts. In addition, the museum's online offerings share photographs, media, and additional...more
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The National Museum of the American Indian contains an expansive collection of Native American artifacts. In addition, the museum's online offerings share photographs, media, and additional resources for educators and students. Browse through the homepage to view current exhibits and events; online events are clearly labeled, and there is a different section with a link to all online resources. Be sure to visit this site section to find links to various topics, including poetry, Native American women, and much more. Select the link from the dropdown box at the top of the page to view materials provided for educators. Included in the resources for educators is Native Knowledge 360 Education Initiative, reviewed here, which offers many teaching resources, including lessons, media, and professional development webinars. If your district blocks YouTube, then the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): explorers (64), native americans (91), primary sources (113), professional development (385), thanksgiving (24), westward expansion (38)

In the Classroom

Be sure to bookmark this site for use with lessons on Thanksgiving, using primary sources, or when teaching about Native Americans. Consider using curation tools such as Padlet, reviewed here, or Wakelet, reviewed here, to organize resources for easy retrieval. Padlet and Wakelet are also handy when sharing information and resources with students. As you begin your lessons on American Indians, begin with a formative assessment to gauge your students' understanding of the topic. Use an easy online quiz tool such as Baamboozle, reviewed here, to engage students in your learning activities. As you continue in your lessons, continue to motivate and engage students using Wooclap, reviewed here, to review information either in class or as a homework activity. Instead of testing to assess knowledge upon completing your unit, offer students the opportunity to share their understanding of content in various ways. Examples include creating an infographic using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, an explainer video made using Clipchamp, reviewed here, and an interactive map built using Google My Maps, reviewed here.
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Indigenous Peoples of the Americas - The Kennedy Center

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K to 8
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This diverse collection of resources provides many opportunities to experience the culture of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas through visual arts, dance, music, and more. Resources...more
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This diverse collection of resources provides many opportunities to experience the culture of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas through visual arts, dance, music, and more. Resources include lessons for grades K-8 that focus on learning about indigenous people through integrating the arts with science, social studies, and language arts. Other resources include videos that feature Native Americans discussing their crafts through interviews and storytelling. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. Lessons correlate to National Core Arts Standards, Common Core, and Next Generation Science Standards.

tag(s): cross cultural understanding (156), cultures (132), dance (26), holidays (159), native americans (91), north america (14), stories and storytelling (38)

In the Classroom

Print lesson plans during Native American Month, as a supplement to social studies lessons about cultures and states, or during geography lessons. Lesson plans are available in PDF format or as Google Documents; save any lesson to your Google Drive as a copy of the original document and edit it to fit your curriculum or adapt it as desired to fit current lessons. Use any or all materials found on this site as a personalized learning lesson for students to complete in person or remotely. For example, add a video, poem, and reflective activity, and additional materials to a SchoolStack, reviewed here, an activity that offers students a choice of learning materials and activities. Consider asking students to work in collaborative groups to research indigenous people based on their interests. For example, have a group explore dance, another their art and sculpture, and a group that researches geographic locations of the different tribes. Ask each group to share their learning by creating simple websites made with Telegra.ph, reviewed here. Telegra.ph provides simple website creation tools without all the distractions of backgrounds, templates, and other distractions. Easily add text, images, and links to any Telegra.ph site.
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Native American Heritage Collection - PBS LearningMedia

Grades
3 to 12
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Learn about Indigenous art, history, and culture with the PBS LearningMedia Native American Heritage Collection. This collection of teaching resources includes videos, lesson plans,...more
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Learn about Indigenous art, history, and culture with the PBS LearningMedia Native American Heritage Collection. This collection of teaching resources includes videos, lesson plans, media galleries, learning interactives, and more! Open each resource in this collection and find entire lessons already created for you. Share items quickly with your students with the share to Google Classroom or sharing links. Teachers can use the site's included Lesson Builder to create detailed lesson plans customized just for them. A free account is required to download and save resources.

tag(s): native americans (91)

In the Classroom

Use this collection during Native American Heritage month to dive deeply into studying America's Indigenous people and culture. Teachers can enhance learning by downloading videos and creating interactive questions using tools such as Edpuzzle, reviewed here. Resources from this collection include support materials that you can use with Kami, reviewed here, or upload to your learning management system. Many included resources have comprehension or discussion questions that classes can discuss digitally with tools such as Google's Jamboard, reviewed here.
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Native American Month Resources for Teachers - Library of Congress

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K to 12
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Start your search for Native American Heritage Month lessons and activities with the resources provided by the Library of Congress. This site includes a Teacher's Guide and primary...more
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Start your search for Native American Heritage Month lessons and activities with the resources provided by the Library of Congress. This site includes a Teacher's Guide and primary source resources from the National Archives, National Gallery of Art, and other national institutions. Lesson focus is on many different types of primary sources, including maps, artwork, and music.

tag(s): native americans (91), primary sources (113)

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site to use not only for Native American Heritage Month but as a supplement for any lessons that include activities that teach about Native Americans. Take advantage of the many free primary source Strategy Guides available at Read Write Think, reviewed here, for teaching with primary sources. For example, search for the Inquiry Charts (I-Guide) Strategy Guide to download and use the printout that helps students focus on the content of any primary source. Create an inquiry chart using Google Slides, reviewed here, or Jamboard, reviewed here, for students to complete as a group. Enhance learning through the use of a video add-on tool such as edpuzzle, reviewed here. edpuzzle offers options to add comments and questions into videos to help students focus on important concepts. Extend learning by asking students to share their understanding of Native Americans using a variety of online tools. For example, ask students to use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to create maps sharing information of different tribes found around the United States. Another option is to use Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, and offer students options for creating videos Adobe Express Video Maker, or web pages sharing facts and information learned during your unit.
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Native Knowledge 360 Education Initiative - Smithsonian Institute

Grades
K to 12
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Find support for teaching about Native Americans with the many resources found at Native Knowledge 360. Access live and recorded professional development webinars that feature guidance...more
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Find support for teaching about Native Americans with the many resources found at Native Knowledge 360. Access live and recorded professional development webinars that feature guidance on the proper use of primary sources, understanding problematic narratives about Native Americans, and much more. Browse through the lesson resources to view and use featured activities, handouts, digital posters, and more. The search feature includes tools to filter searches by grade level, subject, region, or format of resources. Several lesson options are available in Spanish. This website also offers free virtual field trips led by museum educators; advance registration is required. These events fill up quickly; sign up to receive newsletters and updates to receive notification in advance of event signups.

tag(s): native americans (91), thanksgiving (24), westward expansion (38)

In the Classroom

Replace some (or all) of your current written Native America resources with the genuine artifacts and stories available for viewing on this site. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to organize important information and resources found on this site to share with students. As students learn about Native Americans, instead of written or oral presentations, ask student groups to create quizzes for their classmates using a quiz-creation tool like Baamboozle, reviewed here. Baamboozle is a quick and easy resource for creating and sharing quizzes for teams of two. As a final project, transform and extend student technology and learning by using Book Creator, reviewed here, to create class books sharing information about Native Americans. Book Creator is a digital book creation site offering the ability to add images, text, video, and more. Be sure to share student-created books on your class website or blog after publication.
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Wisconsin Biographies - PBS Wisconsin Education

Grades
3 to 6
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Wisconsin Biographies is a robust collection of information sharing the stories of famous people from Wisconsin. Each biography includes an interactive featuring videos, images, teaching...more
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Wisconsin Biographies is a robust collection of information sharing the stories of famous people from Wisconsin. Each biography includes an interactive featuring videos, images, teaching activities, and leveled reading booklets. Use other site features to create trading cards and build graphic organizers and timelines. Learn more about Wisconsin through three thematic videos that analyze the stories and provide context for how events connect over time.

tag(s): agriculture (49), biographies (93), civil rights (193), environment (237), journalism (70), native americans (91), recycling (46), slavery (75), wisconsin (5), womens suffrage (43)

In the Classroom

Use this fabulous site as part of your lessons on biographies or as you learn about the states. Ask students to choose one of the biographies as a starting point for researching other Americans. For example, after learning about Walter Bresette, challenge students to learn about others who teach about American Indian rights and protecting the earth. Extend learning by using this site as a model for student-created projects or as a class project. Use a website creation tool like about.me, reviewed here, to build a webpage to tell about the famous person being researched. Include a video created using Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, to bring their story to life; find many ideas and templates to help students organize information on Read Write Think, reviewed here. When finished, upload student-created documents similar to the booklets found on the site. Use the idea maps found on the Wisconsin site to create a timeline or other graphic organizer and include it on the student webpage using a link or by uploading their saved PDF. Create and include a trading card using Canva Edu, reviewed here, and sharing a link on student pages.
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Native American Heritage Month - Described and Captioned Media Program

Grades
K to 12
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Each November, we celebrate American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. This site provides a series of videos for students to learn about the history and stories of Native Americans....more
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Each November, we celebrate American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. This site provides a series of videos for students to learn about the history and stories of Native Americans. The website features five video series, broken into the categories of A History of Native American Achievement, Native American Culture, Native American Folklore, Native American History, and Celebrate Native American Educators. Each video includes suggested grade level use and links to content standards. Most videos are available as a preview, register for your free account to view videos in full.

tag(s): commoncore (75), native americans (91)

In the Classroom

Include these videos as part of your studies of American Indians and their heritage. Engage students by making the videos interactive using Edpuzzle, reviewed here, to add both teacher and student comments. Use Google My Maps, reviewed here, for extending learning when students create virtual field trips sharing locations and information found during their research of American Indians. Have students create interactive timelines using Timeline Infographic Templates, reviewed here, for younger students, or Timeline JS, reviewed here, for older students who can include music, photos, videos, maps, comments, and more.

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Reading Treks: Buffalo Dance The Journey of York - TeachersFirst

Grades
10 to 12
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TeachersFirst Reading Treks create a virtual field trip of resources about a piece of literature or text using the My Maps feature of Google Maps. This Reading Trek provides inspiration...more
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TeachersFirst Reading Treks create a virtual field trip of resources about a piece of literature or text using the My Maps feature of Google Maps. This Reading Trek provides inspiration and suggestions for using the trade book Buffalo Dance The Journey of York. Get to know York, the only enslaved man on the Lewis and Clark expedition, through these poems that provide insight into how and what York may have felt and thought. Use our robust Instructional Guide with students in grades 10-12. Content correlates to Common Core Standards, ISTE Student Standards, and National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. Find the entire selection of Reading Treks here.

tag(s): 1800s (72), commoncore (75), explorers (64), lewis and clark (14), poetry (188), westward expansion (38)

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the many suggested classroom uses for this resource found on the Instructional Guide (PDF). As a class, discuss social justice situations within the school, the community, state, nation, and the world. To enhance learning and the discussions of online information, use Fiskkit, reviewed here, as a collaborative discussion tool. Fiskkit allows you to highlight and add comments to online articles. Have students share their written work, including poems, to Pathbrite, reviewed here. Pathbrite includes free resources for creating and sharing online portfolios that include images, written work, and video making it perfect to use for sharing student work during parent conferences and when submitting college applications.
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Reading Treks: The Journey of York The Unsung Hero of the Lewis and Clark Expedition - TeachersFirst

Grades
2 to 6
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TeachersFirst Reading Treks create a virtual field trip of resources about a piece of literature or text using the My Maps feature of Google Maps. This Reading Trek provides inspiration...more
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TeachersFirst Reading Treks create a virtual field trip of resources about a piece of literature or text using the My Maps feature of Google Maps. This Reading Trek provides inspiration and suggestions for using the trade book The Journey of York The Unsung Hero of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. York, the only enslaved man on the journey, did not choose to go. Slaves did not have choices. However, his contributions to the expedition were valuable, and this is his story. Use our robust Instructional Guide with students in grades 2-6. Content correlates to Common Core Standards, ISTE Student Standards, and National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. Find the entire selection of Reading Treks here.

tag(s): 1800s (72), commoncore (75), explorers (64), lewis and clark (14), native americans (91)

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the many suggested classroom uses for this resource found on the Instructional Guide (PDF). Consider using the historical information and primary sources from the book to have students create timelines of the important events throughout the time of Lewis and Clark's explorations. Find a variety of free online timeline creation tools at located here. Using the map and locales, trace and then calculate distances for some of Lewis and Clark's travels.
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The Ancestral Pueblo People - National Park Service

Grades
6 to 10
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Discover a wealth of information about the Bandelier National Monument, the Pueblo people in New Mexico and their historical significance beginning 15,000 years ago. Gorgeous pictures...more
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Discover a wealth of information about the Bandelier National Monument, the Pueblo people in New Mexico and their historical significance beginning 15,000 years ago. Gorgeous pictures bring the history of the Pueblo people to life in screens with short, informative pieces to read. Be sure to click the "Learn About the Park" tab at the top to find virtual tours, multimedia, more images, history and culture, and other topics of interest.

tag(s): archeology (24), geology (64), native americans (91)

In the Classroom

Assign this activity in pairs when studying native Americans. The student challenges teach about the Ancestral Pueblo people and how they adapted to their harsh environment. The text portions might be challenging. Pair weak readers with a strong reader. Allow your ENL/ESL students to try using a text to speech program such as Text to Speech Reader, reviewed here, that will allow these students to follow the text as the article or passage is read to them.
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Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian - Northwestern University

Grades
9 to 12
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Between 1909 and 1930, photographer Edward Curtis set out to document the life and culture of the North American Indians, and this site shares his work. Like so many of ...more
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Between 1909 and 1930, photographer Edward Curtis set out to document the life and culture of the North American Indians, and this site shares his work. Like so many of his time, he viewed Native Americans as a "primitive" race of people whose customs were a source of curiosity. As westward expansion began to destroy the culture of indigenous people, Curtis wanted to record, through photographs and narratives, what he believed was a savage and mysterious world before it disappeared. While Curtis' work represented the popular viewpoint of his time, today we recognize that it is, at best, the impressions of someone who neither understood nor particularly valued what he was recording. This digital reproduction of the entire project needs to be carefully previewed and introduced so that we don't perpetuate this way of viewing Native American life. In fact, some of the images of the ceremonial life were never intended to be seen by "outsiders," and their use today is controversial. The site does a good job of setting the context for the use of Curtis's work and helps establish respectful boundaries.

tag(s): difficult conversations (58), native americans (91)

In the Classroom

We have come a long way from the study of Native Americans as a single generic group. Careful use of the images and narratives from Curtis' work can help illustrate that outdated mindset and provide a contrast to today's understanding of the contributions indigenous Americans have made to US history and culture. Share these images on your interactive whiteboard or projector as part of a guided discussion.

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Seminole Tribune - Seminole Tribune of Florida

Grades
4 to 12
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Published monthly, The Seminole Tribune of Florida is the official newspaper of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Current issues and archives are available via PDF download. Click...more
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Published monthly, The Seminole Tribune of Florida is the official newspaper of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Current issues and archives are available via PDF download. Click on the appropriate tab at the top, or scroll to the bottom menu. The cultural information includes art, basketry, beadwork, housing, clans, language, legends, green corn dance, food and recipes, and clothing. Read an explanation about the current government within the tribe. Florida Seminole Tourism offers information for events and places to visit. Note: You do not need to subscribe to use this site. Simply click to view Current Issue or Archives. Scroll to to the very bottom to find the link for the Archives.
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tag(s): civil rights (193), cross cultural understanding (156), cultures (132), myths and legends (21), native americans (91)

In the Classroom

Use this site to study the Seminoles as part of a unit on Native Americans. Have students enhance their learning by comparing and contrasting to the Native Americans within your own state or region. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Use this as a resource when discussing civil rights. In language arts class, use it to explore legends.
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Carlisle Indian Industrial School - Dickinson College

Grades
6 to 12
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Discover the controversial legacy of the Indian School. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the US Government encouraged the establishment of so-called Industrial Schools...more
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Discover the controversial legacy of the Indian School. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the US Government encouraged the establishment of so-called Industrial Schools designed to "civilize" Native American children and prepare them for careers outside the reservations and within white society. Today the legacy of these schools remains controversial: did they provide children with useful skills, or were they a form of ethnic cleansing that robbed them of their culture, self identity, and heritage? The Carlisle Indian Industrial School is probably best known for being the home of internationally renowned athlete Jim Thorpe, but it is also part of the family history of many Native Americans today whose ancestors attended the Pennsylvania school. Dickinson College maintains this digital archive of student records, images and special collections for use by relatives of former students and by scholars doing research on the legacy of the Indian Industrial Schools. Search by student name, by nation, or within collections of school publications and other documents. The archive is an ongoing project and will continue to grow.

tag(s): colonial america (95), cross cultural understanding (156), difficult conversations (58), diversity (38), history day (40), identity (28), native americans (91), westward expansion (38)

In the Classroom

Too often US history survey classes broadly consider Native Americans and their role in the original colonization of North America, or their role in Westward Expansion, without taking the time to understand the differences among nations, or the impact of European settlement on these pre-existing societies. Even if there isn't time for in depth study, consider asking students to study the individual record of one young man or woman approximately their own age who attended the Carlisle Indian School. How old was he when he left home? What skill was she trained in? What happened to him after he left Carlisle? Enhance student learning by having students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about the individual they researched. This personal contact with the real life of another student from another time and another culture will reduce the tendency to stereotype Native Americans as they so often are during the study of US History. Of course, the site is also a wonderful resource for in depth research such as a National History Day project. Were the identities of these people stolen? Use the resources Analyzing Before and After Photographs... and the Telling Lives: The Lost Ones Documentary Film to discuss identity and whether or not that was taken from these students.
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Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum - 2012 Seminole Tribe of Florida

Grades
2 to 10
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The Seminole Tribe of Florida's Ah-TAh-Thi-Ki is a place to learn about Seminoles and a place to remember. The museum showcases over 30,000 unique artifacts. Even though the website...more
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The Seminole Tribe of Florida's Ah-TAh-Thi-Ki is a place to learn about Seminoles and a place to remember. The museum showcases over 30,000 unique artifacts. Even though the website includes information about visiting the actual museum, there is much to explore without ever going there. Find a Virtual Tour, Online Exhibits, and Podcasts of oral history about alligator wrestling, patchwork, beadwork, dolls, Civil Rights, Brighton Day School, and tribal leaders. To find the Podcasts, click Collections from the top menu and then Oral History. The Online Connections Collection features 2,500 books and periodicals. Besure to check out the Education tab at the top to find even more resources, curriculum, reading lists and fied trips.
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tag(s): native americans (91)

In the Classroom

Explore the Seminole Tribe through the online collections and museums. Use the sources as primary and secondary to supplement other class materials. Use the Seminole Tribe to compare and contrast the native American tribes found in your area. Explore the Seminole Tribe in your unit on Civil Rights. Use this site to discover the leadership that lead to the Seminole Tribe of today. Be sure to begin your study with an anticipation guide. End your unit with a post assessment dispelling the myths in the anticipation guide.
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U. S. History Images - Karen J. Hatzigeorgiou

Grades
7 to 12
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U.S. History Images is a large site of Public Domain images beginning with Native Americans up to the Civil War. Choose from categories offered to locate images within the different...more
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U.S. History Images is a large site of Public Domain images beginning with Native Americans up to the Civil War. Choose from categories offered to locate images within the different choices. For specific searches, use the search bar or site map to locate content. Be sure to view the Terms of Use for understanding of proper use of images.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): 1800s (72), american revolution (80), civil war (133), colonial america (95), colonization (20), emancipation proclamation (11), images (268), industrial revolution (20), industrialization (11), lincoln (59), native americans (91), pioneers (9), states (122), transportation (32), washington (24)

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this site to share during classroom lessons on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Share with students as a place to explore and to "get the picture" of early events in American History. As an alternative a traditional report and to enhance learning, create a newspaper using a site such as Printing Press, reviewed here, to report on Civil War events. This site is a wonderful source for students to find raw materials for multimedia projects in general. Be sure to provide a mini lesson on how to cite their image sources!

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America in Class - The National Humanities Center

Grades
5 to 12
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Discover American History lessons correlated to Common Core reading and social studies literacy standards, especially those that require close reading and evidence. The goal of these...more
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Discover American History lessons correlated to Common Core reading and social studies literacy standards, especially those that require close reading and evidence. The goal of these lessons is to use primary resources, background information, and the analytical strategies suggested to meet the Common Core standards. In addition to these outstanding American History lessons, also find free online seminars and secondary sources. The secondary sources, under TeacherServe, include essays on topics in American literature and history.

tag(s): abolition (7), american revolution (80), civil war (133), colonial america (95), colonization (20), democracy (19), native americans (91), primary sources (113), religions (75), slavery (75), women (135)

In the Classroom

Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to help your class learn the background information and read the material through once. Work through the lesson together; then consider assigning groups of four students to go through the readings again, discovering the answers to the essential questions. Have students post the group's answers on a back channel chat program such as YoTeach!, reviewed here, so all groups can see all answers. Where answers differ, have students go back into the reading and cite evidence to support their answer on Today's Meet for all to see.

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Navajo Code Talkers - Navajo Code Talkers Foundation

Grades
6 to 12
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The Navajo Code Talkers Foundation site tells the story of young Navajo men who transmitted secret communications on the battlefields of World War II. Their unbreakable code played...more
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The Navajo Code Talkers Foundation site tells the story of young Navajo men who transmitted secret communications on the battlefields of World War II. Their unbreakable code played a pivotal role in saving countless lives and hastening the war's end. Choose the link to the "Code Talkers" to read their story from beginning, through the battles, and coming home. Learn more about the code in that portion of the site by scrolling over words to view the translation and understand more about the only unbroken code in modern military history. Meet several of the code talkers through their bio and photos available on the site.
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tag(s): cryptography (5), native americans (91), world war 2 (149)

In the Classroom

Share this site with your students on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) during your World War II unit or a unit on Native Americans. This would be a great link to share during Native American Heritage Month. Enhance student learning by replacing pencil and paper and use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to create a visual comparison of the Code Talkers vs other World War II battle units or cryptographers. Put a link to Fun Facts For Kids on station computors or your website for your students to learn even more.

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Native Voices: Native Peoples' Concepts of Health and Illness - U. S. National Library of Health and Medicine

Grades
4 to 12
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Native Voices takes an extensive look at Native Peoples' health and beliefs through several different media approaches. Begin with a video introductory message from the Director of...more
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Native Voices takes an extensive look at Native Peoples' health and beliefs through several different media approaches. Begin with a video introductory message from the Director of the National Library of Medicine. The video explains content on the site and the background of the exhibition. Watch interviews of health professionals, healers, and other community leaders organized by theme, name, or region. An extensive timeline highlights key events searchable by time period, tribe, or keyword. The resources area provides links to lessons, online activities, suggested reading, and more. Explore the exhibition to view Native American art and stories about healing. This site is a must-visit for anyone interested in learning more about Native American's beliefs in regard to health and healing.

tag(s): cross cultural understanding (156), medicine (54), native americans (91)

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this site as a resource for Native American, American History, health, and other units. View videos on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) together. Have groups of students view videos on individual tribes, then enhance learning by challenging students to create a newspaper article using the Newspaper Clipping Generator or use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to create a visual comparison of tribal beliefs-- or perhaps comparing with "mainstream" beliefs in their own culture.

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Four Directions Teaching - 4D Interactive Inc.

Grades
5 to 12
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A Canadian site focused on five "first nations" central to Canada's history, Four Directions Teaching, uses technology to create a visually beautiful site about the Blackfoot, Cree,...more
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A Canadian site focused on five "first nations" central to Canada's history, Four Directions Teaching, uses technology to create a visually beautiful site about the Blackfoot, Cree, Ojibwe, Mohawk, and Mi'kmaq tribes. There are also extensive teacher resources, sorted by challenge level, to download, a photo collection, audio narration, and printables. These resources are appropriate not only for use by Canadians, but also for understanding the development of Native American culture throughout North America. (The Native Americans preceded any national boundaries!).

tag(s): canada (23), cross cultural understanding (156), cultures (132), native americans (91)

In the Classroom

The series of animated mini lessons are perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard (or projector) and help anchor the learning activities available for download. They could also be used as stand-alone resources to complement lessons you have designed. You might choose to look at creation myths across the various tribes or how each culture constructed shelters or conducted ceremonies. These themes make the lessons useful even for those not studying specifically Canadian history. Have students make a multimedia presentation on a chosen topic using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): PBWorks (wiki), Site123 (blog), Renderforest (newscast video), and Genially (poster/bulletin board).
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