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WoLakota Project & Teachings of Our Elders

Connecting Cultures

Connecting Cultures — Lesson plan in the WoLakota Project and Teachings of Our Elders searchable archive.

Lesson plan · North Dakota · NDNAEU 1 · NDNAEU 6

Themes: Kinship & family, Storytelling & oral tradition, Education & learning, Values & generosity, Culture & continuity

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Inquiry Design Model (IDM) Blueprint™ Connecting Cultures NDNAEU 1 “Sacred Relatives”, NDNAEU 6 “Native Contributions” Compelling Question Why is it important to understand different cultures? Standards and Practices G.6_12.3.1 Describe the differences and similarities among cultures around the world. Staging the Question How can different cultures be connected? Supporting Question 1 Supporting Question 2 Supporting Question 3 How does/did trade connect different cultures? How did the people in each group go about building their Legos? In what ways did other students or groups impact the way you built your Legos? Formative Performance Task Formative Performance Task Formative Performance Task Give students or groups of students Legos of the same color. Give them two to five minutes to trade and assemble their Legos. There could be instructions given to each student/group on what they are trying to build or you can let them build however they want. If you gave specific instructions, the instructions mean or relate different cultural values. If you gave no instructions discuss how the different groups went about deciding what and how to build their Legos. Discuss how the “cultures” of the different groups show up in each of the Lego structures. One that will be obvious is the colors of the Legos. Discuss how trading the Legos spread each groups culture. Featured Sources Featured Sources Featured Sources Legos of different colors none none SUMMATIVE PERFORMANCE TASK: Supported Claim (written/spoken) or Demonstration of Process (project-based) Do research and write an essay comparing and contrasting Tribal Origin Stories. SUMMATIVE PERFORMANCE TASK: Extension Use the Elder interview and discussion questions in the following link. Have students watch the video in pairs and discuss the questions. Then share with the whole class. https://teachingsofourelders.org/essential-understanding-1-jt-shining- oneside/ Taking Informed Action / Real World Application Present the findings of the research in small groups.

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