Lesson plan · North Dakota · NDNAEU 2
Themes: Storytelling & oral tradition, Education & learning
Resource text
Inquiry Design Model (IDM) Blueprint™
Dreamcatcher
NDNAEU 2 “Learning & Storytelling”
Compelling Question
What is the web of life?
Standards and Practices
NDNAEU 2 – Learning and Storytelling
Staging the Question
What are the stages in the web of life?
Supporting Question 1
How does Iktomi (the trickster) describe the web of life and how it relates to the dreamcatcher?
Formative Performance Task
Share the story “Dreamcatcher” using the link below. Have students share their view of the story and what they have learned.
Featured Sources
https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Dreamcatcher-Lakota.html
SUMMATIVE PERFORMANCE TASK:
Supported Claim
(written/spoken)
or Demonstration of Process
(project-based)
Have students create a list of 5-10 dreams that they can remember. Students will then label the dreams as “good” ones that will be caught by the dreamcatcher’s web, or “bad” ones that will pass through the open hole in the center. Remind them that, according to the story, the “good” dreams will be carried with them throughout life and the “bad” ones will be no longer be a part of them.
SUMMATIVE PERFORMANCE TASK:
Extension
Have students make a simple dreamcatcher of their own, if time permits. Use the link below for a supply list and video tutorial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGNDpcSRQtM
Dreamcatcher basic supply list:
1) Metal or wooden hoop
2) String, sinew, or thread
Taking Informed Action / Real World Application
Send a copy of the Dreamcatcher story home with each student and encourage them to hang their dreamcatcher above their bed.