Native Americans Today Lesson Evaluation
The lesson I chose to evaluate was "Native Americans Today. This lesson is to help students realize that Native Americans are still present in America today, despite many people thinking they are a vanished people. Students will brainstorm what they know about Native Americans and do research on contemporary Native Americans. Lastly, students will compare and contrast their ideas of Native Americans at the beginning of the lesson to what they know now. The objectives of this lesson are for students to engage in critical discussions about their knowledge of Native Americans, work in small groups, do research on websites, and share information with others through discussions.
After looking through the instructional plan this lesson doesn't meet all of the objectives. The first objective this lesson doesn't meet is the students having critical discussions of their knowledge of Native Americans. The students do take part in a brainstorming session, but I wouldn't call this a critical discussion. Students do however work cooperatively in small groups when looking at the books and looking at similarities and differences between the list they brainstormed. They also access and gather information from websites about Native Americans. Lastly, they do share information they have found with others at the end of the lesson when they share their observations and discussions they had as a group, but it isn't clear if they are sharing this with the whole class or just the teacher.
Something I love about this lesson is that I am able to connect with it! With my church, I have been able to go on three mission trips to a Native American Reservation in New Mexico. I was able to redefine stereotypes of my own. (I've included a picture below) I think this topic is something that all students need to learn and know that there are still Native Americans in our country today. However, I don't know how much this lesson challenges stereotypes other than the fact that some students may not know there are still Native Americans in America. I think this lesson could go deeper, and discuss stereotypes that affect the Native American culture more.
Hi Olivia,
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful connection you had to the lesson! Your personal insight to the Native American community and emotional growth is a true asset to teaching students empathy. It would allow you to be human to students rather than talking from a soap box. I commend you for being so open and honest about overcoming your own stereotypes.
I too found this lesson didn’t meet its own objectives and further found its materials were extremely outdated. You are absolutely right, there are not enough moments for students to think critically investigate historical moments and their ramifications upon a human population. As educators we must guide students in the direction of discovery. Simply asking, what did you learn, one could answer “they made arrowheads”.
I encourage you to deepen your lesson connection and share them with your students along the way. How would you incorporate these ideas into your everyday classroom? The foundation for challenging stereotypes is here, it just needs some sprucing up.
I wanted to share some updated materials and references that I found while reviewing the lesson, should you decide to incorporate this into your toolbox.
The American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL).
https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/
The AICL is a fantastic link for approved Native American literature.
There is a review which may have links to the tribe ascribed in the book, and other links, such as author bios and such!
Social Justice Books
https://socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/american-indians/
They have social conscious books that pull from the AICL, and have handy ratings as well.
They are also broken down into separate categories by grade level, from Pre-K to Educators!
Hello Olivia, thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas on the lesson plan. We chose two different lesson plans to analyze. From the summary of the lesson plan, it seems like our typical history lesson. I think this lesson could be effective, but I think it could include more to keep the students engaged. I think when we introduce our students to new cultures and themes, they should have more real-life examples. It is easier for students to learn with experience. I think it would be a good idea to include more literature, videos, or maybe even a virtual field trip in the lesson. I think adding these types of activities into the lesson keeps the students better engaged. I do like that you were able to connect with the lesson, I am glad you had the chance to create this connection. As a future teacher it is important to be open to experiencing new things, these attributes are all useful for educating our students in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteHi Olivia! I really enjoyed reading your lesson plan reflection! I also chose "Native Americans Today" to reflect on, but after reading your blog there are some things that I never really thought about or deep enough when writing up my reflection. I can agree on there being a lack of critical discussion in this lesson as brainstorming doesn't quite fit the criteria of a critical discussion. I think critical discussion can be added in session two and with the addition of some of the extensions added, such as the writing to publishers. I also agree that this lesson doesn't exactly challenge any stereotypes. An assumption of Native people not being a part of contemporary America is taught, but not any specific stereotypes per say. I wonder if those are introduced in the books or websites that they read and explore? Also, thanks for sharing your own personal connection to this lesson! Great Post :)
ReplyDeleteHello Olivia!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading through your review on this lesson plan as it is very similar to my own. I felt that the lesson plan wasn't complete and didn't make a lot of sense in the objectives aspect. I was more concerned with the encouragement to make stereotypical and negative assumptions at the beginning of the lesson but that might be necessary to the idea of the lesson. I really liked that you included a picture of your own experiences! That is awesome that you are first-hand familiar with the common misconceptions and how those are wrong. I feel that your perspective will benefit your students greatly. I am curious to know whether or not you feel that this lesson could be harmful? Should students be encouraged to make the assumption that Native American groups have vanished? I am afraid that this stereotype, even thought the lesson is to prove it wrong, is creating this undesirable behavior in our society.