Native+American+resources+-+Schulz

__Native American Resources - Nonfiction Books for Students and Websites__ __Cathy Schulz__ In fifth grade, students study the Native Americans in various regions across North America. The district benchmark statement is:

Determine the effect of geography, natural resources, and human interaction on lifestyles and lives of the Native Americans of North America.

 Key skills and concepts that need to be covered in this unit are:


 * Evaluate the relationship between the geography, natural resources, and lifestyles of the Native peoples of : Woodlands (WI), Arctic, Northwest Coast, Southeast, Southwest, and Plains
 * Compare and contrast the Native American homes, food, clothing, and cultural traditions.
 * Compare and contrast the Native American cultures through the examination of legends, games, crafts, artworks, tools, etc.

There really is no text for this unit. Students need to do research from nonfiction books from the school and classroom libraries and from the Internet. The following list of resources is one that I have compiled over many years of teaching this unit. I have also shared these resources with fifth grade teachers across the district.

__** BOOKS **__ Each of the following books, published by Scholastic, is an excellent starting point for research, particularly for lower readers. The books follow a question and answer format. In the front of the book are lists of questions with corresponding page numbers. Example questions are: Where would you live? What would you eat? Students go to the page of appropriate questions to locate pertinent information.
 * __ Resources by area __**
 * // If You Lived with the Cherokee //, by Peter Roop and Connie Roop, Grade Equivalent level 3.8.
 * // If You Lived with the Hopi //, by Anne Kamma, Grade Equivalent level 3.7.
 * // If You Lived with the Indians of the Northwest Coast //, by Anne Kamma, Grade Equivalent level 3.9.
 * // If You Lived with the Iroquois //, by Ellen Levine, Grade Equivalent level 4.5.
 * // If You Lived with the Sioux Indians //, by Ann McGovern, Grade Equivalent level 3.9

These books are the “go to” resources for those who are researching the Arctic area:


 * // The Inuit: A Proud People (American Indians (Enslow)), // by Deborah Kent, grade levels 3 and up.
 * // The Inuit: Ivory Carvers of the Far North (America's First Peoples) ////, // by Rachel A. Koestler-Grack, grade levels 2 and up.

__**General Resources **__ The following books are from the Native Dwelling series. Though focused on the homes of a particular region’s indigenous peoples, other information about the cultures can also be found. All of the books are written by Bonnie Shemie, and are appropriate for grades 3 – 7.
 * // Houses of wood //
 * // Houses of snow, skin and bones //
 * // Houses of hide and earth //
 * // Houses of adobe //

// D is for Drum: A Native American Alphabet //, by Debbie and Michael Shoulders, Reading level 5.4. This alphabet book contains a good deal of information, though not organized by tribe or region. The illustrations complement the text well.

// Native Americans; An Inside Look at the Tribes and Traditions, // by Laura Buller, a Dorling Kindersley book, ages 9 and up. This book is organized by region and tribe. It contains general information accompanied by beautiful photographs and illustrations. There is also a reference section at the end that includes possible websites to check.

// North American Indians (Make it Work // series), by Andrew Haslam, grade levels 3-6. An excellent resource for information about lives of Native Americans, with instructions for making models. This is a “must have” for planning projects. (I had six copies in my classroom!)

// North American Indians (Troubador Color and Story Album), // by Frank Fox, ages 4 and up. Summarizes information by tribe for each of the areas, except Arctic. There is also a “coloring page” accompanying each page of information that shows illustrates many details of the text.

// Rand McNally Discovery Atlas of Native Americans //, by Elizabeth Faban Adelman (Editor), ages 9 and up. This book provides information about all of the studied cultures, organized by region.

// Scholastic Encyclopedia of the North American Indian //, by James Ciment, PhD, Grade Equivalent level 6.3. This book shares information about multiple tribes, alphabetized. There are also illustrations and sidebars with additional information. Students need to know which tribes are in their region to use this resource.

// Who Were the First North Americans? (Usborne Starting Point History Series), // by Philippa Wingate & Struan Reid, grade level 1 and up. This book is written in a question/answer format. Answers compare and contrast cultures of Native Americans from different areas. __** WEBSITES **__  [] Native American Facts for Kids - A very comprehensive website. Information is organized by tribe. Students need to know the names of some of the tribes found in their assigned area.

[|http://www.athropolis.com/library-cat.htm#inuit] Information about Native Americans of the Arctic region. Click on the link to “Inuit” to get started. Click on the different topics to locate information for your report or project.

[] This site provides some general information about the Native Americans of the Northwest Coast. In the text you will find the names of several tribes from the area. This will be helpful information when searching other sites or using non-region-specific books in the classroom.

[] Good summarized information on the Plains Native Americans. There is especially good information here on the cultural tradition.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[] This is information on every topic that you need for the Southeast Native Americans, focused only on the Seminole tribes. You will need to be careful as some of the information refers to modern-day practices.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[] This is a very complete article on the Southwest Native Americans. Click on the topics on the left side under the heading “Traditional Culture”.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[] This site is useful for the Woodlands region. It is focused on the Iroquois, but the information is accurate for most tribes of the area. Click on any of the words that are blue, as those are links. You will get more information on the term or word.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 1.5;">[] This site links to legends from many different tribes. Remember that most of these legends were not originally intended to be children’s stories, so if you find one that is too confusing or “gross”, you may stop reading it and find another!