Native+Americans+vs.+European+Colonists+(5th+Grade+SS)

Unit Title: The Cooperation and Conflicts Between European Colonists and Native Americans

Grade Level(s): 5th Grade Time Frame: 18 Hours

Theme: Experiencing the moral dilemmas and the emotions of the war.

Subject/Topic Area(s): Social Studies

Key Words: Moral Dilemma, conflicts, emotions, wars, Native Americans, Colonists.

Designed By: George Chen

Summary Description of Unit (including but not limited to: curricular and unit goals, context, inclusion of parent participation, use of technology, learning environment considerations, and the unit’s appropriateness for English learners and special needs students):

The main focus of this unit is to allow students to personally experience and relate the social dilemma and the emotions of the war and conflicts between Colonists and Native Indians. Through many activities such as role-taking, watching relevant films, and debate, students will be able to experience and perceive the conflict first-handedly and in the roles of individuals that were actually in this segment of history, and understand the social dilemma and the cost of war at an age-appropriate level.

Stage 1: Identify desired results.

What content standards are addressed? 5.3 Students describe the cooperation and conflict that existed among the Indians and between the Indian nations and the new settlers.

What enduring understandings are desired (and what misunderstandings will be addressed)?

Cost, casualties, and cruelty of the war. Greed, resources, and other triggers of the war. Moral dilemmas involved within the war. To feel, experience, and explore the emotions of this segment of history.

What essential questions will guide this unit and focus teaching/learning?

What triggers and motivates the colonists wanting to conquer land on this newly-found continent, and what triggers and motivates the Native Americans wanting to fight the colonists? Why and how did the early Colonists and Native Americans cooperate? How were the Native Americans forced off their land? What triggers the internal conflicts and battles among the Native Americans?

What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?

Students will know: Triggers for conflicts between Colonists and Native Americans, how Native Americans were forced off their lands, and what are some of the things that were at stake for the war to happen.

Students will be able to: Personally relate to the cruelty and the emotions of those who actually experienced or participated in the war, and understand that sometimes there are multiple perspectives as well as dilemmas in an issue.

Stage 2: Determine acceptable evidence.

What evidence will show that students understand?

Performance Tasks*: Debates, skits, journal writing in a role-taking perspective, presentation of comparisons, and presentation of customs and food.


 * Complete a Performance Task Blueprint for each task (next page).

Other Evidence (quizzes, tests, prompts, observations, dialogues, work samples, etc.):

Food dishes and customs of tribes that students make. Presentation posters. Written journals. Scripts for the skits.

Student Self-Assessment:

This theme unit was designed based on an essential question in which I as a teacher as myself “After many years, vast majority of content that were taught in this unit will be forgotten, therefore, what elements from this history segment that I would like to really imprint on my students’ memory?” Ultimately, answer to this question and the goal of this unit is really to allow students to personally experience the various facets of the war, and to feel the emotion of individuals and deeply understands the social and moral dilemma that’s embedded in this piece of history. I thought that the strength lies in the variety of hands-on, role-taking and putting oneself in other’s shoe, and feeling of emotions in which really allows students to connect the material with their right brain, and a level of emotional and personal connection between students themselves and the content in this segment of history are established. Moreover, students should have fun through most of the activities, and that the assignments for each lesson are very involved with higher level and mega-cognitive level of thinking in which assessments on these assignments are abundant and sufficient enough to assess student understanding, and thus regular testing is not required.

Performance Task Blueprint (1)

Task Title: Native Americans VS. Colonists Debate Approximate time frame: 3 hours

What desired understandings/content standards will be assessed through this task? H-SS 5.3.1 Competition among the English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and the Indian nations for control of North America. In particular the motives for such competition behind the European Colonists and the Native Americans.

What criteria are implied in the standard(s)/understanding(s) regardless of the task specifics? Students will understand the motives behind both sides of the rivalry in this segment of history. Students will experience the history and emotions of the people. Students will also conduct appropriate argument in a formal setting and provide valid supporting points for their arguments.

Through what authentic performance task will students demonstrate understanding? Task Overview (include G.R.A.S.P.S. – goal, role, audience, scenario, purpose, and standards): First, students will be taught the lesson, with emphasis on the motivation of both sides in competing for resources and land. Students will then be introduced to two scenarios to further understand this historic dilemma. The first scenario is that a group of people have been living at a place for thousands of years, and all of sudden there are intruders that are taking away their resources, homes, and killing their people. The second scenario is that as leaders and head of households, their responsibility is to provide food and shelter for the family. However, resource has been nearly depleted, all means of help and solution has been exhausted, and there is a place nearby that has many resources, and people defending those resources are relatively weak. After relating these two scenarios to both sides of the rivalries, students will form their own groups, chose either the Native American side or the European Colonists side, and research for rationales or supporting points to augment their debate. Groups will be asked to switch in their position the next day.

What student products/performances will provide evidence of desired understands? Through debates, especially points of which students have used to support their argument, will demonstrate their level of understanding and metacognitive thinking.

By what criteria will student products/performances be evaluated?

§ Strength and appropriateness of supporting points. § Appropriate conduct during debate § Quality of info and presentation provided. § Persuasiveness

Performance Task Blueprint(2)

Task Title: Cooperation and Team-Work Approximate time frame: 3 hours

What desired understandings/content standards will be assessed through this task? H-SS 5.3.2. The cooperation that existed between the colonists and Indians during the 1600s and 1700s (e.g., in agriculture, the fur trade, military alliances, treaties, cultural interchanges.) Furthermore, the value of cooperation and teamwork will be emphasized, and historical dilemma will be revisited.

What criteria are implied in the standard(s)/understanding(s) regardless of the task specifics? Students will be learning the benefits and the moral ethics of cooperation as well as teamwork. Students will also be using story-telling and narration skills.

Through what authentic performance task will students demonstrate understanding? Task Overview (include G.R.A.S.P.S. – goal, role, audience, scenario, purpose, and standards): After the lesson is taught, students will be told a parable in which the moral lesson lies in teamwork and cooperation. Students will then be grouped into groups of four, and each group is then to research or come up with a parable that has a similar moral lesson embedded in the story, and they will be asked to re-write the story in a script format and later perform a skit based on the script. After the skit ends, each student will narrate one incidence or personal experience that has to do with cooperation to the class.

What student products/performances will provide evidence of desired understands? The relativity between both the story and the personal experience with the moral value of cooperation with teamwork would be the key evidence in demonstrating whether students achieve desired understanding. This is to also allow them to demonstrate freely without boundary their higher level thinking skills and ways of expression in particular to this topic and relating it to their own lives. (particularly their cooperative experience in this assignment, what benefits).

By what criteria will student products/performances be evaluated? Relativity of the story, experience, and the theme, which is teamwork or cooperation. Students' explanation on how such moral value is important and has helped them.

Performance Task Blueprint(3)

Task Title: Moral Dilemma Approximate time frame: 4 Hours

What desired understandings/content standards will be assessed through this task? H-SS 5.3.3. Examine the conflicts before Revolutionary War

What criteria are implied in the standard(s)/understanding(s) regardless of the task specifics? Further explore the dilemma in the conflicts and relationships between Colonists and Native Americans.

Through what authentic performance task will students demonstrate understanding? Task Overview (include G.R.A.S.P.S. – goal, role, audience, scenario, purpose, and standards):

After the completion of the previous lesson on cooperation, and some preview of this lesson which is about many of the conflicts that followed, the video "Pocahontas" will be shown. The question and the dilemmatic moral issue will be discussed in-depth is "Should Pocahontas have helped John Smith in the first place?" After the film and the subsequent instruction on the lesson, students will be asked to “put themselves in other’s shoes” by picking and pretending a role from the film, such as Pocahontas, her dad, John Smith, or any other characters, and write a journal from the chosen character’s perspective. In particular, the question of whether John Smith should be saved or not should be addressed in the journal.

What student products/performances will provide evidence of desired understands? Student’s understanding and perspective taking for the character that they chose, as well as their opinion on the dilemma through the lens of the character.

By what criteria will student products/performances be evaluated? Depth in which the student understands the character and the point of view the student expresses from the role’s perspective on the question whether John Smith should be saved in the first place.

Performance Task Blueprint(4)

Task Title: The War Approximate time frame: 5 Hours

What desired understandings/content standards will be assessed through this task? H-SS 5.3.4 The role of broken treaties and massacres and the factors that led to the Indians' defeat, including the resistance of Indian nations to encroachments and assimilation.

What criteria are implied in the standard(s)/understanding(s) regardless of the task specifics? Understanding how human greed may cause drastic casualties, understand moral ethics of the situation, be able to relate similarities and representations.

Through what authentic performance task will students demonstrate understanding? Task Overview (include G.R.A.S.P.S. – goal, role, audience, scenario, purpose, and standards): After the lesson is taught, students are going to watch the movie “Avatar”, and they will be asked to compare many of the story elements of the movie to the actual events in this segment of the history. For instance, “Pandora” vs. America Continent, Cooperate People vs. Colonists, Navi vs. Indians, their values, beliefs, greed, resources as motivation and cause of fighting. Students are going to make a Venn-diagram with these comparisons, class presentation for each individual is going to be made, and each student will express how they feel about both the war and the movie and their extreme similarities.

What student products/performances will provide evidence of desired understands? The relativity of their comparisons, the emotion and feelings in which they involve when presenting how they feel about both the movie and the war, and the whole experience to which each individual has demonstrated that he or she had throughout this lesson.

By what criteria will student products/performances be evaluated? Meanings and symbols as well as similarities that each story elements represents. Emotion and in-depth understanding about the war. Moral-ethics about the war, and alternative solutions.

Performance Task Blueprint(5)

Task Title: Tribes Approximate time frame: 3 Hours

What desired understandings/content standards will be assessed through this task? 5.3.5 Describe the internecine Indian conflicts, including the competing claims for control of lands (e.g., actions of the Iroquois, Huron, Lakota [Sioux]). Moreover, the different cultures, costume, and food of each different tribes.

What criteria are implied in the standard(s)/understanding(s) regardless of the task specifics? Students will understand that although Native Americans is a name assigned to certain groups of people, there are many different groups among this labeled group and there are a vast difference in many aspects of their value, culture, etc.

Through what authentic performance task will students demonstrate understanding? Task Overview (include G.R.A.S.P.S. – goal, role, audience, scenario, purpose, and standards): The lesson in class will be focused on the cause and the trigger for the intertwining conflicts among the Native American tribes. After the lesson, however, four to six students will be assigned to one group, and each group will be asked to research the culture, religion, family value, patriarch system, custom, and food as well as any other distinct elements. The focus will be placed on both food and custom. As part of their presentation, students are going to use materials provided in the classroom to make customs that are look-alike to their assigned tribe, and these customs will be worn outside of their regular wardrobe. The food in which each group researched for their assigned group also have to be made, cooked, and brought to the class as part of the presentation. Each group is going to act and present in such a way that they are actually the tribal people themselves. For instance, “we are the Cherokees, we usually eat things that we hunt.” Different members are also going to demonstrate the patriarch order of the tribe. The quantity of the food have to be enough for 4 -6 students as well. After the presentation, each group is going to sit together, with their custom on and their food dish in the middle, at this point, a custom potluck may began, and if each group would like to trade food with other groups, they may do so in a peaceful and a diplomatic way.

What student products/performances will provide evidence of desired understands? Different aspects of distinct culture, such as food, wardrobe, patriarch system, that are not only verbally presented but displayed and acted out as part of their presentation.

By what criteria will student products/performances be evaluated?

§ Accuracy of the provided information § Quantity of the provided information, if all aspects listed have been addressed. § Custom and food dish provided, and the extent to which they are representative to the tribe. § Overall presentation.

Stage 3: Plan learning experiences & instruction.

What sequence of teaching and learning experiences will equip students to develop and demonstrate the desired understandings? Consider the W.H.E.R.E. elements, from the student’s perspective.

The sequence of this unit will be done in the order of arranged lessons, and each lesson will be carried out in the order that is specified in each lesson blue print.

Stage 3: Plan learning experiences & instruction.

In what ways will technology be used that will equip students to develop and demonstrate the desired understandings?

Technology that will be included in this theme unit, for a major part, would be dvd player, dvds, and a TV. Through watching the provided films in this unit, and from a story and a different as well as animated perspective, students will be better able to understand and compare as well as to relate many of the elements, dilemma, and emotions embedded in this piece of history.

What parental/family involvement activities will equip students to develop and demonstrate the desired understandings?

One of the activities is to have students prepare a food dish in which it is representative for the Native American tribe that they have researched. Parents may assist students at home in looking up for the recipe and in preparing the dishes. Meanwhile students may learn some of the cooking skills from the parents, and understand why certain food ingredients are grown and more accessible for people of different geographical regions.

Design a bulletin board (include a sketch) and tell in what ways it will be used to equip students to develop and demonstrate the desired understandings?

Venn-Diagram, in which many of the story elements from the movie “Avatar” will be compared with many of the events, motives, and people in this piece of history.