Native Alaskan Cultures

Lesson Plan

Lesson Topic/Subject: Alaska Studies Unit: Native Alaskan Culture Project
Grade Level: Seventh Grade Geography
Duration: Two Weeks

Purpose: The theme of culture is a vital geographic element in the seventh grade program, vital due to the great cultural diversity present in Alaska and the world and also because of its vast importance in helping students to better understand their own heritage and the heritage of their classmates. This unit project will provide students with a conceptual framework for better understanding of the cultural characteristics and geography of Alaska.

Goals: (Conforms to ASD Seventh Grade Social Studies Framework 1A, 1D, and 2D)
Students will:

• examine cultural similarities and differences existing in Alaska.
• examine various elements of selected cultures to understand the ways in which cultures meet basic needs, celebrate, communicate, etc.
• compare and contrast physical and cultural characteristics of different places in Alaska.

Objectives:
Students will:

• reconstruct and summarize the chronology of events in the story Two Old Women.
• comprehend the cultural characteristics of the story Two Old Women.
• evaluate the story.
• identify other native cultures in Alaska besides Athabascan.
• describe elements of a specific native culture.
• locate on a map the traditional regions of Alaska natives.
• relate what they learned about native Alaskan culture.

Procedures:

• Students will have completed reading the book, Two Old Women by Velma Wallis.
• An overview of the project requirements will be presented to the students by discussion and review of the class handout.
• Specific project handouts will be available for students needing concrete guidelines.
• Examples of projects will be shown to students illustrating both flaws and good content.

Materials:

• Class handout explaining project choices, topic ideas, requirements, and grading rubric.
• Handouts on specific project guidelines.
• Samples of project choices for illustration of expectations.

Evaluation: See class handout.

Evidence Rationale Statement
Native Alaskan Cultures Project

1. While teaching in my practicum classroom, which later became my student teaching classroom, I had a broad spectrum of student abilities to take into account. Out of four classes, one had a large number of special education students and one class contained a majority of gifted students. The students would often share information between team mates so it was important to strive for content that would be flexible for all levels. This project was my solution to teaching my students about native culture while accommodating differences in student intelligence, perception and cognitive style.

Evidence meets standard: Learning Theory and Practice 2.1, 2.2a, 2.2b, 2.2c, and 2.3

2. The instructional strategies used for the Alaskan Native Cultures Project also incorporated and supported student learning of Alaska's cultural community. Students had to apply Alaska history, geography, economics, languages and traditional life cycles in the development of their personal projects.

Evidence meets standard: Diversity 3.1, 3.4

© 2000 by Barbara L. Wilt (Schoolmarm). All written material is protected by United States copyright laws and is not to be reproduced by any means without documented reference & credit provided to the author. The only exclusion applies to Lesson Plans & Classroom materials which are freely available for use by all without restrictions.