Designers:  Linda McLaughlin

Publication Date: 9/12/05, revised 11/4/05

Standards:

H/SS:   5.1      Students describe the major pre-Columbian settlements, including the cliff dwellers and pueblo people of the desert Southwest, the American Indians of the Pacific Northwest, the nomadic nations of the Great Plains, and the wood-land peoples east of the Mississippi River.

              1.         Describe how geography and climate influenced the way various nations lived and adjusted to the natural environment, including locations of villages, the distinct structures that they built, and how they obtained food, clothing, tools, and utensils.

Language Arts:

            Reading 2.0     Students read and understand grade-level-appropriate material.

            Writing 1.2      Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays and create multiple-paragraph expository compositions.

1. Key Concepts:

            Vocabulary:  mammoth, herbivore, mammal, extinct, enemy, herds, spears, atlatl

Objectives:

• Students will act out a hunt for a mammoth.
• Students will describe the enemies, the hunt, the tools used, and the importance of the mammoth to pre-Columbian man.

TCI Strategies:  Visual Discovery

EL/Inclusion Strategies:  The class will be divided into cooperative groups.  EL students will be partnered with high achieving students for support.  Background information will be provided through text and pictures.

Materials: 

•             Teacher created considerate text
•             Buffalo Hunt overhead transparency for Visual Discovery and Act It Out
•             Interactive Student Notebooks
•             Handout for Graphically Organized Reading Notes
•             Butcher paper
•             Art supplies – paints, markers, etc.

Procedure:

            Preview:  In your Interactive Student Notebooks, draw a picture of yourself standing near an elephant.  Make sure that the sizes of you and the elephant are proportionate.  Around the drawing, list five reasons why it would be dangerous to be so close to an elephant.  Share with a shoulder partner.  Choose the reason you think no one else in the room will have thought of to share with the whole class.

            Visual Discovery:  Show transparency image of mammoth hunt.  Ask students:  What do you see?  What do you think is happening?  What tools are being used?  Why are they doing this?  Predict what the end result will be.  Students respond to questions in their notebooks and then as a class, answers are shared.

            As a class, we will read the teacher created considerate text.  Students will then complete their Graphically Organized Reading Notes.

            Act It Out:  Students will be assigned to a group of four.  I will assign one character from the transparency to each group.  Students will formulate and write responses to the following questions in their Interactive Student Notebook:

•             Why are you hunting a mammoth?
•             What tool are you using to hunt a mammoth?  How does this tool work?
•             What is your strategy for hunting this mammoth?
•             Who are the enemies of the mammoth?

After some time for preparation, I will ask students to act out the transparency.  I will assume the role of reporter and interview the characters.

            Processing Assignment:  Groups will first create a cave painting depicting a mammoth hunt.  Students will then describe what is happening in their group’s cave wall painting.  Writing should include:

·      The enemies of the mammoth.

·      The steps taken to hunt the mammoth.

·      The tools used in the hunt.

·      The importance of the mammoth to man.

·      Writing that is free from spelling and grammatical errors.

Technology Component:  Overhead and transparency of mammoth hunt OR digital image, laptop, and projector

Primary sources:  Mammoth hunt picture from:    

            http://donsmaps.com/prehistoparc.html

TCI Resources:  none

Other Resources:  none

Assessment:

            Students will be assessed on their participation in the Act It Out.

            Students will be given the writing prompt:

• Describe what is happening in your group’s cave wall painting.  Your writing should include: The enemies of the mammoth.
• The steps taken to hunt the mammoth.
• The tools used in the hunt.
• The importance of the mammoth to man.
• Writing that is free from spelling and grammatical errors.

Student’s writing will be assessed with the FUSD 4 point writing rubric (see attached).

Reflection:

1.              What did the student samples reveal?  Students understood who the enemies of the mammoth were, the steps taken to hunt the mammoth, the tools used in the hunt, and the importance of the mammoth to man.

2.              What do I need to model, change or adjust regarding criteria, assessment and opportunities to learn?  The projected picture wasn’t very clear – hard for students to determine what tool was being used.  An overhead actually projects a clearer picture of this primary source, so I will use an overhead next time.

The students were very engaged, so the lesson took a lot longer than I expected.  I will plan for more time next time.