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Sunday, May 3

  1. page Collaborative Unit Text Set edited {Cover Banner.jpg} Cover Banner.jpg x--These resources will be used to support students as they …
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    x--These resources will be used to support students as they work to understand the moral lessons behind a Native American folktale of their choosing. These sites will help them find folktales, give them opportunities to compare various versions of their chosen tale and will give insight into Native American culture. They will need to determine a tale's authenticity by comparing versions of their tale on various sites and in books and they will work on understanding the moral behind their chosen story. By viewing and reading the books, websites and videos below, students will be able to gather ideas and gain knowledge for a collaborative project.These resources will be used to support students as they work to understand the moral lessons behind a Native American folktale of their choosing. These sites will help them find folktales, give them opportunities to compare various versions of their chosen tale and will give insight into Native American culture. They will need to determine a tale's authenticity by comparing versions of their tale on various sites and in books and they will work on understanding the moral behind their chosen story. By viewing and reading the books, websites and videos below, students will be able to gather ideas and gain knowledge for a collaborative project.
    Grade level: 3rd grade
    Objective: Students will create a presentation using Web 2.0 tools that summarizes a Native American folktale of their choosing and gives the moral meaning behind the story.
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    Lewis, Orrin and Laura Redish. “Native American Indian Legends and Folklore.” Native Languages of the Americas: Preserving and promoting American Indian languages. n.p., 2012. Web. 12 April 2015.
    http://www.native-languages.org/legends.htm
    Make this link open in a new window. In "edit" mode, click on the link. Click on Web and check the new window box. You may have to copy and paste the URL in the second field as well.
    This is an extremely extensive collection of Native American legends and links to information about Native American legends organized by tribe. The page for each tribe has information about the tribe’s mythological figures and folklore as well as recommended books and websites that give more information about the tribe’s legends. Most of the links given by the site are to reputable museum or university websites. The descriptions given of the mythological figures and folktales themselves seem unbiased and (although there isn’t an easy way to examine all of the information since there are over 200 tribes represented) didn’t appear to contain any stereotypical or harmful representations of Native American culture. The site is run by a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving Native American languages, but the information extends far beyond just lingual interests. This would be a great resource to find out more about a tribe’s belief system and it could lead to other resources.
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    Siegert, Lori. “The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 13 December 2012. Web. 15 April 2015.
    Book: De Paola, Tomie. The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. Ed. Tomie De Paola. New York: Putnam Juvenile, 1988. Print.
    Italicize book titles
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeRr7bSNci4&list=PL61PPH3gMpvugR-IXKg995oWQcbDvrRYQ
    This is a recording of Tomie DePaola’s The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. This is the story of Little Gopher, an artist who sacrifices the life of a warrior to create a visual history of his tribe. The book is beautifully illustrated and contains a traditional Plains Indian legend from Texas. The problem with the retelling of this legend is that no tribe of origin is ever specified in the book, nor was I able to find information about where the tribe comes from. The representation of Native Americans as a whole seems free of stereotypes and culturally authentic. However, because there is no information about a specific tribe, it is difficult to determine if the story stays true to the tribe’s culture and mythology. Watch this video and see where the author could have provided more information about the tribe to ensure that it stays true to the tribe’s culture.
    There are many Plains tribes with different cultures. How could you ensure that 3rd-grade students learn this fact?
    Image: De Paola, Tomie. The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. Ed. Tomie De Paola. New York: Putnam Juvenile, 1988. Print.
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    Archer, Jane. Texas Indian Myths And Legends. Plano: Republic of Texas Press, 2000. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
    This is a compilation of various American Indian legends compiled by Jane Archer. Jane says in her introduction that the stories contained within the book were compiled between 1900 and 1940 and printed in various scholarly publications. She chooses to look at only Texas tribes with some overlap into Oklahoma and specifically looks at Caddo, Comanche, Wichitas, Coushattas and Lipan Apache tribes. She notes that she chooses to only highlight stories that were previously published in order to protect secret legends that have ritual or precious meaning to tribes. She does note that she alters some of the tales for a contemporary audience but that the tales have already been changed from their original form by storytellers throughout the years. For these reasons, I would venture that most of the tales highlighted in the collection would be authentic to the culture, but that some changes might result in inaccuracies. Students would need to look for other versions of the tale chosen to locate these changes and determine if they result in inauthenticity.
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    “First People--The Legends.” First People. n.p., n.d. Web. 17 April 2015.
    http://www.firstpeople.us/
    First People is a site that documents various tribal legends from the Americas and Canada with an alphabetical index. Besides the legends, it also provides some educational links to tribal sites and sells Native American artifacts. There are many authenticity/accuracy problems with this site. The primary purpose of the site appears to be selling Native American artifacts and there are no credentials provided to determine where these profits go or if they are even real. Because there are no credentials, there is also no way to determine if the person documenting the legends is an authority on Native American mythology or folktales. The legends themselves, however, seem free of stereotypes. This site is useful only as a means for comparing versions of legends or folktales to look for inconsistencies. It should not be used as an authoritative source, but does provide a wide variety of tales from various tribes so it shouldn’t be overlooked.
    Image: Giese, Paula. Pre-Contact Culture Areas. Clip Art. n.p., 1997. Web.
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    Hicks, D.L. Traditional Ani-Tsalagi (Cherokee) Stories. http://www.texascherokees.org/stories.html
    This is website run by four members of the Tsalagivi Nvdagai, or Cherokees in Texas. They are not federally recognized as a tribe of Cherokee like those in Oklahoma, but have come together to continue their traditions and keep their culture alive. The three stories included are "The Adawehi and the Nvyvunuwi", "The Rabbit and the Tar Wolf", and "The Race Between the Hummingbird and the Stork." They were all written by Chief D.L. Hicks. The first story is more appropriate for middle and high school students. The others would be appropriate to use for elementary students and up. They each contain some moral or lesson.
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    Boughman, Arvis. Chicora and the Little People: The Legend of the Indian Corn, a Lumbee Tale. Ill. by Delora Cummings. 2011. 32p. Aeon Publishing Inc. $27.95 (978-1605946597)
    This is a Lumbee story about a young girl who tells how Indian corn became multi-colored. It teaches about how young children have wisdom of their own and how they are not to be discounted for their youth. It also teaches how to be strong in the face of ridicule. The illustrations are done with watercolor and give an accurate portrayal of the Lumbee people. From a culturally authentic perspective it is written by a Lumbee native and illustrated by a native American. Boughman, being a member of the tribe that is represented by this story gives credibility to its authenticity.
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    dePaola, Tomie. The Legend of the Bluebonnet: An Old Tale of Texas. Narrated by Melba Sibrel. 2008. 10 min, Penguin Group USA and Audible. $0.87
    This is an audio recording of Tomie dePaola's The Legend of the Bluebonnet. This is a legend of how bluebonnets came to be in Texas. It is a Comanche tale and dePaola does include an author's note at the back of the print version that states where he got the idea to do this story as well as how he researched the Comanche people in order to preserve the authenticity of his tale. While he does not include any source notes for his research, after my own, this story does appear to be authentic. It represents the Comanche people in an honest and un-embellished way. His illustrations are also an accurate portrayal of the way many Comanche people would have dressed as well as keeping with where they lived. While the story itself is a tale about how bluebonnets came to cover the land of Texas, dePaola does enhance the sacrificial aspect of the little girl's story to bring more of a focus to the lesson he wanted to share. I am also including the link to where I found the audio version on Amazon, as I could not find any other audio version for sale.
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    Bruchac, Joseph and Bruchac, James. How Chipmunk Got His Stripes. Ill. by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey. 2003. 32p. Turtleback. $15.48 (978-0613616317)
    This is a story about how Little Brown Squirrel becomes Chipmunk after he taunts Bear who is bragging about being so strong that he can keep the sun from rising. Even though Brown Squirrel is right, it teaches a lesson that it is never a good thing to tease people. The authors of this story are both from the Abenaki tribe. In the author's notes, they indicate that this is a story that has been passed down (in some form) from their tribe as well as from others such as Cherokee and Mohawk. This gives credibility to its cultural authenticity.
    Authors' notes
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    "Oyate." 2015.Web. <http://www.oyate.org/>.
    Oyate is a Native American organization who's mission is to advocate and educate. They review literature, specifically children's literature that pertains to or contains references to native cultures - those of the Native Americans as well as Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other indigenous people in Latin America. This website provides reviews of children's literature and provides and array of resources to help when seeking to determine the cultural authenticity of stories that have not been reviewed on this site. This is a great resource to use when searching for culturally authentic materials and to help personally judge the authenticity of other literature.
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    Reese, Debbie. "American Indians in Chidren's Literature." April 15 2015.Web. <http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/>.
    This is a blog that is maintained by Debbie Reese, a member of the Nambe Pueblo in northern New Mexico. The American Indians in Children's Literature organization was established in 2006 to analyze and review the representation of indigenous peoples in children’s literature. The author of this blog is a tribally enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe. She has a teaching degree from the University of New Mexico, a M.Ed in School Administration from the University of Oklahoma, and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Illinois. She has written for both Horn Book Magazine and School Library Journal so is familiar with reviewing literature. To aid others when looking for culturally authentic literature, she provides some simple phrases and ideas to look for that would diminish the authenticity of the book. There are lists of what AICL considers the best books that are written by or about American Indians. This is a great resource to use when searching for titles to use that are culturally authentic.

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    9:24 am

Sunday, April 26

  1. page Collaborative Unit Plan edited Supplement 1A―Collaborative Planning Sheet, Sample 1 Teacher/Topic: Ashley Williams and Kaela L…

    Supplement 1A―Collaborative Planning Sheet, Sample 1
    Teacher/Topic: Ashley Williams and Kaela Latimer Dates/Times: 45 minute lessons each day, 8 days total.
    Content Standards and Information Literacy
    This is for fourth grade students.
    AASL 3.1.1 Conclude an inquiry based research process by sharing new understandings and refl ecting on the learning.
    AASL 3.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use, and assess.
    AASL 4.1.8 Use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning.
    TEKS 4.3A Language Arts: Summarize and explain the lesson or message of a work of fiction as its theme.
    TEKS 4.1B Social Studies: Identify American Indian groups in Texas and North America before European exploration such as the Lipan Apache, Karankawa, Caddo, and Jumano.
    Instructional Strategies
    Individual Work
    Whole Group Discussion
    Trade and share
    Summarizing and Note Taking
    Performance Objectives
    Students will research Native American folktales and choose one to focus on for a presentation.
    Students summarize their chosen tale and determine the moral message or meaning behind the story.
    Students create a presentation using a Web 2.0 tool that showcases their chosen folktale. It will tell which tribe the tale comes from, summarize the story and give the moral message of the story. They will present this presentation to the rest of the class.
    Prior Knowledge:
    Students will need to know what the summary of a story is.
    Students will need to know how to determine the moral or lesson of a story and how to prove it through the details in a story.
    Students will need to know about Native American tribes and their general history in the U.S.
    Students will need to understand the different between credible and non-credible resources.
    Students will need to know how to use citations or find copyright-free images.
    Students will need to know how to use PowerPoint and save slides as images.
    Assessment Tool(s):
    The teacher will provide a rubric to see if the students have met the criteria of the project. The students will have this rubric when working on the project so they will know what the expectations are.
    Learning Tasks: Educators Responsible: Librarian and Teacher
    Lesson 1:
    Day 1: The classroom teacher will introduce the lesson by explaining that students will be choosing one Native American folktale to focus on for a project. She will explain that students will use their chosen folktale for a project where they will be creating a special presentation to show the rest of the class. She will give students a rubric that details the expectations for the project. She will discuss the importance of comparing different versions of a specific folktale to determine authenticity and making sure it is culturally authentic. In order to teach cultural authenticity, the teacher will use the cultural authenticity PowerPoint. She will then instruct students to start exploring the “Moral of the Story” text set to find a folktale. While students are exploring, the teacher will be conferring with students to make sure they are choosing culturally authentic folktales
    Day 2: Students continue to look for their folktale using web resources and the teacher/librarian created text set provided. Students will work individually but will confer with the teacher and with classmates as questions arise. Students will continue looking for culturally authentic pieces by comparing various versions of the same tale and using reputable resources. They will make sure to find out what tribe the tale originates from in their research.
    Lesson 2:
    Day 3: Once students have chosen their story, the teacher will do a mini-lesson reteaching summary. She will also model/re-teach determining the moral of a story by reading The Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie DePaola and having a whole class discussion to determine the moral lesson of the story. The teacher will then explain that students should be working on summarizing their chosen folktale and then figuring out (in 1-2 sentences) what the moral message of the story is. The students will begin summarizing their story.
    Day 4: The students will finish summarizing their story and determining the moral message behind the tale. Once they complete their summaries, they will trade and read with someone at their table for errors and places where they might need to elaborate more or elaborate less.
    Lesson 3:
    Day 5: The librarian will teach the students how to use four different web 2.0 tools for their presentations, as well as one iPad tool for classrooms who have iPad access. The librarian and classroom teacher will be there to facilitate the use of these tools while the students are creating their project. The five tools are: Animoto - a web 2.0 tool used to create short videos. Fotobabble - a web 2.0 tool that allows the user to combine photos and recorded voice. Popplet - a web 2.0 graphic organizing tool that is also available as an app. Prezi - a web 2.0 graphic organizing tool that adds movement to a presentation to spotlight key words and concepts. iMovie - an app that can be used to create movies. Could be used in place of Animoto for classrooms with iPad access. Students will be able to choose one of these resources to create their presentation.
    The teacher will review the rubric with the students again to make sure they include each aspect of the project in their final product.
    Day 6: Students will choose the web 2.0 tool they will use to create their finished product. They will begin building their product. As the students are working, the teacher and librarian will be facilitating the creation of each product as needed.
    Day 7: Students will finish their products. They will then get with a partner to give/receive feedback on their product. The partner will use the rubric to give feedback. If they need to make any changes based on the feedback they will do it at this time.
    Presentations:
    Day 8: Students will share their projects with the class.
    Lesson Evaluation/Comments:
    Resources and Materials (listed on reverse side)
    Web resources listed at http://ashleyrawson.wikispaces.com/Moral+of+the+Story
    Animoto: http://www.animoto.com
    Fotobabble: http://www.fotobabble.com/
    Prezi: http://www.prezi.com
    Popplet: http://popplet.com/
    iMovie (on iPads)
    The Legend of the Bluebonnet--Tomie DePaola
    iPads and computers
    Cultural Authenticity PPT: {http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation.png} Cultural Authenticity.pptx Cultural Authenticity.pptx {Cultural Authenticity.pptx}
    Details
    Download {Cultural Authenticity.pptx}
    261 KB
    Web 2.0 PPT: {http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation.png} Introduction to web tools.pptx Introduction to web tools.pptx {Introduction to web tools.pptx}
    Details
    Download {Introduction to web tools.pptx}
    57 KB
    Name: Date: _
    Native American Moral Lesson Project Rubric
    Criteria
    10 pts
    5 pts
    0 pts
    Total
    Summary
    Includes a clear and concise summary; includes the beginning, middle and end.
    Includes a summary; missing elements of the summary.
    No summary
    Moral/Lesson
    Writes a 2-3 sentence description of the main moral/lesson. Proof
    from the text.
    Includes a moral/lesson sentence. Offers no proof from the text.
    No moral/lesson
    Web 2.0 Presentation
    Uses a web 2.0 tool.
    Does not use a web 2.0 tool.
    Cultural Authenticity
    Student shows research into cultural authenticity. Provides evidence.
    Does not include any proof of cultural authenticity.
    Quality
    Student presentation demonstrates effort, includes copyright-free or cited images and is free of mechanical errors.
    Student presentation demonstrates some effort but includes some citation or mechanical errors.
    Does not include images or contains many mechanical errors.
    Total Points: _
    Teacher Feedback :

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    1:02 pm

Sunday, April 19

  1. 2:00 pm

Wednesday, April 15

  1. page Traditional Storytelling Project edited ... Preparation by Colin Porter: My link to Shiho Nunes book Chinese Fables is based upon a serie…
    ...
    Preparation by Colin Porter:
    My link to Shiho Nunes book Chinese Fables is based upon a series of research queries. First of all my choice to read Bound as a part of our Literature Circle Group project influenced my interest in studying a book based on the Chinese culture. Well, perhaps my niece who is from China was my initial source of interest in the Chinese way of life. I further learned about China, its many dynasties, and how it kept itself a part from trade with the United States for many years while doing some background work on my Culture Research project. Lastly I came to the decision of looking for fables from China as I knew that a fable would be considered public domain, having been passed down for so many generations, and finally found the book Chinese Fables. I figured that fables ought to be interesting since they try to instill some kind of value or lesson and are usually very short stories. I chose two fables--"The Wrong Audience" and the "King of Beasts" to give my interpretation of and to share with my audience. I ended up writing/summarizing/rephrasing both Fables onto some index cards. I underlined high points, removed extraneous statements, and made a mock up of my introduction. I hope you enjoy these two Chinese fables,
    Colin Porter
    Porter - Chinese Fables (The Wrong Audience and The King of Beasts)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN_7n2jLrtg
    Latimer - Feedback from Porter (below)
    {A.3.4_Storyteller_Feedback_Sheet.doc}

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    5:48 pm
  2. page Traditional Storytelling Project edited ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9V77eCuKRU {Porter - Feedback from Latimer.doc} Preparati…
    ...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9V77eCuKRU
    {Porter - Feedback from Latimer.doc}
    Preparation by Colin Porter:
    My link to Shiho Nunes book Chinese Fables is based upon a series of research queries. First of all my choice to read Bound as a part of our Literature Circle Group project influenced my interest in studying a book based on the Chinese culture. Well, perhaps my niece who is from China was my initial source of interest in the Chinese way of life. I further learned about China, its many dynasties, and how it kept itself a part from trade with the United States for many years while doing some background work on my Culture Research project. Lastly I came to the decision of looking for fables from China as I knew that a fable would be considered public domain, having been passed down for so many generations, and finally found the book Chinese Fables. I figured that fables ought to be interesting since they try to instill some kind of value or lesson and are usually very short stories. I chose two fables--"The Wrong Audience" and the "King of Beasts" to give my interpretation of and to share with my audience. I ended up writing/summarizing/rephrasing both Fables onto some index cards. I underlined high points, removed extraneous statements, and made a mock up of my introduction. I hope you enjoy these two Chinese fables,
    Colin
    Porter - Chinese Fables (The Wrong Audience and The King of Beasts)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN_7n2jLrtg

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    5:09 pm
  3. page Traditional Storytelling Project edited ... Latimer - Preparation: The preparation for my presentation began when I chose to tell The Leg…
    ...
    Latimer - Preparation:
    The preparation for my presentation began when I chose to tell The Legend of the Bluebonnet. I knew this was a story that I could tie into my first grade curriculum. We had been learning about Texas and the various symbols of our state. This is a story that I usually read to my students so I thought it would be a great piece for the project.
    ...
    he provided.
    I started by reading the story several times to myself and out loud. I then rewrote the story from memory, focusing on the phrases I wanted to commit to memory. I then created a story map so that I would know the most important points I wanted to include.
    I practiced this story at home while walking my dog and in front of my sister who was also a teacher.
    ...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9V77eCuKRU
    {Porter - Feedback from Latimer.doc}
    My link to Shiho Nunes book Chinese Fables is based upon a series of research queries. First of all my choice to read Bound as a part of our Literature Circle Group project influenced my interest in studying a book based on the Chinese culture. Well, perhaps my niece who is from China was my initial source of interest in the Chinese way of life. I further learned about China, its many dynasties, and how it kept itself a part from trade with the United States for many years while doing some background work on my Culture Research project. Lastly I came to the decision of looking for fables from China as I knew that a fable would be considered public domain, having been passed down for so many generations, and finally found the book Chinese Fables. I figured that fables ought to be interesting since they try to instill some kind of value or lesson and are usually very short stories. I chose two fables--"The Wrong Audience" and the "King of Beasts" to give my interpretation of and to share with my audience. I ended up writing/summarizing/rephrasing both Fables onto some index cards. I underlined high points, removed extraneous statements, and made a mock up of my introduction. I hope you enjoy these two Chinese fables,
    Colin

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    5:02 pm

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