Teacher's Guide for APPLESEEDS Seminoles

• Interpretation,
• Analysis,
• Application,
• Synthesis of information from all sources.

• November 2000 issues of APPLESEEDS,
• white board or butcher paper,
• markers,
• class lists (1 copy per student),
• library or Internet access,
• pattern blocks or construction paper shapes,
• paper,
• pencils,
• crafts materials for building a chickee house (see Activity 2c),
• T-shirt and other materials for making Seminole T-shirt designs (see "Seminole Patchwork: Bits and Pieces of Beauty," pages 14 - 15).

Seminoles, cimarron, conquer, unconquered, heritage, hominy, chickee, palmetto, monitor, micco, manatee, cypress, Apalachicola, Miami, Ocala, Okeechobee, Chattahoochee, Palatka, Apopka, swamp, Everglades, resourceful, treaty, surrender, ancestor, descendent, migrate, inhabitant, egret, reservation, preserve, massacre, legend, tribe / tribal, Maskoki, Mikusuki

1. Read "Welcome to Seminole Country!" (pages 2 - 3) and "Florida Seminoles: the Unconquered People" (pages 4 - 7).
   1. Why did the Seminoles move to the Florida Everglades?
   2. Why are the Seminoles called the "Unconquered People?"
   3. Modern Seminoles often take special names for their community leadership.
   1. Discuss the positive qualities of friends, good students, and class leaders. Keep a rough list of these ideas on the white board or butcher paper.
   2. Pass out a class list. Ask students to re-name their classmates using the positive traits that best describe them. For example, "John Kind," "Susan Artist," "Mike Long Basket," etc. Collect the lists, read, and assign a special Seminole name to each student from the suggestions on the list. Use these new Seminole names for all activities in this unit.
   3. Divide the class into groups of 4 - 5. Select a Seminole clan name for each group. Use these clan-groups for all group activities in this unit.
2. Read "A Perfect Home" (pages 22 - 23).
   1. Why were chickee homes so well suited to life in the Everglades?
   2. Discuss the design, planning, and construction of a chickee house.
   3. Ask each classroom clan to design and construct a chickee model. Materials might include: cardboard (or plywood) baseboard, popsicle sticks, raffia, twigs, twine, a variety of natural or construction paper grasses and leaves, glue, tape, other found materials.
3. "The Rabbit and the Snake" (pages 16 - 19) can be read aloud in class or presented as a Reader's Theater class production.
   Parts:   Narrator(s) (2 - 4 students)
            Old Men (2 - 4 students)
            Shouting Rabbit
            Snake
   Find other Seminole legends suitable for read-alouds or Reader's Theater activities in Betty Mae Jumper's book, The Legends of the Seminoles.
   The Seminole website (http://www.seminoletribe.com) is another great place to research Seminole legends.
4. Traditional Seminole patchwork patterns are very geometric in structure. Study the examples on pages 14 - 15 ("Seminole Patchwork: Bits and Pieces of Beauty"), looking for familiar angles and geometric shapes.
   1. Using pattern blocks or pre-cut construction paper shapes, ask each clan to design their own Seminole patchwork pattern. Identify the angles and geometric shapes used in each design.
5. Using the directions in "Seminole Patchwork: Bits and Pieces of Beauty" (the "Fun Stuff" activity on pages 14 - 15), ask each clan to design their own T-shirt.
6. Read "The Green Corn Ceremony" (pages 10 - 13).
   1. Why is corn so important to the Seminoles?
   2. Ask each clan member to design either:
      1. an invitation or
      2. poster
      advertising their clan's "Green Corn Ceremony."
   3. Corn was vital to the survival of many early Americans. Ask each clan to research the importance of corn to other early American settlers (including the Apaches, Navahos, Pilgrims, Zuni, Jamestown settlers, etc.)
7. Read "The Everglades In Trouble" on pages 24 - 25.
   1. Ask each clan to research the plight of endangered species in the Everglades. (http://www.nps.gov/ever/eco/ is the official website of the Everglades National Park.) Present the findings to the class.
   2. Write letters to federal, state, and local elected officials expressing support for conservation efforts.

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Updated: 11/21/08 01:22 pm
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