Teacher's Guide for APPLESEEDS Growing Up in America Before 1492October 2005
This guide was prepared by Betty Lou Askin, a retired elementary school principal in Ontario. She continues to teach and be an administrator, part time, in the school system as the need arises. She also continues to write stories for young children.
Introduction: pre-reading activities
- Ask the students to predict what America might have been like before the arrival of the European explorers.
- Read the three sub-titles and ask the students to predict/respond to the potential ideas.
- Read the What's In-side? pages and ask for student responses.
- We're Still Here has a very strong and clear message to offer to students. Discuss the message that is given.
Before America Was America (p. 2-3) This map and the following information offers opportunities for students to understand how living in a certain environment affects how people adapt their lives in terms of shelter and food, among other things.
- Discuss how the various locations would have influenced the types of homes.
- Ask the students to suggest why some Native people called America "Turtle Island".
- How did America get its name?
Research: If it is appropriate to your curriculum, assign a particular Native people to a group of students and have them do research on that group. The students would follow your guidelines for research and presentation to the entire class.
Home Sweet Home (p. 4-7) - What materials were used to build Native peoples' homes in the past?
- How did nature help the people to survive?
- Why did the Zuni stay in one place?
- Describe a Zuni home.
- What foods did Chinook families eat?
- Describe a longhouse.
- Why did the Abenaki have portable homes?
- Describe a tipis.
Research: The students might be assigned the task of doing research about earth lodges, wikiups, hogans, chickees, pit houses and grass houses. Art Work: Students enjoy making models of homes and communities. Groups of students might work on the different styles on Native homes. If this is not possible, drawings of the various shelters would be appropriate.
The Three Sisters (p. 8-9) - What are the three sisters?
- Why were these vegetables called the three sisters?
- How did the corn help the beans grow?
- Why did the squash help the corn and the beans?
- What other foods were eaten by the Native people?
- Where they lived influenced their diet. Why?
- How did girls help their mothers?
- What work did boys do?
Extended Activities: Research the many ways that corn, beans and squash can be eaten. If your class is made up of many cultures, the different uses of these three foods could offer a wide range of cooking styles.
Fun and Games (p. 10-13) Pre-reading: The Native people gave what games that we play today to us?
- Why was it important to practice silent footsteps?
- Why was wrestling a useful activity?
- How did running help the Native people?
- What lessons do team sports teach us?
- How were balls made by the Native people?
- What is skinny?
- What is lacrosse?
- How many people could play on a team long ago?
- What rules are different today?
- What Native team is representing its people today?
Life in a Lenape Longhouse (p. 14- 17) - What does the Lenape girl hear when she wakes up in the morning?
- Who lives in a longhouse?
- What role does a grandmother have in a longhouse?
- What does "the time of plentiful food" mean?
- What does the word Native mean?
- What did Christopher Columbus call the Native people?
- Name three skills that boys learned from adult Native men.
- What jobs did women and girls have?
- What lessons did a girl learn about food?
- Explain some other lessons that girls learned.
- What toys did the children have?
- What activities took place during the long winters?
Creative/Journal Writing: Pretend that you are a Native child from long ago. Write about your daily activities. Along with the story draw pictures to show your activities. Art Work: The students might enjoy making some of the Native children's toys, such as the cornhusk doll, a leather ball or the games on subsequent pages of this issue.
Getting Well (p. 18-19) - What is a herbalist?
- How did a spiritualist leader try to help a sick person?
- Explain how each of these plants helped to heal:
A certain willow tree
A geranium flower
A yellow lady's slipper flower - How did a sweat lodge help people?
- How did Navajo healers cure sick people?
Playtime (p. 20-21) - What natural materials were used to make Native children's toys?
- Explain, in your own words, how to play the ball and triangle game.
Salmon Boy, a Haida Story (p. 22-26) - What did the boy's mother give him?
- List the food that they ate.
- Where did the boy live?
- Why was King Salmon carved on doorposts?
- What bad habits did the boy show?
- What happened to the salmon one year?
- What food was there for the boy's family to eat?
- Why was the boy behaving badly?
- Why did the boy drown?
- Who were the Salmon People?
- What did the boy's spirit do before his body sank?
- What lesson did the Salmon Chief tell?
- Why was the boy ashamed?
- How did he spend his days?
- What lesson does this story tell?
- What do salmon do in the spring?
- What did the mother do with the thing she found?
- After six days what happened?
- What did the boy become?
- How did he help his people?
- How does the story end?
Creative Writing: Ask the students to create a story similar to The Salmon Boy. Or, they might research other Native legends and present a synopsis to their classmates.
The Old Ones (p. 27-29) - Who are the Old Ones?
- Where did they live?
- Why was moving to a new location so difficult?
- Who worked to build a new village?
- What did the men do?
- How did the children help?
- How was meat found?
- How did they get clothing and blankets?
- What was the important job for women?
- How did they preserve food?
- Why were nuts and berries important?
- Why did the Old Ones keep turkeys?
- How did dogs spend their days?
- Make a chart similar to the following one in your notebook. List as many activities as you can.
My Chores | Chores of the Children of the Old Ones | | |
And Then Columbus Came (p. 30-31) - Describe a Taino home.
- What is a "pepper pot"?
- What jewellery did a Taino person wear?
- What did Taino girls do each day?
- How did the boys help their fathers?
- What did Taino people worship?
- Why did the Taino culture almost disappear?
Creative Writing:
- Describe what you think Taino people thought of that first ship.
- Write a story about the arrival of Chistopher Columbus to the island. Tell what those on the ships thought about the Taino people.
- With the older students it might be possible to hold a debate about the benefits vs. the ill affects of past exploration.
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