Beacon Lesson Plan Library
The Seminoles
Laurie Ayers
Bay District Schools
Description
This lesson is for Day 12 of the unit [Native Americans]. The students will work in centers to learn about the physical surroundings and climate of the Southeast Woodlands region and how they affected the lives of the Seminoles.
Objectives
The student reads informational texts for specific purposes (including but not limited to performing a task, learning a new task, sequentially carrying out the steps of a procedure, locating information to answer a question).
The student knows similarities and differences among selected Native American cultures from different regions and times (for example, nomadic groups, agricultural groups, city building, relationship with the environment).
The student knows some works of art that reflect the cultural heritage of the community or country (for example, paintings, statues).
The student understands ways climate, location, and physical surroundings affect the way people live (for example, food, clothing, shelter, transportation, recreation).
Materials
-Timeline transparency
-Overhead projector
-Map symbols for class bulletin board (downloaded and printed in previous lesson)
-Map booklets
-Student Map Symbols (downloaded and printed in a previous lesson)
-Printed Instructions for Centers (in associated file)
-Center Checklist (downloaded and printed in previous lesson)
-Video, [Boy of the Seminoles (Indians of the Everglades], ISBN# 0388032413, Coronet/MTI, OH. This video is available at the Bay District Schools Media Center.
-Video player
-Chickee and Chickee Wheel, one of each per student (in associated file)
-Paper fasteners, one per student
-Scissors for centers 1 and 4, one per student
-Crayons for centers 1 and 4, enough for each student
-Brown paper cut into rectangular shapes for wildlife paintings (you could use brown paper grocery bags or brown craft paper), one piece per student
-A variety of tempera paints in containers with paintbrushes
-Old newspapers for the painting center and to put finished artwork on
-Pictures of Wildlife (in associated file)
-Book [The Seminole Indians] by Bill Lund. (Note: If the teacher does not have access to this particular book, another book about the Seminoles can be used.)
- A taped version of [The Seminole Indians] by Bill Lund. (Note: If the teacher does not have access to this particular book, another book about the Seminoles can be used.)
-A tape player
-Headphones, one per student at the center
-Job Tags for Center 3 (in associated file)
-Note paper for Center 3, one piece per student
-Box for collected student papers for Center 3
-Pencils for Centers 2 and 3, one per student
-Palmetto fronds
-Student Web Lesson [Different Tribes, Different Times] (see extensions)
Preparations
1. Download and make copies of Instructions for Centers (in associated file.)
2. Download and make copies of Chickee and Chickee Wheel, one of each per student (in associated file.)
3. Cut brown paper rectangular shapes for wildlife paintings, one per student.
4. Mix tempera paints if necessary.
5. Download and make copies of Pictures of Wildlife (in associated file.)
6. Make a tape of yourself reading the book [The Seminole Indians] by Bill Lund.
7. Download and make copies of Job Tags for Center 3 (in associated file.)
8. Gather materials.
9. Set up centers.
10. Post Instructions for Centers in each center.
11. Post Pictures of Wildlife in Center 2.
12. Open the Student Web Lesson Student Web Lesson [Different Tribes, Different Times] (see extensions)
Procedures
1. Review vocabulary on Big Word Chart.
2. Review class map and map symbols for the Northeast Woodlands, Southwest, and Plains regions.
3. Tell students today they will learn more about Woodlands Indians. Explain that because the Woodlands region is so big it is often divided into two regions. The northern part is called the Northeast Woodlands region and the southern part is called the Southeast Woodlands region. Today they will learn about a tribe that lived in the Southeast Woodlands. They will learn about the Seminoles, a tribe that first began in the 1700s. Point out that the Seminoles lived in our state, the state of Florida.
4. Show the Timeline and discuss how the Seminole tribe developed after the Plains and Anasazi tribes. This tribe lived closer to our present time.
5. Point out the location of the Everglades on the class map. Tell students that the physical surroundings of the Everglades were somewhat different from the physical surroundings in other areas of the Southeast Woodlands region. For this reason, it is considered a region within a region.
6. Tell students you have a video for them to watch. It will tell about a Seminole boy who lived in the Everglades.
7. Encourage students to watch the video to find out about the physical surroundings and climate of this part of the Southeast Woodlands region.
8. Show the video about the Seminoles: [Boy of the Seminoles (Indians of the Everglades] , #816917, ISBN# 0388032413, Coronet/MTI, OH.
9. Guide students in a discussion of the physical surroundings and climate of the Everglades in the Southeast Woodlands region. Possible questions might include:
What is one thing you noticed about the physical surroundings of the Everglades?
How was the land?
Was there much water?
What kinds of plants and animals lived there?
What do you think the climate was like?
Were there some clues in the movie that helped you know what the climate was like? What were the clues?
10. Explain that in their center work today the students will complete projects that relate to the Seminoles.
11. Give directions for each center. Remind students that the directions will also be posted at each center.
12. Review the criteria on the Center Checklist (downloaded and copied previously in the lesson [Different Tribes, Different Times]) with students and remind them you will use it to assess how well they follow directions at each center.
13. As students work at the centers, the teacher formatively assesses center work performance based on the criteria listed on the Center Checklist.
14. The teacher provides specific formative feedback to students during the center activities. Formative feedback should be both guiding (I’m sorry. You skipped a step. Look at the directions again. What step did you leave out?) and positive (Wow, you followed all the steps. Your map Activity Sheet is complete.).
15. Additional instruction or guidance should be given to any student who has difficulty reading the informational texts and completing the center activities.
Note: Completed student artwork from center activities need to be kept at school each day and displayed in the classroom. Artwork to be kept in the classroom includes the pottery made on Day 10, shakers and weaving done on Day 11, and Wood Paintings done on Day 12. Students will need this artwork to complete the My Favorite Artwork form and the Artfully Speaking lesson plan.
Center #1 – Chickees
Remind students that Seminoles built chickees to live in. They were frame houses on stilts or poles. They had no walls. The roof was covered with palm and palmetto branches. (Optional - Show students palmetto fronds.) They made this type of home because it was so warm and wet in this region. They built them on stilts to help protect them from flooding and alligators and snakes.
Tell students they will have two papers in this center. One will have a chickee on it. The other will have a wheel with an alligator and snake on it.
· Write your name on the paper that has the chickee on it.
· Color the chickee and add some plants around it.
· Cut out the box at the bottom of the chickee.
· Color the alligator and snake on the wheel.
· Cut out the wheel.
· Use a paper fastener and punch a hole where the X is on the chickee.
· Use the paper fastener and punch a hole in the circle in the center of the wheel.
· Put the wheel behind the chickee paper.
· Put the paper fastener through the X on the chickee paper and through the circle in the center of the wheel.
· Open the paper fastener. Be careful and don’t cut your finger!
· Now turn the wheel and see what kinds of animals lived near the Seminoles.
Center #2 – Wood paintings
Tell students that Seminoles enjoyed art. They liked to paint wildlife scenes (animals living in the wild) on wooden tablets. Explain that in this center they will be artists, too. Tell them to think about the kind of wildlife that they saw in the video. Also, you have posted some pictures of other wildlife that lived in that region in the center. They are to paint a wildlife picture using the paints in the center. Explain that they will pretend the brown paper is a wooden tablet.
· Write your name on a piece of brown paper.
· Think about the wildlife that lived in this region.
· Decide what you want to paint.
· Use a pencil and lightly draw your picture.
· Now use paints to paint your picture.
· When finished, carefully move your painting to the newspaper so it can dry.
Center #3 – Listening Center
Students will use headphones to listen to a taped version of [The Seminole Indians] by Bill Lund. (Note: If the teacher does not have access to this particular book, another book about the Seminoles can be used.) Establish with students in each group who will hold the book and turn pages, who will start the tape and control the volume, and who will stop the tape and rewind it for the next group. The teacher might want to hand out “Job Tags” (in associated file) that designate each job to the students who are chosen for them. Students will also be asked to write down two facts that they learned about the Seminoles before leaving the center.
· Sit in a chair at the center.
· Put on your headphones.
· Listen to the tape and look at the pictures in the book.
· Try to learn at least two facts about the Seminoles.
· When the tape is finished, get a piece of paper.
· Write your name on your paper.
· Write the two facts you have learned about the Seminoles.
· Put your paper in the box on the table.
Center #4 – Map Booklets
Students use the class map as an informational text to complete Activity Sheet #5 in their Map Booklets. Remind students that the physical surroundings and climate of a region affected how the people in that region lived. The physical surroundings of the Everglades made this area a little different from the rest of the Southeast Woodlands region.
· Use the class map to help you.
· Write the name of today’s region on the space at the top.
· Look at your map symbols.
· Color the symbols for the Everglades in the Southeast Woodlands region.
· Cut out the symbols for the Everglades in the Southeast Woodlands region.
· Glue them in the three boxes in the middle of the page.
· Write one of the facts under “Fact”.
· Finish the “And so” part.
16. After center work is completed, bring students back together as a whole group and allow time for them to share what they have learned about the Seminole Indians. The teacher guides the discussion and uses student responses to formatively assess understanding of the following concepts:
· Physical surroundings and climate of the region:
There were lots of palms and palmettos; there were alligators and snakes; the climate was warm and wet; there were forests.
· A Seminole form of art was painting pictures of wildlife on wooden tablets.
· Seminole homes were called chickees. They had a wooden frame, but no walls. They were built this way due to the warm, wet climate. They were built on stilts to protect them from flooding and alligators and snakes.
· They built canoes for transportation.
· They wore brightly colored patchwork clothes.
· The Green Corn Dance was one of their special ceremonies.
· They grew food such as corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and sugarcane.
· They fished and hunted birds, wild turkey, deer, turtles, and small game.
· Ways the Seminoles were alike and different from the Anasazi and Plains Indians.
17. The teacher provides specific feedback to students throughout the discussion. Feedback should be guiding (The Seminoles did build their chickees on stilts to help protect them from alligators and snakes, but can you think of another reason why they built them on stilts?) and positive (You are such a good listener. The Seminoles did love to play ball games.)
18. Student pairs continue to complete the Student Web Lesson [Different Tribes, Different Times] (See Extensions)
Assessments
Use the class follow-up discussion as a means of formatively assessing student understanding of ways the physical surroundings and climate of the region affected the lives of the people, understanding of similarities and differences of Native American culture groups from different regions and times, and knowledge of some works of art that reflect the cultural heritage of each culture group community. Use this information to guide instruction and provide feedback.
Use a Center Checklist (in associated file of [Different Tribes, Different Times] lesson) to formatively assess student ability to read informational texts to complete center projects. Use the Center Checklist to note students who follow all directions, follow most directions, and follow few directions at each center.
Extensions
1. The Beacon Unit Plan associated with this lesson can be viewed at the Unit Plan menu.
Once you select the unit’s link, scroll to the bottom of the unit plan page to find the section, “Associated Files.” This section contains links to the Unit Plan Overview, Diagnostic and Summative Assessments, and other associated files (if any).
2. Other appropriate books and videos that the teacher has at her access can be substituted for the ones listed in the Materials.
3. Other center activities can be substituted as long as they are aligned with the standards.
4. To reinforce factual concepts about the various Native American culture groups being studied, the teacher is encouraged to chart the Indian information given at the beginning of each center. The teacher will read the charts when introducing each center and then post them at the centers for students to reread before they begin the center activities.
5. For Bay County teachers, additional information about Creek Indians in Bay County can be obtained by contacting the North Bay Clan of the Lower Miscogee Creek Indian Tribe.
6. The class could have a Native American Day to culminate the unit. Speakers and craftsmen from the area could come to speak about local Native American history. Native American food, art, music, and games could be enjoyed.
7. Students continue to work on the Student Web Lesson Student Web Lesson [Different Tribes, Different Times]. (See Extensions)
Web Links
Click on Cultural, then New World Cultures. Facts about Seminoles Minnesota State University E MuseumWeb supplement for The Seminoles The Seminole Tribe of FloridaWeb supplement for The Seminoles The Unconquered SeminolesThis site provides information about early tribes of Creek, Miscogee, and Seminole Indians in Bay County. Bay County HistoryThis is an online Student Web Lesson that introduces various Native American culture groups. Different Tribes, Different Times
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