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Unit Plan
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Core Knowledge Foundation

Native Americans Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthology

For Teachers K Standards
A 154-page anthology explores the life, culture, and history of Native Americans. Eight lessons follow the routine of introducing the reading, conducting the reading, discussing it, doing word work, then taking part in an extension...
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Activity
Curated OER

The Cultural Significance of Naming

For Teachers 6th - 8th
The Navajo would disagree with Shakespeare that the naming of things is irrelevant. Navajo people have to earn their names. Middle schoolers learn about the cultural significance of Navajo names in a lesson that uses a video and reading...
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Activity
Curated OER

Te Ata Fisher: The Award-Winning Chickasaw Storyteller

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Storytelling is a time-honored way to keep a culture alive. Introduce middle schoolers to Te Ata Fisher, the famous Chickasaw storyteller who shared her stories, songs, and dances across the United States and Europe. Young historians...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
National Endowment for the Humanities

Hopi Traditional Dance and Song

For Teachers K - 5th Standards
Very few outsiders get to see the Hopi "Butterfly Dance." However, using approved footage from the tribe, class members consider the importance of symbols in Hopi culture by watching the dance and analyzing lyrics from its songs....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Multicultural Music Connections

For Teachers 3rd
Native American music is fun to listen to and great to play. Third graders get multiculturally inspired as they discuss musical sounds from around the globe, then play a few traditional Native American instruments. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music of the People - Native American Music

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders complete a unit of lessons on the singing, instruments, and dancing of Native Americans. They identify and play various instruments, complete worksheets, define key vocabulary, sing songs, and perform dances.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native American Music: Call-and-Response

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students are introduced to call-and-response form of Native American song and dance. They identify and describe a call-and-response form as used in "0 Hal'Lwe." Male students will perform "0 Hal'Lwe" in call-and-response style with drum...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native American Music and the Flute

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars study the role of the flute in Native American music while determining what an exemplary example of flute music sounds like. They develop a method of assessing a Native American flute performance. They perform a Native...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Describing Drum Beats in Native American Music

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students analyze the drum patterns and changing styles of the music and dance for the Native American song and dance "Owl Dance." They listen to a recording of "Owl Dance," discuss the cultural context of the song, and perform the song.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Boombox Classroom: Native American

For Students 2nd - 3rd
For this music worksheet, students circle names of Native American tribes or nations. They answer three true/false questions. Students answer 3 multiple choice question about the history of Native America. They name 8 music notations.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Caloric Expenditure in Powwow Dancing

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders investigate the meaning of different types of Native American music and dance. They determine how this music and dance has contributed to modern music and dance. They problem solve to determine the average length of the...
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Website
PBS

Pbs: American Roots Music

For Students 9th - 10th
If teaching a unit about the history of popular music in America, this PBS web site supporting their four-part TV broadcast of a few years ago would make a great resource. Includes lesson plans and oral histories too.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Omaha Indian Music

For Students 9th - 10th
A fascinating site of traditional American Indian music. Listen online to the 44 wax cylinder recordings from 1895-97! Listen also to interviews of the tribe giving background information.
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Website
Other

The Museum of the Southeast American Indian

For Students 9th - 10th
The University of North Carolina museum's site offers articles, videos, artwork, crafts, music, and histories of Native Americans.
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Website
PBS

Mpr: The Meaning of Sioux Music and Song

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the Minnesota Public Radio provides the text of a 1915 article written by musician and self-trained anthropologist, Frances Densmore. Densmore spent years studying the music and culture of the Teton Sioux and other native...
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Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: American Memory: Native American History

For Students 9th - 10th
These six extensive collections provide first-person historical accounts, audio clips of music and thousands of photographs from Native American cultures. Audio requires Windows Media Player for PCs, and QuickTime for Mac.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: The Strength of Native American Music (Lesson Plan)

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson plan about analyzing and discussing the relationship between Native American music, culture, and history in which students learn how music can be a tool for cultural survival. Requires access to an episode from "American Roots...
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Activity
Library of Congress

Loc: Native American Reference Weblist

For Students 9th - 10th
The Library of Congress provides a series of sites about Native Americans, featuring their history, literature and culture, news and current events,government and law, their libraries, museums, and archives, and, lastly, their tribes and...