The best advice I received when I began teaching about the
native people of the Eastern Woodlands, was to start by covering their basic
needs. Approaching the material this
way, made it considerably more manageable.
To begin, we learned about 'gathering' - what people would have gathered from the environment to eat and that this was often one of the responsibilities children would have. caption |
The Three Sisters were a major staple of the Native Americans. Planting fields in this manner helped yield successful harvests. |
Many foods that the Native American people grew were foreign to the Europeans who arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries. |
After talking about the foods people of the woodlands gathered, hunted and grew, the students completed a graphic organizer in the form of a plate - Page 6 in the All Woodland Worksheets packet - They were tasked with illustrating and labeling foods eaten in each of the three categories. The plates looked delicious and were a fun way to reinforce the information as well as assess each child's understanding.
We learned that the early Native Americans often ate in the morning and shared a large meal around mid-day. If they were hungry in between larger meals, there were always pots stewing, dried meat to chew on, or popcorn to pop!
So as my students filled up their plates, I set up my popcorn machine and made a batch of air pop popcorn for the class to share. We were delighted to learn that the early Native American people would cook kernels over the fire, and that it was considered a snack that brought people together. We put it in dixie cups and sprinkled maple syrup over it for a sweet flavor - similar to the way tribes in the northeast enjoyed it!
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