Sarah Plain and Tall

A quick read that will give my students some insight into frontier life. Many of the difficulties of life at that time are addressed in this book. I think Sarah Plain and Tall might be a good book for reading circles/book clubs.

Sing Down the Moon

This Newbury Award winning novel by Scott O'Dell will be a great addition to my unit on the Westward expansion. It shows many of the interactions between a Navajo tribe and white soldiers and settlers who force them from their homeland. It is told through the perspective of a Navajo girl who my students may be able to relate to. This could be a good choice for a read aloud book.

Native Americans, Pioneers, and the Westward Expansion

The Westward Expansion

Grade Levels: Elementary grades 3-5

My theme is focused around the Western Expansion from both Native American and Pioneer perspectives. The time period I am focusing on will be loosely defined as 1800-1850, possibly extending depending on the literature I find. The purpose of my theme is for the students to get an understanding of the main events, conflicts, and changes that occurred during this important time in American history. They will see the events from multiple viewpoints using memoir and historical fiction from both Native Americans and Pioneers. We will also make connections to how these events determined the current state of our nation.
I hope that my students will come out of the lesson with a better understanding of their national history. My theme will address common themes of intercultural communications and understanding and immigration that can relate to the student’s lives today.

Folktales

I have many folktales that I enjoy. As a child I love The Three Billy Goats Gruff and as a preschool teacher it became one of my favorite books to read to students. My dad use to read us folktales from a book called Gormless Tom and other Tales From the British Ises. They had no illustrations, but that never bother me because of the way my dad would read them. He lived in Canada and taught on an Indian reservation for a while so he would also tell us Inuit folklore he had picked up there. Fractured Folktales have also been some of my favorites. I remember discovering The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs in 4th grade and loving it.

For my thematic unit I am focusing on Native Americans during the westward expansion. So I am looking at a few options for Native American folktales. I like the book The Story Telling Stone because it is a collection of Native American folktales that I could choose from. The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush is also one I would like to use. The Mud Pony is another great Native American folktale that I would use.