Author: Clemments Allyssa

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/history-kids/native-americans-kids/

Title: History: Native Americans

Author: National Geographic

Grade: 4th

TEKS: (1)  History. The student understands the origins, similarities, and differences of American Indian groups in Texas and North America before European exploration. The student is expected to:

(A)  explain the possible origins of American Indian groups in Texas and North America;

(B)  identify American Indian groups in Texas and North America before European exploration such as (D)  compare the ways of life of American Indian groups in Texas and North America before European exploration.the Lipan Apache, Karankawa, Caddo, and Jumano;

Video:

Summary: This 3 minute video starts with the origins of Native Americans stating it is still a mystery but scientists believe that they were hunters from Asia about 30,000 years ago. The plains Indians hunted buffalo and the Northern coast Indians sailed the ocean and built canoes, houses, and totem poles from the red cedar trees. Around 1500 when the white settlers came to the states, they brought diseases that killed many native Indians and claimed Indian land for them. The American government forced these Indians to live on reservations but some Indians fought their rights through political activism. Today, there are 550 recognized tribes in the United States that are working to improve their conditions while maintaining the culture, language, and traditions.

Instructional Strategy: My instructional strategy is Questioning. Each student would be required to ask one question (students must write down question in notebook) related to Native Americans before the video begins. This question can be anything they want to know about Native Americans. Teacher will provide a question as an example. The video will be stopped halfway to see if any of the students’ questions are answered and then again at the end of the video. Students will discuss & write if their questions were answered or not. The comprehension skill is connection. Students are connecting their own personal questions about Native Americans to the video for answers.

Yucky Worms by Vivian French, illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg

Grade: 3^rd Grade

Content Area: Science

TEKS: 112.14

(9) Organisms and environments. The students know that organism have characteristics that help them survive and can describe patterns, cycles, systems, and relationships within the environment.

(A) observe and describe the physical characteristics of environments and how they support populations and communities within an ecosystem.

One day when I was in Grandma’s garden, Grandma dug up a slimy, slithery, wiggly worm. “Yuck!” I said. “Throw it away!” “Throw it away?” Grandma looked horrified. “Would you throw away one of your friends?” “You can’t be friends with a worm,” I said. “You can’t even tell which end is which.” “Yes, you can! Watch.”

Summary: This is an informational book on worms. The story begins with a grandmother gardening with her grandson and the grandmother dug up a worm. The little boy is grossed out and insists his grandmother throws away the worm, but the grandmother enlightens the boy about worms. These include how to tell the tail from the head, where worms live, the food worms eat, how worms move in dirt and more. The grandmother also debunks common misconceptions about worms. She gives her grandson a better understanding of the benefits of worms and why it is good to have worms in a garden. The book ends with a “how to be a wormologist!” that is available for students to follow and practice. I chose this because it is perfect for a science lesson and afterward students will be able to be a wormologists and looks for worms outside the school.