A typical day in our classroom is working on project based learning. At the end of this Native American unit, I would like for my students to have developed a sense of appreciation for Native Americans' culture, beliefs, and legends.
My students come from very diverse backgrounds, soci economics, and cultures.
Big Shanty is a recent winner of the National Green Ribbon. We work hard to improve our student learning through student centered learning. We also take great pride in our school grounds. The totem poles we are going to create are destined to go around our shuffle board, that was funded by a grant.
My Project
As we started studying Native Americans, all my students had to develop and support a Native American name for themselves. They had to research what different animals represent in Native American Legend and Culture. In creating their Native American name they also had to create a symbol that represents the name. We will be creating Totem Poles, indicative of some of the tribes we have studied. The students will place their Native American Name symbol on the totem poles using the paint, brushes, and clear coat spray. I believe the students will gain an appreciation for the connection with nature and legends that Native Americans believed.
As I mentioned earlier, Big Shanty earned the National Green Ribbon Award and part of that is because of the great effort we put into our school grounds and gardens.
Making the totem poles will not only be educational, but it will help the students take pride in the part that our class has played in improving our school grounds and take pride in our school. The majority of our school is from low income background and feeling the sense of accomplishment and belonging would be invaluable.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Borg and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
