Tribal Sovereignty: History Through a Native American View
My students need a classroom projector and projector screen to help them study US History and Washington State History's primary and secondary documents.
Students study US History and WA State History through a tribal perspective and need to "see" information such as primary and secondary documents that will help guide them through the impact of an historical event or era on tribal people.
Our high school is comprised of 60 percent Native American, twenty-seven percent Latino/a, and thirteen percent Caucasian.
Ninety-five percent of the students I serve in the district's School Within A School (SWS) are Native American, who also have the lowest test scores in reading, writing, and math, historically.
Many are not "pencil and paper" learners, instead many arrive to our educational system rich in oral history handed down from generation to generation. Many, too, learn from watching their elders perform a skill or task before being taught in a hands-on manner. Projecting information is key to learning.
Our district has embraced Since Time Immemorial-Tribal Sovereignty curriculum produced in partnership with WA State Office of Public Instruction, UW and Heritage University, WA State Indian Education and Indian Tribes which offers a very powerful tool to guide all students through US History and WA State History, all from a tribal perspective.
My Project
Having a projector and screen will allow us to project primary and secondary documents, photos, timelines, all forms of organizational charts, and other learning tools may be used by the teacher to help students connect reading material to visuals that extend student understanding.
Most importantly, students will be able to present their individual and group presentations, and findings from research. The goal is to have students become the teacher to their peers. Student to student talk and sharing is ideal in helping students to communicate or demonstrate conceptual understanding, to demonstrate thinking through reflection, and extend their learning into relevant contexts, and to ensure interpersonal interactions that reflect a supportive learning environment.
Students will learn about how their ancestors dealt with Indian wars, treaty era, US Constitution and Bill of Rights, loss of homelands, relocation, and that tribal people still survive and thrive in today's society.
Tribal Sovereignty curriculum allows Native American youth learn about how important tribal leaders have been throughout past history into modern day.
They will learn the tribal names and see photos of the Woodland Indian people, the Plains tribes, the Plateau tribes, and others that live in the USA. They will not see negative terms that were used when their parents and grandparents attended public school. They will learn that they are unique tribal people and deserve academic success.
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