Connecting With Our Native American Friends, Past and Present – A Visual Story- 7162

Summary

This project was created and implemented as a part of Longdale Elementaryʼs 2013-14
Partners in the Arts Grant program, “Virginiaʼs First People.” The goal of our PIA Grant Program is to make:
REFLECTIONS and CONNECTIONS
Reflecting on the connections between who I am, and who the Pamunkey people are:
past, present, and future. Within our overarching grant goal, this project works to have our students learn about and connect to the people and culture of the Powhatan, Lakota, and Pueblo tribes by relating to them through the common areas/themes of their lives: Family, Education, Place, Home Life, Dress and Activities, and Environment. Students better know the native tribes as friends, develop a better understanding of cultural diversity which will help ensure their 21st c. success. Following the same sense of community and mutual support seen among Native Cultures, this project is designed so that students and teachers alike collaborate to produce their imovies. This project is created so that students are required to synthesize learning from various sources: their classroom social studies, language arts study, visual art study, and their technology study. The studentsʼ ability to synthesize this knowledge is essential and evident, in order for the students to produce effective, creative, and educational imovies. Upon completion of the student projects, the student work is posted on our PIA blog, so that the students can communicate with their families and fellow students about their learning and their creative work.

TIPC Ratings

The students assemble and organize their connections information within their Venn
diagrams, which then lead to the beginnings of their written story ideas. The students also work together at the Promethean board during this activity to help one another understand how they personally connect with their Native American Friends – building a relationship of understanding and knowledge of the Native American people and their cultures – then and now.

The students work in various fluid combinations of groups, sharing tasks and jobs. The
students use the Promethean board to organize their writing and visual story thoughts
when they are checking their progress within the lesson – what has been accomplished,
and what needs to be done. The students also work together to review their “to do”
checklist during session 8, and determine work yet to be done. The students decide
who is the best person to do which particular job, usually with their personal interestsand abilities guiding their decisions.

The students think critically and continuously problem solve throughout this lesson. The students use these skills at all times as they collaboratively research, write, and create their visual stories. There is no template provided for this project, so all of the solutions are student generated with intentional minimal teacher direction. The teacher works as a facilitator within this lesson. Whether determining how to create the sandstone mountains of Sante Fe or a buffalo of the plains, all of these problems, solutions, and decisions are student made. The students continue this self direction in the filming process of their visual story. They follow their script and determine the order and movement of the story elements to tell their story and express their ideas and learning.

The students generate the ideas and work that become the studentsʼ final visual story
creations. From the initial day working with the Venn diagrams, until film day the
studentsʼ synthesize their prior and new knowledge to create innovative visual story
imovie products. The studentsʼ learning and production is essentially self-directed, and their imovie creations express their unique understanding and appreciation of the
Powhatan, Lakota, and Pueblo Native American cultures of the United States, in the
past and present, and also in relationship to the studentsʼ themselves. The students are very proud of the work that they have created together as they know that it is totally their learning and creation and they are glad that other students will learn
from their work. The students are also quite thoughtful in their reflection assessments, revealing their understanding of the movie making process and all of the elements within that contribute to a well- told story and movie.

Download Files

7162-ConnectingWithOurNativeAmericanFriends.zip>
Contents:

  • Lesson Plan
  • Student Artifacts
  • Links to Movies on Vimeo

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