LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

Title/Grade/age level: “This setting needs…” 2nd Grade, 7 and 8

Context & Justification of Activity as it relates to other subjects (integration)

This lesson plan is related to both Social Studies and English. The tableaus that the children
will create are based around the American Indian Tribes. They will also be about their
knowledge of the readings of the origin stories regarding how the Lakota and Pueblo
interacted with their environment. In addition, the students will have to write about their
tableau and why they chose to include the various elements. They will need to write this in
complete sentences.

I have 21 students total and the academic abilities in the classroom range from pre-primer to
fifth grade. I have grouped the students in heterogeneous academic groups. Prior to this
lesson, students will have started learning about American Indians for five days. In this unit,
they learn about the Pueblo, Powhatans, and Lakota. They will have read books, watched
videos, and have completed activities prior to this lesson that I will teach. However, the
students will not have had exposure to origin stories. They will continue to learn about the
tribes after my lesson for approximately two more days. In addition, students have never done
tableaus prior to this, and for the purposes of this activity, we will be calling the tableaus,
“settings.’

Materials Needed

 Origin Stories
-The Lakota
The Lakota Creation Story. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://aktalakota.stjo.org/site/News2?
page=NewsArticle&id=8816

-Grandfather Rock
Bruchac, J., Caduto, M. J., & Fadden, J. K. (1991). Native American stories: From "Keepers of
the Earth" Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing.

 Green Screen
 IPads
 Copies of stories for students to reference while creating their tableaus
 Bulleted Learning Objectives National Arts Standards addressed:

 The students will be able to VA: Cr1.12a

understand the relationship between
the American Indian Tribe and the
environment.
 The students will be able to use their
bodies to represent the relationship of
the American Indian Tribe and their
environment.
 The students will be able to write
about the key elements of the origin
stories and explain why they chose
those elements in their tableaus.
Brainstorm collaboratively multiple approaches
to an art or design problem.
VA: Cr3.1.2aDiscuss and reflect with peers about
choices made in creating artwork
VA Standards of Learning addressed or
Common Core Standards addressed:
2.7 The student will locate and describe the
relationship between the environment
and culture of
a) the Powhatan of the Eastern
Woodlands;
b) the Lakota of the Plains; and
c) the Pueblo Indians of the
Southwest.

I have chosen the SOL that that relates to the

environment, because the origin stories discuss
how the Earth began and why the environment is
the way it is.

2.13 The student will edit writing for

correct grammar, capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling.
a) Recognize and use complete
sentences.

Brief Procedures

 The students will meet at the carpet and we will discuss what they know about origin
stories and discuss connections
 I will ask the students if they know what a creation story or origin story is? I will explain
that it is a Legend that Native American Tribes would pass down from generation to
generation and they are about how our world and everything that lives on it came to be.
 I will read them two origin stories. Both of these stories are from the Lakota Tribe.
 We will discuss what we read
 - I will then say, “Based off of this knowledge that we now have, and your
background knowledge about the Native American Tribes, what can we predict
will happen in this story?” I will ask the students to remember the main characters
from each story. I will also ask for volunteers to recall events that they deemed
important to the story. I will tell them to remember all of this for activity that we
will be doing.
 I will provide them with instructions for the activity: You are to be in a group of four to
five people and will create the setting of one of these stories in a tableau (explain what
tableau is). For this, I will provide both written and visual instructions. You will represent
the items using your body. For example, if you say: This setting needs “A tree” you will
then use your body and decide how you can represent a tree. What is one way you can
represent a tree? When your whole group has rehearsed this, you will come to me and I
will take a photo of it using the IPAD and we will use the green screen and drop in a
background. I have a QR code set up for them to scan where they can choose potential
backgrounds. In addition, I will show them the pictures that are suitable and appropriate
for use. We will then airdrop that photo to all of the IPADS in the group and you will
individually write about what it is you are representing and why you chose to include it.
You will need to use complete sentences. When everyone is finished, we will have some
time for groups to present their image to the class, so they will act it out again and the
other students can try to explain what they are showing through their image.
 Prior to dismissing the students in their groups, I would state what my expectations are. I
would emphasize that this is the culture of people, and they need to keep that in mind
when doing this. I also expect the students to talk with their groups and collaborate with
them. Everybody should have their ideas listened to and then compromises can be made.
In addition, my expectations for the writing portion of this activity is that you capitalize
letters at the beginning of the sentence and you use complete sentences with punctuation.

Assessment Plan

At the end of the project, the students will write about what they included in their setting and
what each person in the setting represents. They will prove their understanding of what they have
done and the reasoning behind each item included in the setting. They will be able to use the
picture of their group on the IPADS that they took to reference, and then write about it
individually. I will also be able to join group conversations while they plan what they do and I
will be able to look at their pictures on their IPads.
Modifications for students with special needs:

This activity accommodates students with special needs, because it only requires the movement
of their bodies. For students who are not able to write their thoughts at the end, they are able to
dictate what they want to say and I will write it for them.
 Reflection

I loved doing this lesson! This lesson was out of my comfort zone in the fact that I never

taught anything similar to it prior to this. While I have taught about the topic of American

Indians before, I have never taught a lesson that was focused on creating tableaus. While the

classroom was loud and the students had trouble keeping their volume down, it was

understandable as they were collaborating and working well together. However, after reflecting

back on this lesson, there were a couple of aspects that I think I could have done differently.

First, I think I would have shared the creation stories in more of a “story-telling” type of

setting. In fact, it is an SOL for second grade, that students understand how American Indians

shared stories orally and passed them down. I could have memorized the idea of the origin

stories, and shared them with the students without reading off of the page. As a result, it would

be as though I am sharing the stories as the American Indians did. If I teach this lesson in the

future, I will definitely add this to my lesson for a more meaningful learning experience for the

students.

I also think I need better transitions. For this activity, the students finished at different

points and that was difficult to manage, because some students were still finishing their tableaus

when others were already finishing the couple of questions they had to answer after having

already finished their tableaus. However, I did not want to rush any of the groups and their

process, so I need to find a balance where students do not have to rush through their tableaus, but

also other students are not just waiting for them to finish. This also created a difficult situation

while wrapping up the lesson. However, this was also difficult due to the fact that the lesson will

not be finished until Tuesday when the students are able to choose their backgrounds for the

picture to replace the green screen.

 Overall, I loved teaching this lesson. It was great to see what the students chose to do

with the creation stories and how they represented them. I also was able to learn more about their

thought process when they answered the questions I gave them, one of them being, “Why did

you include each of these items?” I have included examples of their worksheets below. I am

excited to see what backgrounds they choose for their green screen when I go back to practicum!