Grade Level and Learner Background:

This sequence of lessons when combined creates a small unit and is intended for
eighth grade students, in the fall of that year. The timing of the unit is intended to serve as
a reminder of the geography and American history portions of the seventh grade
curriculum. This will also serve as an opportunity to re-familiarize students with the
laptops and the features used to browse the Internet.
The group is made up of students in a self contained emotionally disabled special
education. There is one lead teacher and one or two support persons at all times in the
classroom. There may be instances where a teacher/support person removes one or more
students from the classroom for behavior intervention or classroom support.

Standards for Maine Native American History/Geography Mini Unit:

Middle School Standards
History
A. Chronology
Students will use the chronology of history and major eras to demonstrate the
relationships of events and people. Students will be able to:
1. Describe the effects of historical changes on daily life.
2. Identify the sequence of major events and people in the history of Maine,
the United States and world civilizations.
Era- The Americas to 1600
The colonial Era 1500-1754
B. Historical Knowledge Concepts and Patterns
Students will develop historical knowledge of major events, people and enduring
themes in the United States, Maine and throughout world history. Students will be
able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the causes and effects of major events in
United States History and the connections to Maine history, with an
emphasis on events to 1877, including but not limited to:
Westward Expansion Industrialization
Colonization
Geography
C. Human Interactions with Environments
Students will understand and analyze the relationships among people and their
physical environment. Students will be able to:
3. Explain how cultures differ in their use of similar environments and resources.
4. Demonstrate how a society changes as a consequence of concentrated
settlement.

English Language Arts

B. Literature and Culture
Students will use reading, listening and viewing strategies to experience,
understand and appreciate literature and culture.
9. Apply effective strategies to the reading and use of moderately long
nonfiction texts (e.g. reference resources, articles, editorials, histories,
 biographies, autobiography, diaries, letters, and commentaries)which have
an appropriate complexity of content and sophistication of style.

D. Informational Texts
Students will apply reading, listening and viewing strategies to informational texts
across all areas of curriculum.
1. Seek appropriate assistance when attempting to comprehend challenging
text.
6. Describe new knowledge presented in informational texts and how it can be
used.
H. Research related writing and speaking
Students will work, write and speak effectively in connection with research in all
content areas. Researching and reporting use a variety of informational and
technological resources to gather and synthesize information and to create and
communicate knowledge.
1. Collect and synthesize date for research topics.
7. Use search engines and other Internet resources to collect information
for research topics.

Objectives:
At the end of this lesson students:
1. Will be able to identify at least one tribe native to Maine.
2. Will be able to find information, using given websites or materials of their own
choosing from references in our library.
3. Will be able to generate 3-5 sentence answers for the questions posed on the
handout accompanying the lesson.

Materials:
Each student will be required to use their laptop, the classroom computer or reference
materials found within the classroom borrowed from the school library.
Writing utensil
Provided worksheet

Introduction:
This portion of the assignment may be given in lecture format. The teacher or support
person is expected to have some background information on Native American tribes of
Maine, such as names. The following set of questions will also appear on the
accompanying worksheet. All four lessons, making up this small unit will include this
introduction as a bridge between lessons and a reminder of the lesson’s purpose.

Native American Tribes

We often open our American history lessons with the voyage of Christopher Columbus or
the initial settlement of the Roanoke colony. That is indeed American history. What of
the history of the North American Continent? In the time just before its settlement, who
was here?

The Americans, native to Maine were, and remain, an integral part of its make up. Take,
for example the names of the rivers and some towns:
Penobscot
Sokokis
Ossippee
Pemaquid
Segotago (Sagadohoc)

Activity :
1) The teacher or a support person will explore the Wikipedia Internet site devoted to
Native American Tribes in Maine in the hopes of directing students to a more
condensed list of tribes and in turn allowing them to choose a tribe within the first 15
minutes of the first day of this lesson.

Activity Two:
With the help of the teacher and all available support persons in the classrooms the
students will complete the “Step One” worksheet, to specification.

Assessment:
For this portion of the mini unit students should have completed the worksheets over a
two or three day period. This can be determined by simply viewing the worksheet the
student is working with.

Accommodations:
As there are students of many different abilities in the classroom there should be many
accommodations made.
1. Students without access to a laptop or who have been cited as having grossly
inadequate skills with regard to the laptop/Internet searches will be loosely
grouped under the supervision of a teacher or support person.
a. This group will choose from a list of tribes given by the teacher/support
person.
b. This group will be provided with material printed from the internet on
their chose tribe or with other reference materials provided.
2. Students exhibiting cognitive or reading difficulty will be loosely grouped under
the direction of a teacher or support person as well.
a. This group will choose one or two tribes together, depending on the
number in the group, and will have material read to them or shared with
them in some way, by the teacher/support person.
b. This group will be expected to develop answers to the questions on the
worksheet and decide on a group answer that satisfies the 3-5 sentence
requirement.
 c. This group may need to meet at other times throughout the day, separately
or together.
d. This group will create a final project together or individually.
3. Students that are showing capability beyond that of their classmates will also be
monitored closely by teacher/support people.
a. These students will be expected to show some higher level thinking by
answering more in depth questions generated by teacher/support people.
Initially one additional question for each question on the worksheet.

Worksheet:
Step One:
Answer the following questions using 3-5 sentence responses. By creating such long
responses now, you will be able to use those 3-5 sentences as entire paragraphs (with a
little tweaking) when it is time to develop your final project!

Native American Tribes

We often open our American history lessons with the voyage of Christopher Columbus or
the initial settlement of the Roanoke colony. That is indeed American history. What of
the history of the North American Continent? In the time just before its settlement, who
was here?

The Americans, native to Maine were, and remain, an integral part of its make up. Take,
for example the names of the rivers and some towns:
Penobscot
Sokokis
Ossippee
Pemaquid
Segotago (Sagadohoc)

A good place to start for information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Native_American_tribes_in_Maine

1. What is the name of the tribe you have chosen and what does it mean?? Where or
how did the tribe get the name? Is it the name the tribe initially called itself or
something the colonizing people termed them?

2. Where was the tribe found in Maine, initially? Give some landmarks, names of
current towns, rivers or mountains? Where are the bulk of the tribe located in
present day?

3. Give a history of your tribe. Who are the ancestors of your tribe? How did the
tribe come to be (war, migration) and when?
 4. How did the tribe come to Maine? Was it here initially? Has the tribe moved from
it’s original location? If yes, how and why?

Grade Level and Learner Background:

This sequence of lessons when combined creates a small unit and is intended for
eighth grade students, in the fall of that year. The timing of the unit is intended to serve as
a reminder of the geography and American history portions of the seventh grade
curriculum. This will also serve as an opportunity to re-familiarize students with the
laptops and the features used to browse the Internet.
Students make up is a group of self contained emotionally disabled special
education. There is one lead teacher and one or two support persons at all times in the
classroom. There may be instances where a teacher/support person removes one or more
students from the classroom for behavior intervention or classroom support.

Standards for Maine Native American History/Geography Mini Unit:

Middle School Standards
History
E. Chronology
Students will use the chronology of history and major eras to demonstrate the
relationships of events and people. Students will be able to:
1. Describe the effects of historical changes on daily life.
2. Identify the sequence of major events and people in the history of Maine,
the United States and world civilizations.
Era- The Americas to 1600
The colonial Era 1500-1754
F. Historical Knowledge Concepts and Patterns
Students will develop historical knowledge of major events, people and enduring
themes in the United States, Maine and throughout world history. Students will be
able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the causes and effects of major events in
United States History and the connections to Maine history, with an
emphasis on events to 1877, including but not limited to:
Westward Expansion Industrialization
Colonization
Geography
G. Human Interactions with Environments
Students will understand and analyze the relationships among people and their
physical environment. Students will be able to:
3. Explain how cultures differ in their use of similar environments and resources.
4. Demonstrate how a society changes as a consequence of concentrated
settlement.

English Language Arts

B. Literature and Culture
 Students will use reading, listening and viewing strategies to experience,
understand and appreciate literature and culture.
9. Apply effective strategies to the reading and use of moderately long
nonfiction texts (e.g. reference resources, articles, editorials, histories,
biographies, autobiography, diaries, letters, and commentaries)which have
an appropriate complexity of content and sophistication of style.

H. Informational Texts
Students will apply reading, listening and viewing strategies to informational texts
across all areas of curriculum.
1. Seek appropriate assistance when attempting to comprehend challenging
text.
6. Describe new knowledge presented in informational texts and how it can be
used.
H. Research related writing and speaking
Students will work, write and speak effectively in connection with research in all
content areas. Researching and reporting use a variety of informational and
technological resources to gather and synthesize information and to create and
communicate knowledge.
2. Collect and synthesize date for research topics.
7. Use search engines and other Internet resources to collect information
for research topics.

Objectives:
At the end of this lesson students:
4. Will be able to identify at least one tribe native to Maine.
5. Will be able to find information, using given websites or materials of their own
choosing from references in our library.
6. Will be able to generate 3-5 sentence answers for the questions posed on the
handout accompanying the lesson.

Materials:
Each student will be required to use their laptop, the classroom computer or reference
materials found within the classroom borrowed from the school library.
Writing utensil
Provided worksheet

Introduction:
This portion of the assignment may be given in lecture format. The teacher or support
person is expected to have some background information on Native American tribes of
Maine, such as names. The following set of questions will also appear on the
accompanying worksheet. All four lessons, making up this small unit will include this
introduction as a bridge between lessons and a reminder of the lesson’s purpose.

Native American Tribes

We often open our American history lessons with the voyage of Christopher Columbus or
the initial settlement of the Roanoke colony. That is indeed American history. What of
the history of the North American Continent? In the time just before its settlement, who
was here?

The Americans, native to Maine were, and remain, an integral part of its make up. Take,
for example the names of the rivers and some towns:
Penobscot
Sokokis
Ossippee
Pemaquid
Segotago (Sagadohoc)

Activity One:
2) The teacher or a support person will explore the Wikipedia Internet site devoted to
Native American Tribes in Maine in the hopes of directing students to a more
condensed list of tribes and in turn allowing them to choose a tribe within the first 15
minutes of the first day of this lesson.

Activity Two:
With the help of the teacher and all available support persons in the classrooms the
students will complete the “Step One” worksheet, to specification.

Assessment:
For this portion of the mini unit students should have completed the worksheets over a
two or three day period. This can be determined by simply viewing the worksheet the
student is working with.

Accommodations:
As there are students of many different abilities in the classroom there should be many
accommodations made.
4. Students without access to a laptop or who have been cited as having grossly
inadequate skills with regard to the laptop/Internet searches will be loosely
grouped under the supervision of a teacher or support person.
a. This group will choose from a list of tribes given by the teacher/support
person.
b. This group will be provided with material printed from the internet on
their chose tribe or with other reference materials provided.
5. Students exhibiting cognitive or reading difficulty will be loosely grouped under
the direction of a teacher or support person as well.
a. This group will choose one or two tribes together, depending on the
number in the group, and will have material read to them or shared with
them in some way, by the teacher/support person.
b. This group will be expected to develop answers to the questions on the
worksheet and decide on a group answer that satisfies the 3-5 sentence
requirement.
 c. This group may need to meet at other times throughout the day, separately
or together.
d. This group will create a final project together or individually.
6. Students that are showing capability beyond that of their classmates will also be
monitored closely by teacher/support people.
a. These students will be expected to show some higher level thinking by
answering more in depth questions generated by teacher/support people.
Initially one additional question for each question on the worksheet.

Worksheet:

Step Two:
Answer the following questions using 3-5 sentence responses. By creating such long
responses now, you will be able to use those 3-5 sentences as entire paragraphs (with a
little tweaking) when it is time to develop your final project!

Native American Tribes

We often open our American history lessons with the voyage of Christopher Columbus or
the initial settlement of the Roanoke colony. That is indeed American history. What of
the history of the North American Continent? In the time just before its settlement, who
was here?

The Americans, native to Maine were, and remain, an integral part of its make up. Take,
for example the names of the rivers and some towns:
Penobscot
Sokokis
Ossippee
Pemaquid
Segotago (Sagadohoc)

A good place to start for information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Native_American_tribes_in_Maine

Culture:

1. Is the tribe matrilineal or patrilineal? And what difference did it make? What was
inherited through the male/female lines? In what other ways was this important?
(e.g. did the male or female choose partners? Did male or females make decisions
for the tribe?)
a. Matrilineal- inheriting or determining decent through the female line
b. Patrilinial- inheriting or determining decent through the male line

2. What were some ways the tribe divided responsibilities? What were the children
responsible for? How old was a child before he or she could hunt, work, marry?
 3. What type of house did the tribe live in? How did the tribe feed its members? Did
the tribe stay in one place all year or were they nomadic?
a. nomadic- a tribe that has no permanent home but moves from place to
place
If your tribe is nomadic, why do they choose that lifestyle? What causes them to
move?

4. Find a story from this tribe. Write 3-5 sentences about it. What/who is the main
character? How does the story begin? What problem arises? How is the problem
solved? How does the story end?

5. What are some other things about this culture that interest you? Would any of
these things find a place in your life in today’s world?

References
http://dictionary.reference.com/

Native American Tribes in Maine. (2007) Wikipedia. Retrieved (12, September, 2010)
from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Native_American_tribes_in_Maine