Alaska Natives Activity Report

Activity Project: Getting to Know Alaska Natives Then Alaska is a land of diverse climate, vegetation, and wildlife. So, too, is the diversity of the Alaska Natives (Alaska’s indigenous people) and their cultures (Langdon, 2014). In schools in Alaska, many students are unaware of the many groups of Alaska Natives and their history. Even those students that are Alaska Natives are uninformed of how their ancestors lived. This project is made to give a glimpse into to the lives of Alaska Natives around the 19th century.

Setting the Stage

As a special education teacher, creating projects takes extra care as each students’ goals, abilities, and needs must be met in the short time they are in the classroom. Middle school is challenging for

For this project the essential question is “What was life like for Alaska Natives around the 19th century?”

Standards

The standards chosen are in the area of writing. Three standards will be addressed throughout the project. First, standard LA.6.w.6.7 (See Appendix A) will be used daily as the students are given a daily question to research and small project to complete. Next, standard LA.6.w.6.3 (See Appendix A) will be focused on as students are asked to write longer entries about topics using the information they have gathered. Finally, LA.6.w.6.2 (See Appendix A) will be addressed when the students write a narrative describing a day in the life of a 19th century Alaska Native using the information they have gathered.

Project

Each student must research a different group and the students may and are encouraged to research their own ancestors. A three-ring binder will be their storage facility for all their research and daily rubrics. Each day the students will be given a research task focused on one of the areas being studied (i.e. language, transportation, housing…) (See Appendix B). The task is created to be completed in one class period. For example in the area of housing, the students must research what type of housing their group had (i.e. what is it made from, where did they get the materials, was it a permanent structure…). They are to then use their research notes and pictures they have found to draw a picture of a dwelling a person from their Alaska Native group may have lived in around 19th century. Each day they must also record their resource(s) on a resource page in their binder (See Appendix B). Another day’s task asks them to research their groups’ forms of transportation and compare with another student creating a Venn diagram or a graphic organizer of their choice. In the area of ceremonies, they must take the information found and write a paragraph describing the ceremonies of their chosen group. This addresses standard