A Lesson For the Teacher

I love moments in my classroom that I realize I am learning just as much as the students are. The moments came to me yesterday...As Thanksgiving is upon us, I have begun talking about Native Americans and Pilgrims in the classroom. To kick off the unit, one of our parents, a Shawnee Indian, came to talk to our class about the traditions and customs of her tribe. I believe that it is very important to expose children to different cultures, and this was an amazing experience for the students. She brought in many things for the students to see and explained that all of the items handmade by her family. The students were in awe! She even let us listen to a song that the children of her tribe dance to and the students were excited to hear the man in the song singing the words to Sponge Bob. Please take some time to talk to your children about this experience. Discuss the reason behind learning about Native Americans for Thanksgiving. Who was at the First Thanksgiving? Don't forget to explain that Native Americans have always been on this land. They were here long before Columbus got here. It is important to share facts with our children. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr040.shtml
We will continue our Thanksgiving lesson the week after break and have a feast at the end of that week!

http://www.indians.org/articles/shawnee-indians.html