In our westward expansion class, we moved from learning about Americans traveling west to find a new life and settle in uncharted (to them) territory, to who was already living in these western lands.  We started by reading aloud and discussing such books as The Warrior Maiden (A Hopi Legend) and Children of the Wind and Water (Five Stories about Native American Children).  We also looked at photos of Native American children before they were sent to boarding schools and after. Children did a VTS (visual thinking strategy) where they wrote everything they noticed about the two photos.

Each pair to students found it hard to believe that they were the same children and we discussed the forced nature of this schooling on these tribes and children. 

Each pair of students was then assigned a Native American tribe to research.   Students gathered information that ranged from clothing, homes and food to interactions with white settlers and beliefs/traditions of their tribe.  Students then worked together to create a diorama of their Native tribes culture. Students also read with their partners books such as Trail of Tears by Joseph Bruchac and A River Lost by Lynn Bragg.  As we finish up this unit, students will have a good grasp of the fact that the land that was now part of America really was already inhabited by others that had a very different view on land ownership.