Intro to Native American Art 

Do Now: Draw a necktie and design a pattern on it. 

Today the 3rd and 4th graders began their second unit - Native American Art. Now that we have finished our introduction to art and basic color theory, our units will be linked to the 3rd and 4th grade social studies curriculum. The 3rd grade is beginning a unit on the early inhabitants of New York, so we will spend the duration of the unit studying Native Americans through their art.

First we brainstormed what we already knew about Native Americans, then we looked at a map of New York state. The map below includes six of the largest Native American tribes that lived in New York. Together, these six tribes formed the Iroquois Nation. 

Next, we read an Iroquois folktale called Turtle's Race with Bear . In this folktale, Bear insults Turtle and calls him slow. Turtle challenges Bear to a race, and, using his wits and his family, beats Bear. 

Students listened to the folktale twice, reflected on its relevance to our 4 school pillars, and drew their favorite part of the tale.