• Artistic Perception--1.1 Development of the Vocabulary of Theatre-- Use the vocabulary of theatre, such as sense memory, script, cue, monologue, dialogue, protagonist, and antagonist, to describe theatrical experiences.
• Creative Expression—2.1 Development of Theatrical Skills--Participate in improvisational activities to explore complex ideas and universal themes in literature and life.

• 3.1 Select or create appropriate props, sets, and costumes for a cultural celebration or pageant.
• 3.2 Interpret how theatre and storytelling forms (past and present) of various cultural groups may reflect their beliefs and traditions.

1. Describe how geography and climate influenced the way various nations lived and adjusted to the natural environment, including locations of villages, the distinct structures that they built, and how they obtained food, clothing, tools, and utensils.
2. Describe their varied customs and folklore traditions.

• Grade 5 Harcourt Reflections Social Studies; Unit 1, Chapter 2
• Promethean Flipcharts: “The First Americans” and “Theatre Vocabulary and Elements” (click links to download).
• Internet
• Native American textbooks and resources
• Performance Rubric Template (click to download)
• Assessment Table (click to download)

• The students will be able to 1) Identify how the geography and climate influenced the Native American groups of the three focus regions of the United States; 2) Describe natural resources used by three Native American Groups; and 3) and their ways of living and adjusting to the natural environment.
• The students will be able to use the vocabulary of theatre, such as sense memory, script, cue, monologue, dialogue, protagonist, and antagonist, to describe theatrical experiences (see background for prerequisite lesson).

• Direct Instruction--teacher directed, delivering theatre vocabulary and social studies content instruction
• Guided Discovery--student discovery; students become experts on a particular region/people using the focus questions, and complete the Venn diagram in flipchart.
• Inquiry--series of divergent questions generate the learning; focus questions from flipchart.
• Group Process--cooperative groups; Dramatic Performance
• >Project--research, presentation, etc. that is done over a long period of time;, Students complete assessment table with all three groups represented.

Vocabulary-- Geography, climate, survive, shelter, influence.

Anticipatory Set—(Be sure to open “Page Notes” throughout flipchart lesson.)

• Teacher will share a flipchart to pose questions and provoke discussion and wonder about living in the times of the three focus Native American groups. Teacher will ask questions as presented in the flipchart (See Theatre Social Studies Unit 1 Chapter 2; PAGES 1 & 2)
• Close your eyes. Let’s go back 1,000 years. What do you see? What do you hear?
• How would you survive?
• Without any stores, what do you suppose you would eat?
• What would you do for shelter?

• Class is divided into three large groups and assigned a Native American group (Eastern Woodlands, Plains, or Desert Southwest).
• Teacher will assign a Native American group to each large group.
• Within each Native American group, students are divided into groups of 2-3; each student in the small group is assigned a specific research topic from the following five topics:
• influence of geography on the Native American group,
• influence of climate on the Native American group,
• their use of natural resources, and their ways of living and adjusting to the natural environment for shelter.
• their use of natural resources, and their ways of living and adjusting to the natural environment for food.
• their use of natural resources, and their ways of living and adjusting to the natural environment for clothing and tools.
• Teacher will assign the task and focus questions using the Flipchart (See Theatre Social Studies Unit 1 Chapter 2; PAGE 3), to guide their research.
• Students may research using books, internet links, and social studies textbook, and take notes on notecards to record at least 4 or 5 facts related to their research topic.
• Students will bring their information back to their Native American group and share.
• Teacher will review theatre skills (see Theatre Visual and Performing Arts Theatre Vocabulary and Elements flipchart).
• Teacher will distribute three copies of “Performance Rubric” to each student.
• Each small group will be presented with a Promethean backdrop and plan a dramatization to make their backdrop “come to life”. (See Theatre Social Studies Unit 1,Chapter 2 Flipchart for backdrops).
• Suggestions for the backdrops coming to life: Students should begin as still as possible to represent their Native American group.
• Next, they might move slowly into the action of building shelter, making food, using tools, etc
• Students should improvise, but still try to depict their Native American group as closely to the information they researched.

• Using their theatre skills, students will create their dramatization for sharing with the whole group, focusing on the key questions and their research discoveries.
• Teacher will close lesson with the following reflection questions and using the Venn Diagram in the flipchart (Page 10) to organize their responses:
• What were some differences between the groups you read about?
• What did the Native Americans of the Plains, the Eastern Woodlands and the Desert southwest have in common?
• Teachers will finally share with students that the historical information is available to us because of the Native American tradition of passing down history through oral stories, songs, writings, and art.

• Students will assign a rubric score to the dramatizations performed by each small group.
• Students will complete a table independently to demonstrate understanding of the three areas of research for all three Native American Groups studied.

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May 17, 2012