Native American Unit: Teaching Materials

Everything you need to teach the Native American unit: a research project that ends in a walk-through museum, a 16-day reading unit built around books by Native authors, interactive activities tied to specific nations, a free lapbook, and printable handouts. All materials are free to use in your classroom.

New to this unit? Start here.

Read the Research Project Teacher Guide. It explains the whole unit, two pacing options, and a short language guide.
Open Early Civilizations of the Americas as your opening lesson.
Print the free lapbook. Students find what they need on the Nations and Regions pages, starting with the Native American Chart.
Choose the activities that fit your nations and your schedule.

Research Project and Museum

Students research a Native nation, write organized paragraphs, build a model of a traditional home, make a craft, share a food, and present their work. The unit ends with a walk-through museum for families. Plan on 9–10 days for the Quick Track or 5–6 weeks for the Full Unit.

Teacher Guide Pacing, step-by-step tasks, approved crafts, language guide, resources, and standards (6 pages)
Free Native American Lapbook Foldable organizers for regions, homes, foods, famous people, art, clothing, villages, and games
Note-Taking Chart Color-coded categories, including “This Nation Today” (2 pages)
Paragraph Rating System Rubric and peer rating form (2 pages)
Presentation Rubric Teacher rubric and student rating form (2 pages)
Museum Exhibit Card Students create museum exhibits with drawings, facts, and a then-and-now comparison (1 page)
Demonstration Ideas Science connections: plants, simple machines, food preservation, homes and climate, animals, astronomy (2 pages)

Reading Unit

Sixteen days of read-alouds, one region at a time, using picture books written by Native authors. Each day includes a map discussion, vocabulary, discussion questions, and an activity.

Reading Unit Teacher Guide Daily plans and the full book list with each author’s nation (6 pages)
Vocabulary for the Native American Unit About 45 words organized by region, each with a definition and example sentence (4 pages)
Traditional Stories What makes a Native traditional story, and how it differs from a fairy tale (1 page)
Story Response Works with any book in the unit (1 page)

Interactive Activities

Each activity is tied to a specific nation, works on computers and tablets, and includes a hands-on version for the classroom. See them all on the Activities page.

Cherokee Sequoyah’s Syllabary Explore all 86 symbols, write your name by sound, and decode real Cherokee words. Lenape The Deer Button Game Toss seven beans and trade corn in this game of chance, with a probability tally chart. Haudenosaunee The Hunting Trip A narrated draw-along story. Watch the picture grow and guess what Little Dove found, then write your own. Seminole Patchwork Designer Sew, cut, and rearrange strips to design patchwork bands, then print a skirt. Geometry connection. Navajo (Diné) The Navajo Code Talkers Decode secret messages with the 1945 code chart and write your own. Connects to World War II. Apache Living on the Land: Desert Survival Make the choices an Apache family made through the seasons, then sort how the desert provided food, homes, and tools. Science connection. Pueblo Build a Pueblo Stack adobe rooms level by level, add ladders, and find the area and perimeter of each level. Math connection. Northwest Coast Bentwood Box Builder Bend one cedar plank into a box, test which nets fold into a box, and sort what was made from cedar. Geometry connection. Lakota My Winter Count Choose one picture for each year of your life and arrange them in a spiral, like a winter count keeper. Inuit Iglu Engineering Make the five decisions an iglu builder makes, then test and graph how warm it stays inside. Science connection. California From Acorn to Food Put the steps of making acorn mush in order, sort a year of gathering, then make a paper coiled basket.

Lessons and Handouts

Opening lesson Early Civilizations of the Americas The Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Inca, Ancestral Puebloans, and mound-building cultures, with a timeline and quiz. All regions Native American Art and Trade Beadwork, pottery, weaving, carving, and baskets, plus the trade routes that connected nations. Before crafts Sacred Objects: Look, Learn, and Respect Everyday, sacred, or it depends? Which objects are respectful to make in class, and why museums are returning sacred objects.

Early Civilizations Comparison Chart Fill-in chart with answer key (2 pages)
Effects of European Contact Matching worksheet, writing questions, and answer key; a bridge to the Explorers unit (3 pages)
The Story of Thanksgiving: A Turn-Around Book Read the Pilgrims’ journey, then flip the book over to read Tisquantum’s story. Includes a review board game, question cards, and an answer key (15 pages). Pairs with the Squanto biography.

Research Websites

Whenever possible, students should use at least one source created by the nation itself.

Created by Native Nations and Organizations

For Teachers

Native Knowledge 360°, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian: lessons and background
American Indians in Children’s Literature, Dr. Debbie Reese (Nambé Pueblo): check books before you use them