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Engineering - Culturally Relevent Text Sets

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The engineering question would be how to create a tool to throw (or roll) the ball farther. Students would test initial throws (or rolls) Then they would be tasked with planning an investigation - creating criteria and constraints (if in grade 5). Students would then be introduced to the news article about the birdstone found in Door County. They would read the wikipedia article about the theories of birdstones, look at a map of where birdstones were said to be found and the tribes that were present. Then students would design an investigation to test how the atlatl worked (the science of energy quantities and transference of energy - depending on the grade) using pictures and art from history and the present. They create an atlatl-type tool and test it against their original throws or rolls. They look at two extensions of the atlatl, one a game that the cherokee played using the atlatl as a symbol and another from modern times, the chuckit. They then discuss whether attributions of the chuckit should be given to the first nations who actually invented the idea. (Criticality)

Material Type: Learning Task

Authors: The genius group from Madison Wisconsin, Sandy Benton, Sandy Benton

Anung Masinaaigan (star map), Giizis (moons), and Phenology

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As a high school science educator at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe school,  indigenous culture and teachings are incorporated into my instruction as much as possible. This text set was incorporated in my Astronomy class tying in Ojibwe Moons and seasonal constellations with northern Wisconsin phenology. A discussion of text set implementation is also included in this OER.Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School is a Bureau of Indian Education/Tribally controlled school catering to students who are themselves tribally enrolled or descendants of a tribal member.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Primary Source, Unit of Study

Authors: Sandy Benton, Wendy Fuller, Rick Erickson

Anishinaabe Place Names: Wenabozho Ominisan

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This text set focuses on the Anishinaabe names for the Wenabozho Ominisan. Wenabozho is an important Anishinaabe figure, a trickster. Ominisan is the Anishinaabe word for islands. Wenabozho Ominisan (the islands of Wenabozho) is the Anishinaabe way to refer to what is also known as the Apostle Islands archipelago.

Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Homework/Assignment, Learning Task, Module, Teaching/Learning Strategy, Unit of Study

Authors: Rick Erickson, Sandy Benton

Native American Boarding Schools in the State of Wisconsin

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Established in the mid-nineteenth century, Native American Boarding schools were created as an attempt to eliminate traditional Native American ways of life and replace them with mainstream American culture. Often forcibly removed from their families, communities, and stripped of their cultural practices, Native American children experienced physical and emotional abuse at the hands of those in control of boarding school operations, resulting in intergenerational trauma. These sources bring users into contact with documents that help give them a sense of what life was like for students who attended Native American boarding schools. These sources also give users an understanding of the national perspective of how Native Americans and their culture were targeted.

Material Type: Case Study, Homework/Assignment, Lesson, Module, Primary Source, Reference Material, Unit of Study

Authors: Rick Erickson, Sandy Benton, Liz Bodin

AIM: Linking political and environmental action with history

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Author: The Genius Group of MadisonGrade Level: fourth/fifthContent Area(s): Social studies, First Nations history, literacy, environmental literacyContext: Students will learn about the American Indian Movement in the United States. The unit is divided into three sections in which primary source images and texts drive inquiry and understanding of this time in history. A slide deck featuring these sources is used in each of the three sections.Section One is a learning provocation with opportunites for rich discussion and wonderings.Section Two is history of the AIM protests and demands, with extra attention to the environment issues revealed.Section Three is for further study, some supplemental resources to investigate the Embridge pipeline dispute with Ojibwe BadRiver Tribe and the history of protests in northern Wisconsin about treaty rights regarding spearfishing.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Authors: Sandy Benton, The genius group from Madison Wisconsin, Rick Erickson

Traditional Maple Stories-2024

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Author: Lucille Burr GrignonCurrently teaching from my Indigenous Homestead/Gardens. Ancient Roots Homestead in Bowler, WisconsinAncient Roots Homestead collaborates with students, elders, community members in the surrounding Tribal Nations– both Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee and beyond. We recognize all students learn in different ways. Some students join us in person, while others join us virtually. People of all ages are invited to tell stories, garden, connect and reconnect, preserve food, make music, create art, and learn different Indigenous life skills, and more.Maple Sugar season is a beautiful time for learning. So much is happening in the world around us, all we have to do to learn is observe. The seasons change, the trees grow and develop. From the tapping of the trees, boiling down, canning, educating, and processing. It is very beautiful from beginning to end. The lessons learned while working with maple trees can be directly applied and used in our own lives.The culturally-relevant text sets offer different perspectives for students to see as well as wonderful conversation starters. Students learn of different careers within the Indigenous World. Some of those careers being: Traditional Seed Keepers, Gardeners, Knowledge Keepers, Storytellers, and More!

Material Type: Unit of Study

Authors: Sandy Benton, Lucille Burr Grignon, Rick Erickson

Nibi (Water)

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Author: Tammy Moncel, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School Middle School, Integrated ScienceProtection of freshwater on Earth is a global responsibility but the Native American efforts to protect the Great Lakes Freshwater is of particular interest to the people throughout Wisconsin. The movie “Bad River” is a relevant perspective of some key arguments from the view of the water protectors in Native American communities. This documentary highlights Native speakers and the defiance of the Bad River tribe required to stand up to oil companies. This movie was used at the end of our school year (coinciding with the release date of the documentary) to promote understanding of the Native American perspective of issues that have been a great source of media attention throughout the state of Wisconsin. A major part of understanding the importance of freshwater protection includes an understanding of the water cycle. The very simplified version of the water cycle includes precipitation, evaporation and condensation. The handouts of these words with pictures and Ojibwemowin translations gives students a starting point to talk about water as a closed system with continuous recycling in nature. My students were able to connect the English vocabulary meaning to the descriptive Ojibwemowin translation.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Authors: Sandy Benton, Tammy Moncel, Rick Erickson

Who Are Water Protectors?

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Author: Lela Schwitzer, Bonduel Elementary School, BonduelGrade: 1stIn the CKLA Knowledge Domain 8 Animal Habitats, I used Native authors, an Indigenous documentary on sturgeon, our school woods/stream, a local sturgeon webcam, and my Menominee heritage to extend students’ knowledge of the freshwater habitat to promote their environmental capacity to protect area waters similarly as the books’ characters do. The overarching question is Who Are Water Protectors? I used the picture books to provide background knowledge on water protectors and to learn how others interact with water in their area. The documentary conveyed how the Menominee people are connected to the freshwater fish, sturgeon, and how this fish’s survival is important because Namo’o is the keeper of our stories. The webcam connects all students to the sturgeon and gives access to experience their return to spawn. Visiting our school woods and the stream that flows through it provides a meaningful reason to be a water protector to preserve this natural resource for future Bonduel Elementary students. Further, students are given the opportunity to sign a Water Protector Pledge after discussing it at home with their families. Students will be offered an opportunity to clean the freshwater watershed of our school stream on Earth Day. The hope is that students will become lifelong protectors of natural resources.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Authors: Sandy Benton, Lela Schwitzer, Rick Erickson

Anishinaabe Place Names: Wenabozho Ominisan

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This text set focuses on the Anishinaabe names for the Wenabozho Ominisan. Wenabozho is an important Anishinaabe figure, a trickster. Ominisan is the Anishinaabe word for islands. Wenabozho Ominisan (the islands of Wenabozho) is the Anishinaabe way to refer to what is also known as the Apostle Islands archipelago. Some of the Anishinaabe island names and English names are literal translations. Yet, some of the Anishinaabe names describe a characteristic or use of the island in a manner different from the English names. The text set provides resources that will not only allow students to learn the Anishinaabe names but also provide insight into traditional uses and perspectives of these islands. 

Material Type: Learning Task, Lesson, Reference Material

Author: Rick Erickson