In the month of November, second graders at St. Francis Elementary School completed an in-depth research project on five Indigenous tribes from different regions across the United States: the Ojibwe, Seminole, Navajo, Lakota, and Tlingit.
Each of the five second-grade classrooms focused on one tribe, learning about its traditional way of life—food, shelter, clothing, and important traditions or legends—and then comparing those aspects to how members of that tribe live today. Students used books, videos, and guided lessons to gather information and worked in groups to organize what they learned.
As part of the project, students created posters and hands-on examples of clothing, food, shelter, and cultural traditions related to their assigned tribe. After completing their research and projects, each class presented their tribe to the other four second-grade classrooms. This allowed students to teach their peers about their tribe while also learning from the other groups. View photos from the presentations.
Through these presentations, students were able to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between all five tribes and develop a deeper understanding of Indigenous cultures—both past and present, and from all parts of the United States.