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Subject: Native American Folklore |
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Topic-
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| Native American Creation/Origin Stories |
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Goals: Aims/Outcomes-
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1. Students will understand and appreciate the Iroquois creation
story, "The World on the Turtle's Back".
2. Students will see the connection between this story and the Biblical
creation story in "Genesis".
3. Students will write their own creation story explaining how a natural
phenomenon in the world came to be. |
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Objectives-
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1. Students will compare and contrast the features of an Iroquois
creation story and the Biblical creation story using a Venn diagram.
2. Students will write their own creation story explaining how a natural
phenomenon in the world came to be. |
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Materials and Aids-
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Copies of the Iroquois creation story, "The World on the Turtle's
Back" (found in "The Language of Literature: American Literature"
published by McDougal Littell.
Venn Diagram graphic organizer
Creation story writing assignment directions
Computer and printer, OR lined paper and a pen |
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Procedures/Methods-
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A. Introduction-
1. Ask students to explain how the world was created. There may
be many different responses, some of them based in religion, and some
based in science. Write student answers on the board.
2. Explain that for as long as people have lived on the earth, they
have wanted to know how the world was created, where they came from,
and why they are here. Explain that many different cultures have their
own answers to these questions because it is a universal need.
3. Introduce students to the Iroquois creation story "The World on
the Turtle's Back". Explain that this is a story that explains how
the world was formed, according to the Iroquois, who live to this
day in the eastern part of the United States. |
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B. Development-
1. Distribute copies of the textbook to students, and tell them
to open up to the page in the book that contains the story.
2. Draw a Venn diagram on the board. Label the Left side "Turtle's
Back" and the right side "Genesis".
3. Read the Iroquois story aloud as a whole class. On the left side
of the Venn diagram, write a list of the order of events that occurred
in the creation of the world, according to the story.
3. Read the excerpt from the Biblical story in "Genesis" about how
God created the world in seven days. On the right side of the Venn
diagram, write a list of the order of events that occurred in the
creation of the world, according to the story. |
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C. Practice-
1. Ask students to transfer the notes written on the board into
the left and right sides of their Venn diagram, respectively. Then,
ask them to write in the middle all of the similarities they see between
the two stories. Give students a few minutes to do this; have them
work with a partner if they are having trouble.
2. Have students share their Venn diagram responses with the class.
Write their answers in the Venn Diagram on the board.
3. Ask students to reflect on what similarities they have found between
the two stories. Ask them to comment on why they think there are similarities,
or why they think people chose to explain the creation of the world
in those two particular ways. Ask them to comment on what cultural
values these two stories communicate, i.e. what we can learn about
what's important to each culture. |
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D. Independent Practice-
1. Distribute the directions for the creation story writing assignment.
Explain these directions to students, telling them that today they
are going to write their own creation story explaining how something
in the world came to be. They must write their answer pretending there
is no scientific explanation for the phenomenon they have chosen.
2. Brainstorm with the class some ideas of what they can write about
in their creation stories. Write those ideas on the board.
3. Give students time to write their creation stories. |
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E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-
1. If students are having trouble, they can work on the creation
story assignment with a partner.
2. Students can write their story, create a storyboard to go along
with it, or even act it out. |
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F. Checking for understanding-
| Students will successfully complete the assignment if they have
created a story that explains how something in the world came to be
(e.g. why there are stars in the sky, why bulls have horns, etc.) |
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G. Closure-
| Have students reflect on the process of writing a story to explain
the origin of something in the world. How easy was it to do so? What
did they base their explanation on? Was it fun to write, or difficult? |
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