This booklet includes lessons aligned to each chapter of the Earliest Americans Student Reader with a daily check for Understanding and additional Activities, such as virtual field trips and vocabulary practice, designed to reinforce the chapter content.
1. History and Geography The Earliest Teacher Guide Inuit Native American Hunter-gatherers The three sisters
6. The Earliest Americans Teacher Guide Core Knowledge Sequence History and Geography 3
7. UNIT 4 About This Unit The Big Idea America was populated by many different native peoples thousands of years before the arrival of European explorers. The earliest Americans arrived in North America as early as thirty thousand years ago along the Pacific Coast. Others traveled from Asia across Beringia, the land bridge. Over time, native peoples migrated throughout the North American continent and into Central and South America. These early peoples adapted to their environments and developed unique cultures. Among the earliest Americans were the Ancestral Pueblo and Mound Builders, two groups that later gave rise to Native American groups in the American Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, and Eastern Woodlands. INTRODUCTION 1
8. Time Period Background What Students Should Already Know The items below refer to content in Grade 3. Use timelines with students to help them sequence and relate events from Students in Core Knowledge schools should be familiar with: different periods and groups. Kindergarten c. 30,000– Estimated range of time c. 15,000 BCE when the first peoples • one or more groups of Native American peoples crossed from Asia into North America Grade 1 c. 30,000– Ancestors of Mound • the earliest peoples were hunters, gatherers, and nomads c. 12,000 BCE Builders enter North America • the “land bridge” from Asia to North America c. 15,000 BCE Gathering of wild plants • moving from hunting to farming and berries to supplement hunting • gradual development of cities and towns c. 10,5000 BCE First peoples moved as far as the tip of South America Grade 2 • Sequoyah, the Cherokee alphabet, and the Trail of Tears c. 10,000 BCE Hunting small game became more important following the disappearance of New World megafauna (large game) What Students Need to Learn c. 5000 BCE Peoples settling in Mexico • During the Ice Age, nomadic hunters migrated from Asia to North plant corn America, possibly by crossing a land bridge across what is now the Bering Strait. c. 2000 BCE Crossing of Inuit from Asia to North America • Following a few initial migrations, people with different languages and ways of life spread out across North and South America. c. 100 BCE First known Ancestral Pueblo settle in North America -- Inuit (Eskimos), Ancestral Pueblo (pueblo builders and cliff dwellers), and Mound Builders 1500s CE Haudenosaunee Confederacy leaders discuss -- Native Americans: Southwest (Pueblos: Hopi, Zuni; Diné: Navajo; common problems in Apaches), Eastern Woodlands (Haudenosaunee, Mahican, Delaware, council Susquehannocks, Massachusett, and Powhatan), Southeast (Cherokee 1500s–1600s Spaniards arrive in and Seminole) CE American Southwest and introduce sheep to the Navajo 1800s CE Sequoyah creates system of writing for Cherokee language 2 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
9. At a Glance The most important ideas in Unit 4 are: • The first peoples of North America are believed to have crossed from Asia into North America, either via a land bridge or by water, sometime in the distant past, perhaps between 30,000 and 15,000 years ago. • As the first peoples spread across and throughout North and South America, their customs, traditions, and languages changed as they adapted to new environments and new ways of food production. • Anthropologists, for purposes of study, categorize Native Americans into culture regions. • In studying peoples of various cultures, it is a good idea to note their geographical region, physical environment, methods of obtaining food, housing style, clothing, and religious beliefs. What Teachers Need to Know In Grade 3, students are beginning a more detailed and in-depth chronological investigation of topics in U.S. history. For students in Core Knowledge schools, some of the topics will have been introduced in Grades K–2, including ways of life of a few specific Native American peoples, early European explorations of the Americas, and life in colonial America before the rebellion by the English colonists. Crossing the Land Bridge Background Scholars generally agree that the native peoples of North and South America migrated to this continent from Asia, but they disagree on when and how the first peoples crossed from Asia to North America. Estimates on their arrival range from as far back as about 30,000 years to about 15,000 years ago. It can be said with some certainty that “waves” of people coming at different times, from different places, and by many means settled the Americas in the distant past. As the passage across Beringia became less possible, these waves were fewer. During that period, Earth was undergoing the last Ice Age. Many areas of Earth were frozen as solid ice that today have flowing, liquid water. As a result, the ocean levels were lower, and some land that is now submerged was then above water. During the Ice Age, Asia and North America were connected by land. Archaeologists have long believed that the first Americans crossed a “land bridge,” joining the eastern tip of Asia and what is now Alaska, and moved southward through a narrow ice-free corridor. However, in recent years this idea has been questioned. Some scholars believe that conditions would have INTRODUCTION 3
10. been far too cold and difficult for a crossing in Beringia. Some even doubt the existence of an ice-free passage. Today, many scholars believe that the earliest settlers may have come to North America in boats, by walking across frozen water, or by following the then-exposed continental shelf that bordered the Asian and North American Pacific coasts. Most Native American people, in their origin stories, hold that their people have always been here. The land bridge plays almost no role in their own histories. In any case, the movement east across Asia and into North America probably took place over thousands of years. The first peoples to cross into North America from Asia were hunting prehistoric animals, such as the woolly mammoth and the bison. It may be that the first peoples followed these herds across the land bridge, or perhaps they arrived by other means and began hunting. Wherever the animals roamed, the hunting parties, probably made up of extended family groups, followed. In discussing this subject with students, it makes sense to mention the land bridge hypothesis but also to mention other possibilities. It is not important for third graders to have a precise knowledge of the dates, which are still the subject of much debate among historians and archaeologists. Our knowledge of this time is very limited, and discovery of ancient artifacts and bones are our only clues to the nature and timing of the movement of peoples into North America. It will be sufficient if students understand that the migration, or migrations, took place long, long ago, thousands of years before the rise of ancient civilizations they have studied, such as Greece and Rome. Spreading Throughout the Continents As the climate warmed after the Ice Age, the hunters who were in North America followed their prey. They moved south through western Canada, the Rockies, Mexico, Central America, and eventually, by about 10,500 BCE, all the way to the southern end of South America. Some groups branched east until, over time, people reached the east coast of North America and the rainforests of Brazil. All along the way, some groups dropped out of the wandering and stayed in places that seemed hospitable. It is important to remember that this movement of people occurred over thousands of years. Changing Ways of Life: From Hunting to Farming As the ice disappeared, so did the prehistoric animals that the hunters relied on for their food, clothing, and shelter. The animals may have died out because of the change in temperatures or because the hunters killed too many mammoths, mastodons, and other large animals. The lack of these animals may be one reason that groups moved on. They were looking for the ever-scarcer big animals to hunt. To make up for the lack of big game, hunters turned to smaller game, such as deer and rabbits, for their food. People also began to pick wild plants, nuts, seeds, and berries, and to dig up roots to eat. It is probable that people were 4 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
11. gathering wild foods as early as 15,000 BCE. Even when people hunted, it is also likely they gathered other types of food, depending on their availability. Early people in the Americas, like people in the Middle East in ancient times, noticed as they foraged for food that some plants grew better than others. Some people reasoned that if they planted the seeds of these plants, they could get more food and get it more easily than by wandering over miles of land looking for berries and plants to pick. This process of planting and harvesting wild plants for people to eat is called domestication. With the domestication of plants, the development of farming ensured a steady food supply for those cultures that adopted farming. The most obvious benefit of a steady source of food was that people no longer had to search for food. Farming also allowed for the growing of surplus food to store in preparation for bad years when food would otherwise be scarce. Because farming required staying in one place, settlements of a few families grew as the population grew. With a steady diet and better food, people were living longer and having more children. Once a number of people were gathered in one place, some form of authority was needed to organize them for the public good and to keep order. This was the beginning of government. However, even those who were nomads or seminomadic hunters had some form of organization that ensured order within the group. Whether a chief and advisers ruled a city-state of ten thousand people, as in the Aztec city- state, or an extended family group of thirty, as with the tribes of the Great Basin, someone decided what was to be done and who was to do it, and made certain that everyone did what he or she was supposed to do. The development of Native American cultures in North America is somewhat different from what occurred in Mexico and Central and South America. While some groups—such as the Ancestral Pueblo in what is today the Southwestern United States, the Mississippian culture of the Southeast, and the Eastern Woodlands peoples—both hunted and farmed, many North American native peoples remained mainly hunters. Some also participated in widespread trading networks. Languages Evolve As groups dropped out of the general migration and adapted to the environments in which they had chosen to settle, they began to develop different languages. A fundamental change was in the words that were necessary or important to different groups. People who became farmers would have needed a large vocabulary that referred to crops, tools, and the growing process. Those people who remained hunters might have developed many more words relating to the hunt, to the animals they killed, and to the uses they made of them, such as food, clothing, and tepee coverings. To learn more about specific topics in this unit, download the CKHG Online Resource about “The Earliest Americans”: www.coreknowledge.org/ckhg-online-resources INTRODUCTION 5
12. Note: This unit represents the transition from world history to American history. All subsequent Grade 3 units will be about American history. Unit Resources Student Component The Earliest Americans Student Reader—seven chapters Teacher Components The Earliest Americans Teacher Guide—seven chapters. This includes lessons aligned to each chapter of The Earliest Americans Student Reader with a daily Check for Understanding and Additional Activities, such as virtual field trips and vocabulary practice, designed to reinforce the chapter content. A Unit Assessment, Performance Task Assessment, and Activity Pages are included at the end of this Teacher Guide in Teacher Resources, beginning on page 67. • The Unit Assessment tests knowledge of the entire unit, using standard testing formats. • The Performance Task Assessment requires students to apply and share the knowledge learned during the unit through either an oral or written presentation. In this unit, the presentation is oral. • The Activity Pages are designed to reinforce and extend content taught in specific chapters throughout the unit. These optional activities are intended to provide choices for teachers. The Earliest Americans Timeline Image Cards—fourteen individual images depicting significant events and individuals related to early Americans. In addition to an image, each card contains a caption, a chapter number, and the Big Question, which outlines the focus of the chapter. You will construct a classroom Timeline with students over the course of the entire unit. The Teacher Guide will prompt you, lesson by lesson, as to which image card(s) to add to the Timeline. The Timeline will be a powerful learning tool, enabling you and your students to track important themes and events as they occurred within this time period. Optional: Core Knowledge Curriculum Series™ Art Resources: Grade 3—art resources that may be used with cross-curricular art activities described in the Additional Activities of Chapters 5 and 6 if classroom internet access is not available. You can purchase the Grade 3 Art Resource Packet, available at: www.coreknowledge.org/store 6 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
13. Some preparation will be necessary prior to starting The Earliest Americans unit. You will need to identify available wall space in your classroom of approximately fifteen feet on which you can post the Timeline image cards over the course of the unit. The Timeline may be oriented either vertically or horizontally, even wrapping around corners and multiple walls, whatever works best in your classroom setting. Be creative—some teachers hang a clothesline so that the image cards can be attached with clothespins! Create eleven time indicators or reference points for the Timeline. Write each of the following dates on sentence strips or large index cards: • 15,000 BCE • 9000 BCE • 5000 BCE • 2000s BCE • 700s BCE • 100 BCE • 1000s CE • 1500s CE • 1600s CE • 1700s CE • 1800s CE Affix these time indicators to your wall space, allowing sufficient space between them to accommodate the actual number of image cards that you will be adding to each time period as per the following diagram: 15,000 9000 5000 2000s 700s 100 1000s 1500s 1600s 1700s 1800s BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE CE CE CE CE CE •• • • • • • • •••• • • Chapter 11 2 2 3 4 4 1 3567 5 6 You will want to post all the time indicators on the wall at the outset before you place any image cards on the Timeline. INTRODUCTION 7
14. 15,000 BCE 15,000 BCE 9000 BCE 5,000 BCE Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 2 2500 BCE 700s BCE 100 BCE 1000s CE Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Introduction (Chapter 1) 1500 CE 1500s CE 1500s CE 1500s CE Chapter 3 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 1500s–1600s CE 1800s CE Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Note: The Timeline includes one card about the Vikings that gives context to the rest of the timeline. This card will be discussed during the Introduction at the beginning of Chapter 1. The Timeline in Relation to the Content in the Student Reader Chapters You will notice that the Unit 4 Timeline includes broader dates (centuries, millennia) rather than specific ones. That is because much of the content of this unit covers prehistory—history before the keeping of written records. The study of prehistory is dependent on archaeological discoveries, which are often impossible to date exactly. 8 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
15. Time to Talk About Time Before you use the Timeline, discuss with students the concept of time and how it is recorded. Here are several discussion points that you might use to promote discussion. This discussion will allow students to explore the concept of time. 1. What is time? 2. How do we measure time? 3. How do we record time? 4. How does nature show the passing of time? (Encourage students to think about days, months, and seasons.) 5. What is a specific date? 6. What is a time period? 7. What is the difference between a specific date and a time period? 8. What do BCE and CE mean? 9. What is a timeline? Using the Teacher Guide Pacing Guide The Earliest Americans unit is one of seven history and geography units in the Grade 3 Core Knowledge Curriculum Series™. A total of seventeen days has been allocated to The Earliest Americans unit. We recommend that you do not exceed this number of instructional days to ensure that you have sufficient instructional time to complete all Grade 3 units. At the end of this Introduction, you will find a Sample Pacing Guide that provides guidance as to how you might select and use the various resources in this unit during the allotted time. However, there are many options and ways that you may choose to individualize this unit for your students, based on their interests and needs. So we have also provided you with a blank Pacing Guide that you may use to reflect the activity choices and pacing for your class. If you plan to create a customized pacing guide for your class, we strongly recommend that you preview this entire unit and create your pacing guide before teaching the first chapter. Reading Aloud In each chapter, the teacher or a student volunteer will read various sections of the text aloud. When you or a student reads aloud, always prompt students to follow along. By following along in this way, students become more focused on the text and may acquire a greater understanding of the content. INTRODUCTION 9
16. Turn and Talk In the Guided Reading Supports section of each chapter, provide students with opportunities to discuss the questions in pairs or in groups. Discussion opportunities will allow students to more fully engage with the content and will bring “to life” the themes or topics being discussed. Big Questions At the beginning of each Teacher Guide chapter, you will find a Big Question, also found at the beginning of each Student Reader chapter. The Big Questions are provided to help establish the bigger concepts and to provide a general overview of the chapter. The Big Questions, by chapter, are: Chapter Big Question 1 What was Beringia? 2 How did the ability to grow food change the way people lived? 3 What were the differences between life in the summer and life in the winter for the Inuit? 4 How would you compare the settlements built by the Ancestral Pueblo to those built by the Mound Builders? 5 What are some of the reasons why some Native American groups moved from place to place? 6 What were the key characteristics of the Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee Nations? 7 What was the purpose of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy? Core Vocabulary Domain-specific vocabulary, phrases, and idioms highlighted in each chapter of the Student Reader are listed at the beginning of each Teacher Guide chapter in the order in which they appear in the Student Reader. Student Reader page numbers are also provided. The vocabulary terms, by chapter, are: Chapter Core Vocabulary 1 Ice Age, land bridge, ice sheet, hunter-gatherers, herd, mammoth, musk ox, spear 2 river valley, mastodon, soil 3 northern lights, ancestor, caribou, hide, igloo, fuel 4 cliff dweller, canyon, Pueblo, adobe, mineral, mound 5 mesa, game 6 confederacy, council, clan, symbol 7 landscape, stalk, wigwam, longhouse, ebb, sachem, peace pipe 10 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
17. Activity Pages Activity Pages The following activity pages can be found in Teacher Resources, pages 75–84. They are to be used with the chapter specified either for additional class work or for homework. Be sure to make sufficient copies for your students prior to conducting the activities. AP 1.1 AP 2.1 • Chapter 1—World Map (AP 1.1) AP 4.1 AP 4.2 • Chapter 2—Domain Vocabulary: Chapters 1–2 (AP 2.1) AP 5.1 • Chapter 4—Native American Culture Regions (AP 4.1) AP 6.1 AP 7.1 • Chapter 4—Domain Vocabulary: Chapters 3–4 (AP 4.2) AP 7.2 • Chapter 5—Design a Navajo Rug (AP 5.1) • Chapter 6—Art from Natural Resources (AP 6.1) • Chapter 7—Domain Vocabulary: Chapters 5–7 (AP 7.1) • Chapter 7—Native American Homes (AP 7.2) Additional Activities and Website Links An Additional Activities section, related to material in the Student Reader, may be found at the end of each chapter. You may choose from among the varied activities when conducting lessons. Many of the activities include website links, and you should check the links prior to using them in class. Cross-Curricular Connections Language Arts Visual Arts Fiction American Indian Art Stories • “Autumn Color” (a Haudenosaunee legend about the origin of the Big Dipper) Use this link to download the CKHG Online Resources for this unit, where a specific link to the story “Autimn Color” may be found: www.coreknowledge.org/ckhg-online-resources INTRODUCTION 11
18. A Special Note about The Pathway to Citizenship In starting this unit on The Earliest Americans, you and your students will be making a transition from the study of world history in the year’s earlier units to units of study that focus entirely on American history. A critical goal of the Core Knowledge Curriculum Series™, of which these materials are a part, is to ensure that students acquire the foundational knowledge needed to become literate citizens able to contribute to a democratic society. We have therefore included an important feature in every American history unit called “The Pathway to Citizenship,” readily distinguished by an icon of the American flag. The specific knowledge, questions, and activities identified by this icon denote opportunities to engage students and deepen their understanding of the historical events, laws, and structure of the American government. In choosing the specific content to call to your and your students’ attention, we have been guided by the civics test developed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is required for all immigrants wishing to become naturalized American citizens. At the end of Grade 5, students who have used “The Pathway to Citizenship” materials throughout the Core Knowledge Curriculum Series™ will have the opportunity to take an analogous citizenship test to demonstrate that they have acquired the knowledge fundamental to becoming a participatory American citizen. Use this link to download the CKHG Online Resources for this unit, where the specific link for the USCIS Citizenship Resource Center may be found: www.coreknowledge.org/ckhg-online-resources Bruchac, Joseph. Buffalo Song. Illus. Bill Farnsworth. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2008. Bruchac, Joseph. Crazy Horse’s Vision. Illus. S.D. Nelson. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2006. Kalman, Bobbie. Nations of the Plains. New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2001. Lajiness, Katie. Chickasaw (Native Americans). Minneapolis: ABDO Publishing Company, 2017. Littlechild, George. This Land Is My Land. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press, 1993. 12 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
19. Messinger, Carla, with Susan Katz. When the Shadbush Blooms. Illus. David Kanietakeron Fadden. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2007. Murdoch, David. DK Eyewitness Books: North American Indian. London: DK Children, 2005. Reynolds, Jan. Frozen Land (Vanishing Cultures). New York: Lee & Low Books, 2007. Rohmer, Harriet, Octavio Chow, and Morris Vidaure. The Invisible Hunters: Los Cazadores Invisibles (Stories from Central America/Cuentos de Centroamerica). Illus. Joe Sam. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2016. Roth, Susan L., and Cindy Trumbore. Prairie Dog Song. Illus. Susan L. Roth. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2016. Santiago, Chiori. Home to Medicine Mountain. Illus. Judith Lowry. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2002. Shemie, Bonnie. Mounds of Earth and Shell (Native Dwellings). Toronto: Tundra Books, 1995. Weber, Ednah New Rider. Rattlesnake Mesa: Stories from a Native American Childhood. Photographs by Richela Renkun. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2011. INTRODUCTION 13
20. The Earliest Americans Sample Pacing Guide For schools using the Core Knowledge Sequence and/or CKLA TG–Teacher Guide; SR–Student Reader; AP–Activity Page Week 1 Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 The Earliest Americans “Beringia: The Land “Virtual Field Trip to the “America’s First Settlers” “Domain Vocabulary: “People of the Far North” Bridge” Ice Age” Core Lesson Chapters 1–2,” Core Lesson Core Lesson (TG – Chapter 1, (TG & SR – Chapter 2) (TG–Chapter 2, (TG & SR – Chapter 3) (TG & SR – Chapter 1) Additional Activity) Additional Activity, AP 2.1) CKLA “The Vikings” “The Vikings” “The Vikings” “The Vikings” “The Vikings” Week 2 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 The Earliest Americans “Ancestral Pueblo and “Ancestral Pueblo Virtual “After the Ancestral “Native Artwork of the Finish “Native Artwork of Mound Builders” Field Trip” Pueblo” Southwest” the Southwest” Core Lesson (TG – Chapter 4, Core Lesson (TG – Chapter 5, TG – Chapter 5, Additional (TG & SR – Chapter 4) Additional Activity) (TG & SR – Chapter 5) Additional Activity) Activity CKLA “The Vikings” “Astronomy” “Astronomy” “Astronomy” “Astronomy” 14 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
21. The Earliest Americans Sample Pacing Guide For schools using the Core Knowledge Sequence and/or CKLA TG–Teacher Guide; SR–Student Reader; AP–Activity Page Week 3 Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14 Day 15 The Earliest Americans “Design a Navajo Rug” “After the Mound “Other Forms of Native Finish “Other Forms of “The Eastern Woodlands” (TG–Chapter 5, Builders” American Art” Native American Art”; “Art Core Lesson Additional Activity, AP 5.1) Core Lesson (TG – Chapter 6, from Natural Resources” (TG & SR – Chapter 7) (TG & SR – Chapter 6) Additional Activity) (TG–Chapter 6, Additional Activity, AP 6.1) CKLA “Astronomy” “Astronomy” “Astronomy” “Astronomy” “Astronomy” Week 4 Day 16 Day 17 The Earliest Americans “Infinity of Nations Unit Assessment Culture Quest” (TG – Chapter 7, Additional Activity) CKLA “Astronomy” “Astronomy” INTRODUCTION 15
22. The Earliest Americans Pacing Guide ‘s Class (A total of seventeen days has been allocated to The Earliest Americans unit in order to complete all Grade 3 history and geography units in the Core Knowledge curriculum.) Week 1 Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 The Earliest Americans Week 2 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 The Earliest Americans Week 3 Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14 Day 15 The Earliest Americans Week 4 Day 16 Day 17 The Earliest Americans 16 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
23. CHAPTER 1 Beringia: The Land Bridge The Big Question: What was Beringia? Primary Focus Objectives ✓✓ Understand that nomadic hunters may have made their way from Asia to North America by crossing a land bridge located in the Bering Strait. (RI.3.2) ✓✓ Describe how Ice Age people of Beringia lived. (RI.3.1) ✓✓ Understand the meaning of the following domain-specific vocabulary: Ice Age, land bridge, ice sheet, hunter-gatherers, herd, mammoth, musk ox, and spear. (RI.3.4) What Teachers Need to Know For background information, download the CKHG Online Resource “About the Land Bridge”: Materials Needed Activity Page • Display and individual student copies of World Map (AP 1.1) • Use this link to download the CKHG Online Resources, where specific links to the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center and other images of the Ice Age AP 1.1 may be found: www.coreknowledge.org/ckhg-online-resources Core Vocabulary (Student Reader page numbers listed below) Ice Age, n. a period in Earth’s history when huge sheets of ice covered large parts of Earth’s surface (2) Example: During the Ice Age, there were far fewer sources of available food. land bridge, n. a small strip of land that connects two large land masses (2) Example: Early humans crossed a land bridge from Asia into North America. Variation(s): land bridges CHAPTER 1 | BERINGIA: THE LAND BRIDGE 17
24. ice sheet, n. a very thick piece of ice that covers a large area of land for an extended period of time (2) Example: Early humans trekked across vast ice sheets to get from one place to another. Variation(s): ice sheets hunter-gatherers, n. small groups of people who feed themselves by hunting animals and gathering plants (5) Example: Hunter-gatherers moved in groups from one place to another, often following the animals they hunted. Variation(s): hunter-gatherer herd, n. a large group of animals that live and travel together (5) Example: The hunter spotted the herd grazing in the distance. Variation(s): herds mammoth, n. a large, prehistoric elephant-like animal covered with hair (5) Example: Hunting for mammoth was very dangerous because of the animals’ large size. Variation(s): mammoths musk ox, n. a wild ox with a shaggy coat and downward curving horns (5) Example: The thick coat of the musk ox helps keep it warm in the freezing temperatures. Variation(s): musk oxen spear, n. a long, thin weapon made from a pointed stick, sometimes with a stone or metal tip (6) Example: The hunter used a spear to take down his prey. Variation(s): spears The Core Lesson 25 min Introduce The Earliest Americans Student Reader 5 min Activity Page Display the World Map from Activity Page 1.1. Point to Scandinavia. Ask students what name was given to the warriors and explorers from this region. (Vikings) Display for students the first Timeline Card depicting the Vikings. Remind students that the Vikings were the first Europeans AP 1.1 to reach North America. Ask students where the Vikings settled in North America. (Newfoundland or Vineland) Point to the approximate location of Newfoundland on the map (the large island off mainland Canada’s southeast coast). Place the first card on the Timeline under the date referencing 1000s CE. Explain that people lived in North America long before the Vikings arrived. Explain that in this unit students will be learning about the earliest Americans, a number of diverse peoples descended from early humans who made their way from Asia to North America. 18 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
25. Distribute copies of The Earliest Americans Student Reader. Suggest students take a few minutes to look at the cover and flip through the Table of Contents and illustrations in the book. Ask students to brainstorm individual words or simple phrases describing what they notice in the Table of Contents and various illustrations; record this information in a list on the board or chart paper. Students will likely mention images of hunting, homes, and food. Explain to students that they will be reading about a time that covers approximately seventeen thousand years of history, from about the year 15,000 BCE until the 1800s CE. Students will learn about the history of early humans and the earliest Americans that settled in North America. Introduce “Beringia: The Land Bridge” 5 min Activity Page Display World Map (AP 1.1), and have students also refer to the map of the Beringia Migration on page 4 of the Student Reader. Have students identify Asia and North America. Note how these two continents appear to be reaching out toward each other. (The World Map does not accurately show the distance AP 1.1 between the two continents.) In fact, they are almost touching in the area of the Bering Strait. Tell students that thousands of years ago, these two great continents were connected. Explain to students that this chapter incorporates a historical fiction narrative told from the point of view of an Ice Age boy during the time period discussed. Call attention to the Big Question, and encourage students to look for the explanation of what Beringia was as they read the text. Guided Reading Supports for “Beringia: The Land Bridge” 15 min When you or a student reads aloud, always prompt students to follow along. By following along, students may acquire a greater understanding of the content. Remember to provide discussion opportunities. “Ancient Hunters,” Pages 2–5 Scaffold understanding as follows: Chapter 1 Beringia: The Land Call on a student volunteer to read the first paragraph of “Beringia: The Bridge Land Bridge” aloud. Ancient Hunters More than fifteen The Big Question thousand years ago, huge sheets CORE VOCABULARY—Read the remainder of the section “Beringia: What was Beringia? of ice covered much of Canada and the northern United States. In some places the ice was thousands of feet thick. Vocabulary Ice Age, n. a period in Scientists call this time the Ice Age. Much of the world’s water was frozen into ice. There was less water in the oceans than there is today. The Land Bridge” aloud. Call attention to the Core Vocabulary terms Ice Age, land bridge, ice sheet, hunter-gatherers, herd, mammoth, and musk ox, Earth’s history when huge sheets of ice Some lands that are now under water were covered large parts of Earth’s surface dry. That’s why dry land once connected Asia to North America. During the Ice Age, this dry and explain each word’s meaning as it is encountered in the text. Have land bridge, n. a small strip of land that land formed an area that scientists today call connects two large Beringia (/buh*rin*gee*a/) or the “land bridge.” land masses Although there were no ice sheets on Beringia, students turn to page 9 of the Student Reader to see what a mammoth ice sheet, n. a very thick piece of ice that the weather was very cold. At that time no one covers a large area of in the world knew how to farm. Even if they land for an extended period of time had known how, it was too cold in Beringia to Page 2 2 looks like. Display images of musk ox from the Internet to show students what they look like. G3_U4_Chap01_SE.indd 2 1/30/17 11:41 AM CHAPTER 1 | BERINGIA: THE LAND BRIDGE 19
26. SUPPORT—Call attention to the Beringia Migration map on page 4 of the text. Explain the changes that have occurred since the Ice Age. Note that the Bering Strait and Arctic Ocean are larger due to melting ice. After you read the text, ask the following questions: LITERAL—What two continents were once connected by the land bridge called Beringia? »» Beringia connected Asia and North America. During the Ice Age, much of the world’s water was frozen into ice, and the Page 3 weather was very cold. 3 G3_U4_Chap01_SE.indd 3 1/30/17 11:41 AM LITERAL—How did the people of Beringia live? raise anything. Only tiny plants grew there. There were no towns, no stores, and no government, just a vast, cold wilderness. »» The people of Beringia were hunter-gatherers who looked for plants and hunted animals to eat. Small bands of just a few families helped So how did people in Beringia live? They had to look for plants and animals to eat. Small groups of just a few families, perhaps each other survive. LITERAL—What animals did the men and boys of Beringia hunt? »» The people of Beringia hunted mammoth and musk ox. Page 4 The ice sheets shown on the map were the two main ice sheets that once covered large areas of North America. 4 G3_U4_Chap01_SE.indd 4 1/30/17 11:41 AM “An Ice Age Boy,” Pages 5–9 twenty-five to fifty people, helped each other as they moved around in search of Vocabulary Scaffold understanding as follows: hunter-gatherers, food. People who live this way are called n. small groups of Call on student volunteers to read aloud the first four paragraphs of hunter-gatherers. people who feed themselves by While the women and children of the Ice hunting animals and gathering plants Age looked for plants and berries, the “An Ice Age Boy” on page 5. herd, n. a large group men and older boys hunted. They tracked of animals that live herds of mammoth and musk ox back and travel together and forth across Beringia. mammoth, n. a large, prehistoric elephant- An Ice Age Boy like animal covered with hair Imagine that you are an Ice Age boy in Beringia. You are hunting with family members, including your older brother, musk ox, n. a wild ox with a shaggy coat and downward curving horns CORE VOCABULARY—Continue reading the section “An Ice Age Boy” on pages 6–7 to students. Call attention to the Core Vocabulary term Tavalok. He learned hunting skills from your father and grandfather. Now he will teach you those skills. Beringia is your home. But there are no maps, so you don’t know that when you follow the animals toward where the sun rises, you are moving closer to a new continent—what we now call North America. Searching for signs of a herd of mammoths, your group divides spear as it is encountered in the text, and explain the word’s meaning. into smaller groups of hunters. In the distance you can sometimes see the other men, also looking closely at the ground. Make sure students recognize the spears in the image on page 6 and do not mistake the boy’s slingshot for a spear. You and Tavalok walk together, carefully looking for signs of the herd. As Tavalok crouches low on the half-frozen ground, you look back at the path you have traveled. The land rises up. The edge of the land and sky is lost in the snow and ice. Tavalok points to the ground. Page 5 SUPPORT—Have students study the image on page 6, and then ask them 5 G3_U4_Chap01_SE.indd 5 1/30/17 11:41 AM to identify what the large dark ovals in the snow represent. (mammoth tracks) If necessary, prompt students by asking what Tavalok and his band of hunters are doing in the story. (tracking a herd of mammoth) Finish reading the remainder of the section aloud. SUPPORT—Draw students’ attention to the illustration of the hunters in camp on page 8. Guide students to notice how these early humans Hunters shaped stones into sharp points that they attached to the ends of spear poles. adapted to their Ice Age environment with their shelter, the fire, and “See those footprints,” he says. “We are going the right way. The herd has been following the wind.” Vocabulary spear, n. a long, thin weapon made their clothing. from a pointed stick, You are carrying hunting tools, the snow is sometimes with a Page 6 deep, and you are tired from carrying your stone or metal tip 6 G3_U4_Chap01_SE.indd 6 1/30/17 11:41 AM 20 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
27. supplies on your back. It has been such a long journey! You have never been away from your mother and sister for so long. They After you read the text, ask the following questions: and other women and girls have stayed behind, gathering plants INFERENTIAL—Why do you think it was so important for hunter-gatherers and berries for everyone to eat. You trust Tavalok and want to learn from him. He knows how to read the sky. He can spot the animals’ tracks and other signs of to hunt in groups? their presence. He knows where the land dips and turns. He knows where the ice ends and where the land turns to stone and dirt. He knows where to find plants. After the group manages to kill one of the mammoths in the herd, Tavalok will guide you back to find the women and children so they can eat, too. “Our shelter is this way,” says Tavalok. “Come along now, little brother.” »» Hunting in groups made it easier to take down large animals such as You hurry to keep up. Tavalok is already disappearing into the snow. After a while you come to the place Tavalok remembers. Your legs mammoths. Killing a mammoth provided food for a large number of people. are stiff, and your stomach is empty. You turn and follow the rock- filled river. Then Tavalok spots other members of the group. They have already built a fire. Soon all members of the group are back together again. Because you are so far north, the light is dim, but it is not dark. It EVALUATIVE—In what ways was life for an Ice Age child different from will not get darker during the night. You eat the strips of dried meat you find in your bag. In the quiet glow of the fire, Tavalok shapes new spear points from stone. You daily life for children today? imitate what he is doing. Page 7 7 G3_U4_Chap01_SE.indd 7 1/30/17 11:41 AM »» Ice Age children did not attend school as modern children do. Instead, when they were old enough, they helped hunt and gather food for their family’s survival. The hunters made camp before continuing with the hunt. “How far must we go until we reach the herd?” you ask. Tavalok shakes his head. “How quickly does the mammoth herd move? I do not know. We will go toward the black clouds that cover the open land,” he explains. “We will follow the tracks of the herd. I expect that after we sleep two or three more times, you will see the place where the rocks meet the sky.” “How far will the herd go?” you ask. “It will travel to where the small plants and moss grow thick. We will not be far behind.” “And then will we be where the wind stops?” you ask. “I do not think we will ever go that far, little brother,” Tavalok laughs. Page 8 8 G3_U4_Chap01_SE.indd 8 1/30/17 11:41 AM Early hunters followed the herd’s tracks in the snow. Typically, they killed one herd member. For a band of twenty-five to fifty hunter-gatherers, one mammoth provided a lot of food. Page 9 9 G3_U4_Chap01_SE.indd 9 1/30/17 11:42 AM • Show students the remaining Chapter 1 Timeline Image Cards. Read and discuss the captions, making particular note of any dates. • Review and discuss the Big Question: “What was Beringia?” • Post the image cards under the date referencing 15,000s BCE; refer to the illustration in the Unit Introduction for further guidance on the placement of each image card to the Timeline. CHAPTER 1 | BERINGIA: THE LAND BRIDGE 21
28. Check for Understanding 5 min Ask students to do one of the following: • Turn and Talk—Tell a partner the answer to the Big Question, “What was Beringia?” Key points students should cite include: Beringia was a land bridge that connected Asia with North America. Early hunter-gatherers crossed Beringia while tracking herds of mammoth and musk ox. • Choose one of the Core Vocabulary words (Ice Age, land bridge, ice sheet, hunter-gatherers, herd, mammoth, musk ox, or spear), and say a sentence aloud using the word. To wrap up the lesson, ask several students to share their responses. Additional Activities Virtual Field Trip to the Ice Age (RI.3.7) 30 min Materials Needed: Internet access or images downloaded and printed from the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre Background for Teachers: Prepare for the virtual field trip by previewing the images at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre website. Use this link to download the CKHG Online Resources for this unit, where specific links for the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre and other images of the Ice Age may be found: www.coreknowledge.org/ckhg-online-resources If your classroom does not have Internet access, consider going online and downloading and printing the various images before class. Post the images around the classroom and conduct a gallery walk through the room. Begin the virtual tour by displaying the First People online exhibit for students to see. Read through the section “Yukon’s Ice Age Human History,” pausing to call attention to images and their captions. Next, display the Ice Age Animals online exhibit for students to see. Time permitting, share images of four to six different animals. You may ask students for feedback on which animals interest them the most, or select several animals prior to the start of the activity. Read each animal description aloud, and discuss the physical features of each animal as shown in the image. Discuss with students the similarities and differences between the Ice Age animals and 22 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
29. modern animals. After viewing each online exhibit, guide class discussion to include the following points: 1. Early hunter-gatherers adapted to the environment in a number of ways. They made shelters in caves. These sites are important for discovering new information about past peoples. 2. Ice Age animals were uniquely adapted to the environment in which they lived. Many of the Ice Age animals resemble animals that live today. w ww Interactive Ice Age Activity (RI.3.7) 30 min Materials Needed: Internet access Background for Teachers: Before playing the Stickers Game and Ice Age Challenge provided on the Simon Fraser University website, play through each game at least once. Use this link to download the CKHG Online Resources for this unit: www.coreknowledge.org/ckhg-online-resources The Stickers Game allows players to drag and drop Ice Age animal stickers onto an Ice Age backdrop. Players have the option to change the color of the background using the toolbar on the right-hand side. Through the Ice Age Challenge, players assume the role of hunter-gatherers trying to find their friends who have migrated to a new home. Players work their way through five rounds: the Raven, the Torch, the Caves, the Storm, and the Beast. The goal of each round is to achieve ideal body temperatures. This is done through fishing and finding flames and torches. Players click on squares to move stones or ice, allowing the hunter-gatherer to move. Each move depletes some of the hunter-gatherer’s body temperature. Players have three lives per round to achieve their goal. The second, third, and fifth rounds include holes in the ground that allow the hunter-gatherer to skip spaces on the playing ground. Level five, the Beast, features animals that, if touched, turn the players to ice, automatically costing them a life. Begin the activity by introducing the Stickers Game to students. Demonstrate the drag-and-drop and coloring functions of the game. Allow students to try the game independently, with partners, or in small groups, depending on available technology. As students drag and drop stickers on the Ice Age habitat, encourage them to name the animal represented by the sticker and to share any additional factual information they have learned about each animal, e.g., that a single adult mammoth would provide enough food for a group of twenty-five to fifty hunter gathers, etc. Allow students to play with the Sticker Game for about five to ten minutes. CHAPTER 1 | BERINGIA: THE LAND BRIDGE 23
30. Next, introduce the Ice Age Challenge. Explain the basic premise of the game to students, and discuss why maintaining proper body temperature would have been a concern to the early hunter-gatherers. Display the game for students to see. Play through the first round, the Raven, as a class. Allow students to assist in determining next steps to move the hunter-gatherer from one place to another. Allow students to play the Ice Age Challenge independently, with partners, or in small groups, depending on available technology. Alternatively, play through each of the five rounds as a class. Allow for approximately three to five minutes at the end of the class to discuss the Ice Age Challenge activity. Explain to students that while this is a game with fictional characters, the need to stay warm both through eating food and making fire was critical to the survival of early humans. 24 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
31. CHAPTER 2 America’s First Settlers The Big Question: How did the ability to grow food change the way people lived? Primary Focus Objectives ✓✓ Explain how America’s first settlers divided into many groups and spread throughout North and South America. (RI.3.2) ✓✓ Explain the impact of farming on how people lived. (RI.3.1) ✓✓ Understand the meaning of the following domain-specific vocabulary: river valley, mastodon, and soil. (RI.3.4) What Teachers Need to Know For background information, download the CKHG Onine Resource “About America’s First Settlers”: Materials Needed Activity Pages • Display copy of World Map (AP 1.1) • Individual student copies of Domain Vocabulary: Chapters 1–2 (AP 2.1) AP 1.1 AP 2.1 Core Vocabulary (Student Reader page numbers listed below) river valley, n. an area of low land surrounded by mountains or hills, often with a river running through it (12) Example: Settling in a river valley gave the earliest Americans access to water for growing crops. Variation(s): river valleys mastodon, n. a large, prehistoric animal similar to an elephant and a mammoth (12) Example: The mastodon, like the mammoth, was an important source of food for early humans. Variation(s): mastodons CHAPTER 2 | AMERICA’S FIRST SETTLERS 25
32. soil, n. the top layer of Earth’s surface where plants grow (13) Example: The farmer planted his seeds in the soil. The Core Lesson 25 min Introduce “America’s First Settlers” 5 min Activity Page Display World Map (AP 1.1). Remind students that the first people to reach North America traveled across Beringia, the land bridge. Ask students to think about what they read in Chapter 1. How did these first American people get the food that they needed? (They hunted and gathered.) How did this affect AP 1.1 their way of life? (It meant they had to move around a lot, following the herds so they could hunt.) Call attention to the Big Question, and encourage students, as they read, to look for ways the ability to grow food changed how people lived. Guided Reading Supports for “America’s First Settlers” 20 min When you or a student reads aloud, always prompt students to follow along. By following along, students may acquire a greater understanding of the content. Remember to provide discussion opportunities. “Who Came First?,” Pages 10–11 Scaffold understanding as follows: Chapter 2 America’s First Settlers Read the first paragraph of the section “Who Came First?” aloud. Call on Who Came First? More than fifteen thousand years ago, Ice Age hunters The Big Question How did the ability student volunteers to read the remainder of the section aloud. in Beringia, like the ones in the story, to grow food change were moving into North America. But the way people lived? SUPPORT—Ask students to look back at the map on page 4 as you reread many scientists believe that earlier people may have arrived thirty thousand years ago, by sea along the Pacific Coast. the second paragraph. Guide students in locating the path that the early At that time, hunter-gatherers could not move very far into North America. Huge ice sheets blocked the way. About fourteen thousand years ago, the ice sheets began to melt. The Ice Age was ending. hunter-gatherers followed in crossing the land bridge, as well as Alaska Hunters could now follow herds of animals farther and farther into North America. First they spread across most of what is now Alaska. Then they moved south, through what is now western Canada. and Canada, and the areas of earliest exploration in North America by Between nine thousand and fifteen thousand years ago, groups of hunter-gatherers spread out through this new world. Little by little, they moved into the ice-free parts of North America. They hunter-gatherers. walked everywhere—and traveled all the way to South America’s southern tip! Page 1010 G3_U4_Chap02_SE.indd 10 1/30/17 11:41 AM SUPPORT—Call attention to the image on pages 10–11, and read the caption aloud. Explain to students that the earliest Americans had different ways of life, depending on where they lived. On the map, students can see that Native Americans lived in many different types of homes. Activity Page SUPPORT—Display World Map (AP 1.1), and have students refer to the map on page 4 of their Student Readers. Point out how far the hunter- gatherers walked: from the land bridge and what is now Alaska all the way to the tip of South America. Emphasize the vast distance these earliest AP 1.1 Americans covered on foot over time. 26 THE EARLIEST AMERICANS
33. After students read the text, ask the following questions: LITERAL—Who were the first Americans? »» The first Americans were probably the Ice Age hunters from Beringia. Some people may have come even earlier. LITERAL—What happened that allowed the people of Beringia to go farther into North America? Page 11 Over a period of thousands of years, people spread over the land and settled on it. »» The Ice Age ended, and the ice sheet that had blocked their way began to melt. 11 G3_U4_Chap02_SE.indd 11 1/30/17 11:41 AM “A New World to Live In,” Pages 12–13 A New World to Live In Scaffold understanding as follows: By now the climate was getting much warmer. Water ran off from the melting ice sheets, carving out giant river valleys. North America’s huge Great Lakes filled up. Melting ice water caused oceans all over Earth to rise. Many areas along the coasts Vocabulary river valley, n. an area of low land CORE VOCABULARY—Read the first two paragraphs of the section “A New World to Live In.” Call attention to the Core Vocabulary terms were flooded, including Beringia. The surrounded by mountains and hills, rising sea cut North America off from Asia. often with a river running through it The various groups of people found two river valley and mastodon as they are encountered in the text, and mastodon, n. a large, vast continents to live in and all the animals prehistoric animal they could hunt. They continued to hunt similar to an elephant and a mammoth large mammals such as the mastodon. Over time, the climate changed, and this caused many large mammals to die out. The change in climate destroyed many of the plants the mammals ate. Overhunting the mastodon also helped to explain each term’s meaning. reduce its numbers. Ask students to read the remainder of the section on pages 12–13 quietly Thousands of years passed. Groups of people moved from one place to another. As they moved, they learned to live in their new homes. They learned to use the resources available to them. They to themselves or with a partner. developed hundreds of languages. Their ways of life changed to fit the different parts of North and South America where they lived. Today, we consider these people Native Americans. About seven thousand years ago, people in Mexico discovered how to plant and raise corn. Slowly, many other Native Americans CORE VOCABULARY—Call attention to the Core Vocabulary term soil, and began to grow their food. For many groups, the ability to grow food meant they could stay in one place for long periods of time. Page 12 explain its meaning. 12 G3_U4_Chap02_SE.indd 12 1/30/17 11:41 AM In some cases, they stayed in one place permanently. In other areas, however, the Vocabulary soil, n. the top layer SUPPORT—Explain to students that hundreds of languages developed as groups adapted to the environments in which they chose to settle climate or soil was not good for farming. of Earth’s surface where plants grow In those places the Native Americans remained hunter-gatherers. and developed vocabulary related their lifestyles. (See page 5 of the Introduction to this Teacher Guide for further information.) SUPPORT—Call attention to the image of growing corn on page 13, and read the caption aloud. Explain to students that the corn we eat today is The first corn raised by farmers in Mexico did not look anything like the corn we eat today. very different from the first corn raised by the early peoples who settled in Mexico. Early corn was much smaller than it is today. Page 13 13 After students read the text, ask the following questions: G3_U4_Chap02_SE.indd 13 1/30/17 11:41 AM LITERAL—How did climate change help kill off the large animals? »» Climate change destroyed the plants that the animals ate, causing them to starve. LITERAL—Why did the first Americans change their ways of life as they traveled across North and South America? »» Groups changed the ways they lived to fit the places where they lived. CHAPTER 2 | AMERICA’S FIRST SETTLERS 27
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