This unit plan outlines a 31-hour interdisciplinary unit focused on exploring indigenous perspectives from pre-colonization to present day. Students will analyze short stories, artifacts, and historical documents from multiple perspectives to challenge dominant social narratives. The unit aims to develop skills in literary analysis, historical thinking, and perspective taking. Formative assessments include story summaries and analysis of artifacts. The summative assessment tasks students with creating a museum exhibit proposal from the perspective of a curator to showcase indigenous narratives and histories.

1. 7th Grade Unit 1 Plan (2019-20)
Teacher(s) Hannah Ticoras
Sasha Fletcher
Mike Langley
Subject groups &
disciplines
Language & Literature / Individuals and Societies
Unit title
This Land is Whose
Land?
MYP year 2 Unit
duration
(hrs)
31 hours
Inquiry: Establishing the purpose of the unit
Purpose of Integration
The purpose of this unit is to ​foster student understanding of the experiences of indigenous peoples from pre-colonization to
present-day, questioning and expanding their understandings of the historical truth about the experiences of both Indigenous
peoples and European settlers at the start of American colonization. ​By considering multiple perspectives on colonization, including
those of European royalty, European settlers, Indigenous peoples from New England, Canada, and the Midwestern United States,
students will be able to challenge the dominant narrative of America’s founding, as well as a gain a deeper understanding of the
experience of marginalized peoples from the beginning of America’s history. By practicing skills of a social studies researcher,
specifically analyzing primary and secondary sources and artifacts, students will be able to comment on the events of the past from a
historical lens, as well as analyze how disparate events affected the outcome as a whole. By reading contemporary short stories and
personal narratives written by indigenous people today, students will gain a better understanding of a contemporary view of
indigenous people that is not centered on the past & colonialism, as well as gain and understanding of the short story format.
We believe that ​engaging from both a historical and a literary perspective will provide for richer, more nuanced conclusions. Students
will make inferences about the emotional state of different characters during perspective writing, while understanding the political
perspectives through their historical analysis.
Key concept Related Concepts Global context
Perspective Genre
Point-of-view
Character
Personal and Cultural Expression
Exploration: Social Constructions of Reality
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2. Statement of inquiry
Through an exploration of different genres, characters, and perspectives, dominant social constructions of reality can be challenged.
Kid Friendly:​ We can explore, stories, characters and perspectives through more than one lens to challenge the ruling perspectives.
Inquiry questions
Factual—
What are the important features of the short
story?
What is characterization?
What impact did colonialism have on
indigenous populations in the Americas?
What are the similarities and differences
between indigenous and European origin
stories?
What are strategies for analyzing an artifact?
Conceptual—
How does knowing the historical context
affect our understanding (of literature,
artifacts, etc)?
How do you decide what/who to believe?
Why do we tell stories? What can we
express through a story that is different
from a history book?
Why is it important to consider multiple
perspectives when studying history?
Debatable—
Can history constructed by artifacts really be true?
Summative assessment
Objectives:
A. ANALYSING​:
i. identify and explain the content, context,
language, structure, technique and style of
text(s) and the relationships among texts
ii. identify and explain the effects of the
creator’s choices on an audience
Outline of summative task / GRASPS:
The Smithsonian Museum of the
American Indian is looking for proposals
for a new exhibit in their rotating
exhibition. You will use your knowledge
and understanding of early human
migration and to create a proposal for an
exhibit highlighting a specific nation.
Relationship between summative assessment task(s) and
statement of inquiry:
By constructing a museum exhibit and taking on the perspective
of a curator, students will have to engage with the challenging
task of constructing a story using artifacts. They will have to
decide what to include, and decide how much their exhibit
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3.
B. ORGANIZING
i. employ organizational structures that serve
the context and intention
C. PRODUCING TEXT
i. produce texts that demonstrate thought,
imagination and sensitivity, while exploring
and considering new perspectives and ideas
arising from personal engagement with the
creative process
iii. select relevant details and examples to
develop ideas.
D. USING LANGUAGE
iii. use correct grammar, syntax and
punctuation
iv. spell (alphabetic languages), write
(character languages) and pronounce with
accuracy
INDIVIDUALS & SOCIETIES
A. KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING
I. use a range of terminology in context
ii. demonstrate knowledge and
understanding of subject-specific content
and concepts, through descriptions,
explanations and examples.
Your museum must include a multitude of
perspectives, and will be modeled off the
Taino exhibit that students will view on
September 27 at the official museum in
Battery Park.
Your exhibit will include 3 main pieces
that will be scored as a group (each
person will be responsible for one of
these items):
● Written Museum Proposal
● Museum Design (either 2D or 3D
+artist’s statement)
● Summary + Analysis of your short
story
Each group member will additionally
submit a reflection to be scored
individually. (You will also have a
formative assessment scored
individually to be completed on the
museum trip on September 27th).
Your exhibit will address research
questions written by your group about,
but not limited to, the following topics:
Cultural Appropriation / Erasure /
Celebration
challenges the ruling perspectives about indigenous people in the
Americas using artifacts, short story excerpts, and histories.
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4. C. COMMUNICATING
i. communicate information and ideas in a
way that is appropriate for the audience and
purpose
ii. structure information and ideas according
to the task instructions
D. THINKING CRITICALLY
i. analyse concepts, issues, models, visual
representation and/or theories
ii. summarize information to make valid,
well-supported arguments
iv. recognize different perspectives and
explain their implications
Approaches to learning (ATL)
Information literacy skills​: Identify primary and secondary sources
Organization skills​: Understand and use sensory learning preferences (learning styles)
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5. Action: Teaching and learning through interdisciplinary inquiry
Content Learning process
Week 1
Lesson 1: Introduction/​Baseline
Vocab: Bias, Knowledge, Understanding
(though this seems like quite a small amount
for one lesson, the focus should be the
reflection time and time to make connections
and observations about themes that are
emerging)
Lesson 2-3:
Lesson 4-5: Vocab Tableua
Vocab: Citizen, Nation, Land, Migration,
Indigenous, Gentrification
Week 2
Lesson 6-8: Topic: Pre-Columbian Americas
Lesson 9: Intro to Blonde Cherokee
Vocab: Colonization/Colonizer vs
Gentrification/gentrifier, Appropriation
Lesson 9:
Blonde Cherokee story
Vocab: cliche
Lesson 10:
Blonde Cherokee
Lesson 11:
Learning experiences and teaching strategies:
Lesson 1
T&A: Baseline / Instructions
When they’re done with the baseline: Blank piece paper… What do I already know about [topics]?
Native Americans, Indigenous People, Christopher Columbus, The “Discovery” of America,
colonization, Indigenous People’s Day, Citizenship, “Go Back Where You Came From”
Show models of KWL & Web on PPT
Reflection: Model of Brainstorming tactics (not stopping to second-guess) What do you WANT to
know about this topic?
Lesson 2-3
Watching Danger of a Single Story & Claim making
Lesson 4-5
Vocab Tableau -- using words in context
Lesson 6-8
Skill: Historical Analysis + Critical Thinking
T&A: ​Terms Discussion … Indigenous vs Native American vs American Indian … talking about how
important it is to listen other’s choices on what terms they use to define themselves
Jigsaw Texts of varied complexity about human migration patterns to help fight against the idea that
Columbus “discovered” the Americas
Lesson 9
Quick discussion of the story + on demand summary + creator’s choice question (Why did the creator
tell the story from that perspective? What would the impact be if they told the story from another
perspective)
Skill: Analyzing + Creator’s Choice
Lesson 10
Mini-lesson on summary and “relevant details” … what does it mean for a detail to be relevant, what
details are essential in a summary
Scaffolds: 5 finger summary
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6.
Lesson 12-14: First Contact Jigsaw
Vocab: Indigenous, Technology
Lesson 15:
Wrap up Jigsaw + Intro Summative & Museum
Activity
Lesson 16:
Post- field trip reflection + Drum Kiss summary
(Small group with Sasha continuing to teach
summary / writing the summary together)
Lesson 17-18: Drum Kiss story
Lesson 19 + 20: Perspective Writing
Lesson 21 + 22: Contemporary Native
American Art
Vocab: ???
Lessons 23-30: Summative
Lesson 11:
Mini-lesson on Theme / themes of Blonde Cherokee… why did the author write this story and make
the choices that they did? What message are they trying to send and how is that connected to the
history we’ve learned thus far?
Lesson 12-14:
Jigsaw First Contact Experiences
● Wampanoag & Pilgrims
● Inca & Pizarro
● Triple Alliance/Aztec & Cortés
● Caddo/Coosa & De Soto
● Verrazano & People of First Light/Narragansett
Jigsaw skill​: Historical Analysis & Summary
Sharing skill: What differences / similarities do you see?
Lesson 15:
Jigsaw wrap up + intro summative for prep for the museum visit
Lesson 16:
Skill: Analysis + Creator’s Choices
Lesson 17-18:
Drum Kiss Lit Analysis work … what perspective is this story from and why?
Lesson 19-20:
Skill: Producing Text + Creator’s Choices
Lesson 21-22:
Guiding Question: How are contemporary Native American artists exploring the history of indignous
peoples in the Americas?
Lessons 23-30:
Summative Task
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7.
Socratic Seminars, Collaborative Annotation, Jigsaw Readings, Non-fiction and video supplements,
Formative assessments:
Written summaries of short stories, analysis of the stories and artifacts, observation and inferences
practice.
L&L Formative #1 (Summary of Blonde Cherokee + question(s) on creator’s choice)
L&L Formative #2 (Summary of Drum Kiss + question(s) on creator’s choice)
L&L Formative #3: Perspective Writing + Reflection
I&S Formative #1 (Human Migration Jigsaw Work)
I&S Formative #2 (First Contact Jigsaw Work)
I&S Formative #3 (Artifact Investigation + Claim making from Museum of the American Indian)
Differentiation:
Scaffolded summary techniques including 5 finger summary
Sentence starters for analysis questions:
Resources
Salinan & Cherokee Creation stories? / Belief systems (Conceptual Question: How do you decide what/who to believe?)
“A Real-Life Blond Cherokee and His Equally Annoyed Soul Mate” by Cynthia Leitich Smith
“How to Get to The Planet Venus” by Joy Harjo
Non-Text Texts:
Danger of a Single Story​ ​by Chimamanda Adichie (​Lesson Plan​)
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8.
Historical Documents:
Doctrine of Discovery
Tecumsah’s speech to the Osages​ (1811-12)
Images/Testimonials from Standing Rock
Moccasin Thunder book
The Infinity of Nations Exhibit at the Museum of the American Indian
Interdisciplinary learning process
Interdisciplinary learning
experiences and teaching
strategies:
The following questions:
“how does reading a
narrative help to better
understand the perspectives
of a certain culture?” and
“what are the limitations of
using a narrative / using an
artifact in order to
understand the perspectives
of a certain culture?”
Formative assessments:
Written summaries of short stories, analysis of the stories and artifacts, observation and inferences practice.
Differentiation:
Question stem starters that help answer linking questions like “how does reading a narrative help to better understand the
perspectives of a certain culture?” and “what are the limitations of using a narrative / using an artifact in order to understand
the perspectives of a certain culture?”
Using real life stories to help to explain the concept to students that cannot immediately respond to the questions using the
stories and artifacts that we have been discussing in class, perhaps because the stories are at a reading level that is too high for
them or they are translating …
Resources
Moccasin Thunder (book),​ Artifacts from the Smithsonian Museum, Documents, passages from ​1491
“A Real-Life Blond Cherokee and His Equally Annoyed Soul Mate” by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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9.
“How to Get to The Planet Venus” by Joy Harjo
Non-Text Texts:
Danger of a Single Story​ ​by Chimamanda Adichie (​Lesson Plan​) - ​needs to be towards the beginning of the unit
Historical Documents:
Doctrine of Discovery
Tecumsah’s speech to the Osages​ (1811-12)
Images/Testimonials from Standing Rock
Possible I&S Explorations: The Proclamation of 1763, Doctrine of Discovery, Pilgrims and Wampanoag Interaction,
Reflection: Considering the planning, process and impact of the inquiry
Prior to teaching the unit During teaching After teaching the unit
Notes on Assessments/Criteria:
● Currently are not teaching or formally
assessing I&S Criteria C or L&L Criteria D
until the Summative
● Will we be collecting reading responses for
assessment in this Marking Period as well?
Could we assess L&L D with that?
● Will we be collecting current events for
assessment? Could we assess I&S C with
that?
● Where do journals fit in here?
Notes on Summative:
● Perspective of curator — how do you
decide what goes into the museum?
While we are teaching this unit, I am noticing that
there are some things that students have prior
knowledge on that make things easier to teach …
like stereotypes and assumptions. They get that
well because they did it at the end of their 6th
grade year.
I’m noticing that they are not as familiar with the
language of “observations and inferences” when
they are inspecting artifacts. I think that I am
spending more time getting that into the
language than I expected. This needs to be a
conversation with the I&S dept about how we are
building this skill up through the grades.
For the next time I think that I want to make sure
to write more specific questions about single
story. I also want to spend more time on the text
features of a short story and talking about why
an author may write a short story.
Kids really liked the Blonde Cherokee Story and
doing the perspective writing from another
characters perspective. It was a good way to hit
Producing Text while also having them continue
to practice pulling out text details which will help
them in their literary analysis writing as well as
their story telling.
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10. ● Reflection Question: Do you think any one
will take umbrage with the the way you’ve
chosen to organize the artifacts/photos or
what you have included or left out? Who
did you have to leave out?
○ They will have to leave something
out, and they will have to justify
why they made that decision in their
reflection.
● Given the perimeters of the exhibit, what
are you leaving out? What are the
limitations?
● How does your exhibit tell a different
story? The same story?
● Must have elements of past and present
● Must have at least 2 artifacts per sub title
● Because the summative lines up with
Indigenous PPLs day, should the exhibit
have something to do for that??????
● Should their be less topics to choose
from?????
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