“Earth on Turtle’s Back” & “When Grizzlies Walked Upright” Creation Origin Myths

It’s back to school, and you’ve decided to begin the year with Native American Literature because they offer great opportunities to enhance your classroom management strategies and they add cultural diversity to your curriculum. 

But you don’t have good resources, and you don’t have time to make them. Worse, you know you need a major grade within a month, but you don’t have time to make an assessment. Worst of all, you know you could enhance your classroom management simply by offering a project with lots of options (everyone loves choice), but you don’t have time to make anything unique. Fret no more. The work is already done!

What’s Included:

• 5-6 day mini-unit (shorter if you skip the Summative Project)

• Teacher’s Guide with notes on preparing the lesson and helpful hints

• Detailed lesson plan with pacing guide

• 5 Handouts/Graphic Organizers that encourage cooperation, collaboration, and deep critical thinking. (3 desired behaviors J).

• Answer keys

• Fun, engaging Summative Project offers 5 options and encourages collaboration, creativity & deep thinking. Rubric included 

     • Write an original origin myth

     • Prepare a comic strip illustrating an original origin myth

     • Prepare & present a puppet show or skit acting out an original origin myth

     • Write & perform an original origin song

     • Play School: Read an origin myth & teach the class

• Suggested differentiated essay topics to extend the unit.

• CCSS & New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) in Word

The resource is aligned with “EoTB” as retold by Michael Caduto & Joseph Bruchac; “WGWU” as retold by Richard Erdoes & Alfonso Ortiz

How to Use:

• The lesson is student-centered. Students learn through self-discovery rather than through traditional teacher-centered lecturing. Teacher facilitates/assists groups.

• Students collaborate to discover for themselves Onondaga and Modoc cultures and values by completing graphic organizers (Handouts 2-5) that focus on origin archetypes and details the storytellers intentionally included. 

• To enhance your classroom management, lesson plan includes opportunities to segue from discussions about the storytellers’ cultures to your own classroom culture. Examples of how to accomplish this are included in the Lesson Plan.

To support in-person classroom and synchronous learning as well as blended, hybrid, remote, distance, virtual, and asynchronous learning, this resource includes THREE versions:

· PDF

· Forced-copy link for Google Drive (works with any Google-Apps compatible LMS (learning management system) such as Google Classroom™

· TPT Digital Overlay (only works with a TPT account & Google Classroom™)

o No Prep! Ready to use!

o This resource now includes a digital overlay delivered to students via Google Classroom™ and filled in online. No need to print. Great for the paperless classroom or distance and remote learning! Please review information on how to use TpT's Digital Activity tool HERE so that you understand how it works.

Great for edTPA Secondary ELA English candidates.

Related Resources:

Native American Origin Creation Myths: How to Create Positive Classroom Culture

“Navajo Origin Myth” & Establish Positive Classroom Culture. Creation Myth

Native American Creation Origin Myth Complete Bundle

Distance Learning Native American Origin Myths Unit for Google Classroom

How to Organize a Compare and Contrast Essay. Block and Point-by-Point Methods

Includes a model and essay prompt based on “Earth on Turtle’s Back” and “When Grizzlies Walked Upright.”

Test Prep! Write Nuanced Comparisons Succinctly

Includes essay prompts based on “Earth on Turtle’s Back” and “When Grizzlies Walked Upright.”