Presentation Follow-Up Activities

The NATIVE TALK presentation can be extended across the curriculum with these suggested activities:

• Stories are powerful teachers.  Long ago, when someone behaved foolishly, a story was often told to teach proper behavior.  Students will share the theme or lesson each story illustrated.  In what situation in the early days might one of the stories been used to teach?  After a group discussion, students will write a descriptive paragraph.
• In small groups, students will discuss their favorite story from the presentation.  Was the ending expected?  Is there another way the story might have evolved?  Students can write their conclusions.
• Students will draw a scene from their favorite story.  New vocabulary words can be used to label the illustration.  Older students can write a description of the drawing using complete sentences and story vocabulary.  Drawings can be put together to make a class book.
• Students will discuss the new facts they have learned about the Luiseño Indians’ lifestyle and history.  They will compare and contrast new information with what they have learned about Indians of other areas of the country.  A five paragraph essay can be written.
• Students will write a story about their life that might be told in 70 years.  This story can include current experiences or observations that the students expect will be interesting in the future and should be preserved; something to be shared with future generations.
• The student will interview a parent, grandparent or other relative and learn a family story.  The student will write the story in his or her own words and can use the oral tradition to share the story with others now and in the future.
• Using the information learned in the unit of study, the student will write a narrative about what might have happened on the land where they now live and how native people might have spent a day on the same land.  The student will compare and contrast with their own life in present day and native life in the past.  For instance, a girl today might go shopping for a backpack.  Three hundred years ago, the native girl would have gathered juncus and deergrass to weave a coiled basket for storage, cooking, or a gift.