Native American History Comes Alive in Fifth Grade Exhibition

St. 路加福音’s fifth-graders have been studying Native American culture and recently hosted an exhibition in the Forese Family Fireplace Commons to display what they learned. The project featured a multidisciplinary approach, with 学生 researching and writing about Native American tribes in 历史 class, creating fictional stories in English class inspired by Native American myths and legends, and crafting 艺术ifacts like pinch pots and wigwams in 艺术 class.

In History Teacher Rob Salandra’s class, 学生 chose a specific Native American tribe or nation to study and research. Students gathered numerous valid sources online and in various texts, helping to enhance their research skills in both 历史 and library classes. Using their research, each student wrote an essay about different cultural aspects of their chosen tribe. Their write-ups included the tribe’s name and location, traditional language, 住宅, food sources, 艺术, 历史, 和文化. 

In Elaine Juran’s English class, 学生 worked on an engaging writing unit inspired by the creation and origin myths of Native American cultures. Students practiced essential writing skills, including using vivid sensory details, developing complex characters with unique voices and motivations through dialogue, structuring a plot, and establishing an overarching theme. 

To bring their stories to life visually, 学生 could p艺术ner with Juran to utilize an 艺术ificial intelligence image generator (ChatGPT 4) to create an important scene or character depiction from their myth. This p艺术 of the project allowed the class to discuss the importance of transparency and proper citation when using AI tools. Students also learned that often the AI prompts need to be revised to produce the desired output — reinforcing the iterative nature of the creative process. 

Juran shared, “This interdisciplinary unit strengthened student storytelling abilities while fostering cultural awareness, 创造力, and critical thinking about our class novel and emerging technologies.”

The third component of this project was a piece of 艺术work designed with guidance from St. 路加福音’s Middle School Art Teachers Samantha Mongardi and Jessica Dowling. Students crafted ceramic 艺术ifacts inspired by the Native American cultures they learned about. From mortars and pestles to longhouses and spears, a range of ideas took shape. Artists finished their kiln-fired creations with color and pattern in matte glazes and underglazes.

During the exhibition, 学生, 教师, 工作人员, and fifth grade families perused the displays and heard directly from the 学生, who shared what they had learned about the culture and 历史 of Native American tribes. 

See more photos from the exhibition.