Love this time year!  2 new lessons inspired by the season are posted.
​At my school we harvested cattails and had a teaching on how to weave with them.  I kept the scrap pieces and came up with a lesson to tie into an older book: Manabozho and the Bullrushes.  You might still find the book on Amazon, but it is old.  There is a shorter version of the legend on-line, see the lesson for the link.
This is the hunting season in my area and many families participate in deer hunting.  I read the book: A Hunter's promise, by Joseph Bruchac to my students.  They loved the shape-changer ending!  We looked at the beautiful and brilliant art of John Nieto for inspiration and created colorful Moose Art!  
Thank you for visiting, I hope you find something useful and welcome your input!
​Happy Fall, Kim

Just in case you missed it, here is a link to explain what Rock Your Mocs is all about.  Where I teach everyone was encouraged to wear their mocs Friday November 14th.  The entire school + staff participated in a Stomp Dance.  It was a lot of fun! My students are still singing while working!  

Link to article:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/16/native-pride-at-heart-of-rock-your-mocs-campaign/3613865/

Link to Moccasin info:
http://www.nativetech.org/clothing/moccasin/moctext.html

Be Well and Be Creative!
Kim

Greetings! 
This is the time of the year when many teachers look for Native American lesson ideas (in the USA) to tie into the Thanksgiving Holiday.  I encourage (anyone who will listen) to incorporate Native American art and history through out the year!  There are opportunities around every corner.  I have posted a few more lesson ideas and hope you find something useful.

Veterans Day is next week in the USA.  Did you know (when using percentages) more Native Americans serve in the military than any other ethnic group?  What a huge honor! At my school Veterans Day is a big deal!  We honor our Veterans with a special ceremony where we remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice and honor all those who have served.   Below is a link showing a graph of military enlistment by race, note the highlighted columns. 

http://www.heritage.org/static/reportimages/3E59D41279449CAB99F8C7CF54E02351.gif

I appreciate your your stopping by and hope you found something helpful!  Please share this site and your comments are always appreciated!

Be Well and Be Creative,  
Kim

Shopping side-note:
I have started to place Amazon and Blick banners on the site.  If you do your normal shopping by clicking on the banners on this site it helps me (affiliate program) to buy more books!  More books = more resources for lesson ideas!  I have a huge wish list, as I am sure many of you do!  

I love this time of year.  The weather is crisp and the leaves are simply magnificent.  Wisconsin color is truly the best in the nation!   

I have been focusing on completing my horse unit.  My 2nd grade loved the Mud Pony lesson posted under clay/painting.  The horses they created were all so unique and colorful!  The watercolor salt background was a huge hit!  The salt did amazing things to the paint...like magic!  

This week we finish 5th grade wire horse sculptures and 6th grade paper clay and birchbark relief horses.  Both lessons were a challenge and a creative exploration of  form. I will post pictures soon.  

In case you are wondering why I have focused on "Horses" to start the new year,  I tied my lessons to an all school field trip to the Indian Summer Festival in September.  Indian Summer is an annual  festival held in Milwaukee on the shores of Lake Michigan (one of the Great Lakes). 
The theme for this year was Horse Nation Celebration.  We learned about horses and the high regard many tribes have for them.  For some of my students it was the first time they were able to be close to these large magnificent animals.  We heard stories from Lakota elders and admired the beauty of painted ponies.  I created these art lessons to reinforce the tribal connections, share additional stories and explore the elegant form of horses!  

Thank you for stopping by!  Your comments are always welcomed and appreciated!

Kim

I am back!! The 2013-2014 school year ended up being a very busy year for me and I dropped the ball with this site! 

Apologies for anyone looking for something new!  I promise to post new lessons as I find success.  I am ready to pick it up and hit the road running...or in this case riding!  Giddy up!

As anyone who teaches art can tell you, not all art lessons are great.  As a matter of fact some are down right dreadful!  The best thing to do is make note of what did not work...then revise or simply discard them!  I even keep a couple lists... the AWESOME list and the DUD list to remind me.  When you teach 8 grades it can be it bit crazy keeping track of all the lessons.
 
2014-2015 My first few weeks have been exciting!  I created several new lessons to tie into the Horse Nation tribes of the Plains. I will post as soon as they are ready for the Web.

I wish anyone who stumbles upon this site a wonderful year!

Thanks for taking the time to read my post, your comments are always welcomed and appreciated!

Kim

The school year is off and running!  I am starting my school year with a variety of games to incorporate Native American Culture and Math!

You will find a new lesson on "Stick Dice"  under misc and a "Ball and Triangle" toy under birchbark.  We are in the process of making "Plum Pit" games too!  I will post that idea when complete.

You may have noticed that there are a lot of patterns on the projects.  We are exploring "Zentangle" patterns and comparing to patterns from various tribes.  Tribal patterns and their components are often recognized in Zentangle Designs.  My students love the "How to" aspect of the designs.  They are excited to learn new patterns and often use them on other projects!

I hope you find something useful here!
Thank you for visiting and please leave feedback or share your ideas!
Kim

The fourth quarter has begun!  This is always the busiest time for me!  I am working on preparing for the Annual Art Exhibit, helping with a play and trying to complete my portfolio for the National Boards Certification!

I just posted a simple porcupine lesson idea.  I use one of my favorite Ojibwe legends.  I used this lesson for a Family Literacy Event at my school in February.   It is a great project that families can do together as well as an easy art activity.

I hope you found something useful on my site.
Please leave feedback!
Thank you!  Kim

Winter has been making it's presence known with a 25 degree BELOW zero wind chill!! The good news is our groundhog, "Winter" at the Milwaukee County Zoo did NOT see her shadow.  Spring is on it's way!

Hello 2013..... lots of comments in the classroom about how happy we are that the world did NOT end!  For the most part the kids are joking...but I sense  a bit of relief as well. :)

This month is going to be amazing as I am on a committee that is going to bring a Quill worker to present to the children, and to spend a 3-day residency.  She will be working with the 5th and 6th grades.  I am excited to see how she prepares her birch bark, finds it (or maybe harvests it) and most importantly, how she makes her beautiful boxes!

I am hopeful there will be a student or two who pick this up and wish to learn more.  Quillwork is unique to North American Tribes.... seen nowhere else in the world!  It is an honor to have her teach us!  Christine does not have her own web page, but here is a link to see a bit of information on her work.  It will provide an authentic first-hand introduction to any unit you should wish to use or develop. 

Here is her link..such beautiful work! 
I will post lessons with photos in February.  Enjoy!

http://wisconsinfolks.org/okerlund1.htm

What an end to 2012!  As I reflect on recent events I can only hope 2013 brings about a more peaceful universe.  My heart aches for Newtown.....