The 4/5 students played their Iroquois inspired drums made in art class, shared the tradition of the Iroquois Thanksgiving Address, and read their imaginative Animal Legend books.

Getting ready for our Iroquois Legends Show of Work Presentation

Making flames for the fire…..

….and logs too!   

 Editing and revising Animal Legend stories

Putting Animal Legend Books together

Students enjoyed Special Friends Day activities and spending time with family and friends!

The 4/5s, All Treble No Trouble, and Bob’s Boys performed at the Special Friends Day assembly.   

The 4/5s had a wonderful time with their buddies and their buddies' families at the Pre-K Harvest Feast!

False Face Society

The False Face Society was an Iroquois healing group. They had an important job, to get rid of bad spirits, such as the flying head.  They used masks, chants, rattles and dance to scare evil spirits away. 

The False Face Society wore masks carved from wood. The mask maker walked through the woods until he found a tree whose spirit spoke to him.  Some Iroquois carve their mask directly on the tree and only remove it when completed, while others carve an outline of the face, cut out that section of the tree, and carve their mask in secluded shelter until it is complete.  The mask was polished then decorated with hair, feathers, and other adornments.

After learning about the False Face Society, students wrote about what they learned and created their own False Face Society masks. 

Iroquois Bowl Games

The Iroquois played the Sacred Bowl Game during the last day of the "Ceremonial of Midwinter" which marked the end of the year. The wooden bowl was decorated with clan symbols.  To play the game a player placed six nuts, which were colored on one side, inside the bowl and hit the bowl against the ground. If five of the six nuts turned up the same color, the player scored and took another turn. The first player to reach 10 points won the game.

After learning about Iroquois sports and games, partners worked together to create and play Iroquois Bowl Games.

Native American Medicine Bags

You might think that a medicine is only carried by a Native American Medicine Man or Healer. That was one type of medicine bag - quite large as it would contain many herbs and items, sometimes as many as fifty items.

But there is a personal type of Medicine Bag carried by many Native Americans, including the Iroquois.  It can range in size from a small pouch to a long bag. A personal Medicine Bag was not for healing others but to maintain personal harmony - with the physical, spiritual, and supernatural. A youth might have a small Medicine Bag.  As they added experiences, they also added things to their bag, so over the years, they often needed to replace the smaller bag with one larger in size.

These bags were used to carry plants for medicine and also to hold personal items and good luck charms.

The 4/5 students created their own Native Americans Medicine Bags and filled them with items of importance.

Math 4 

Math 4 Students have been exploring a comprehensive unit on graphs, data collection and analysis.
They will soon begin Data Collection Projects

have been exploring a comprehensive unit on graphs, data collection and analysis.
They will soon begin Data Collection Projects

Math 4 Students also enjoy math challenges and learning to solve problems in a creative way. 

The 4/5’s continue their exploration of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Students learned about the False Face Society and then wrote about and created their own False Face Society masks.

  

 Students learned about Iroquois sports and games. Partners worked together to make Iroquois Bowl Games.

 Students learned the Three Sisters, the corn, squash and beans. 

 Although these three vegetables were grown in many Native American cultures, the term “Three Sisters” originated with the Haudenosaunee (the Iroquois).

Students prepare for

Robert C. Parker  Day.

 Students analyze characters from the book Schooled and list and discuss character traits.

13 Moons on Turtle's Back

The 4/5 students are learning all about the Iroquois. Legends and storytelling are important traditions in the Iroquois culture.  One legend that Native Americans pass down from generation to generation is Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back.  Children are taught to examine the segments on the back of every turtle. There are thirteen large segments which represent the thirteen moons, which make up the lunar year. There are 28 smaller segments around the edge of the shell, which represent the 28 days between new moons.

For each of the thirteen sections on a turtle's shell, there is a Native American moon legend.  After reading Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back, each student chose one moon and created 13 Moons on Turtles Back rattles. One side of the rattle illustrates a turtle’s shell while the other represents one of the 13 Moons.  The rattle also signifies the importance of music in the Iroquois culture.

The 4/5s enjoying time with their Pre-K 3 and Pre-K 4 buddies

Math 4 students work on mastering their multiplication facts and work together to solve math challenges.