Timeless Totems

Introduction: The Native American History Museum will be opening soon and they are looking for children's art for the grand opening. This art will be displayed in their lobby. They are commissioning students to create sculptures that represent the regions where Native Americans live. You may choose to portray regions that you study. These sculptures should take the form of totem poles.

Task: If you decide to participate in this exciting opportunity, please answer the email that your teacher has received from the museum. Once you reply with your acceptance, you will get complete guidelines for the project. Then you can form groups and start planning your sculptures.

Process:

1. Students receive the first email from Roger Totem, the curator of the museum, asking them if they are interested in participating in the totem pole project. (the email goes to the teacher's email Inbox. She reads the email to the class.)
2. The class replies to the email with an acceptance and guidelines are sent (via email.)
3. The students talk to the art teacher to explain the project and to get her support.
4. The class is divided into groups that represent the three Native American regions that they study (Eastern Woodland-Powhatan, Great Plains-Iroquois, Southwest-Hopi.)
5. In accordance with the guidelines, each group is then divided into subgroups representing homes, environment, type of transportation and occupations of the tribes.
6. The groups brainstorm items that would represent each of the homes, environment, type of transportation and occupations of the tribes. They draw a plan on paper.
7. During art class, the art teacher gives them pointers on constructing their totem poles. The first class period is used for creating the basic shape of their pole. The center of the totem is made of a chicken wire column. Details are added using boxes, cardboard, newspaper and tubes. Students then use paper and paper towels to paper mache the structure.
8. A second art class is used to paint the totem poles. Details become evident at this point. Later, things like feathers, construction paper, moss, pipecleaners and cardboard details are added.
9. In the meantime, Roger Totem sends the group an email about creating artists' statements. He also sends them an example.
10. Each subgroup drafts a statement and comes to the computer lab to word process their statement. They also have a digital picture taken of the subgroup and import that picture into their statement. (sample of artist statement)
11. Roger Totem has his executive assistant send an email to set up a time for a visit.
12. The totem poles are taken to the rooms and set up with the artist statements. Students practice what they will say to Mr. Totem.
13. Roger Totem visits.
14. The large PowWow occurs the next day and the totem poles and statements are on display for parents, siblings and other students to view.

Opportunities to share:

1. Students worked together in groups where they had to share ideas and the decision-making process.
2. Each group prepared an artist statement to justify their work.
3. The totem poles were shared with Roger Totem a day before the large PowWow.
4. Parents, siblings, other adults and classes from the school visited the classrooms to view the totem poles and other Native American artifacts on the day of the PowWow.

Assessment:

Ongoing assessment in the form of anecdotal records are taken as students work together to learn about all of the topics and work on their totem poles. The classroom teacher gave each student a copy of a rubric to use. They rated their own participation in the group. Then the art teacher used a rubric for rating each group as a whole. These rubrics can be found in the book Solving the Assessment Puzzle: Piece by Piece by Carolyn Coil and Dodie Merritt. The group rubric is Cooperative Grouping Rubric and the individual is Rubric for Group Participation. Students also filled out a questionnaire about the project.

A free Yahoo email account was set up for Roger Totem, the curator of the museum so that he could communicate with the students. The School-Based Technology Specialist was responsible for sending the emails for Roger Totem.

During the unit, teachers designed a Think Tac Toe of activities to go along with the concepts being taught. These activities were used for extra credit assignments.

A visitor played the part of Roger Totem, the curator from the museum. He visited the artists the day before the PowWow to view the totem poles and listen to the artists descriptions of their projects. There was also time for questions and answers.

Link to the Time for Teachers PowWow page

Link to Kings Park Native American webpages created by second grade students

To see pictures from the unit, click on the totem pole.

Back to Time 4 Teachers Main Page

Unit designed by Kimberly Chambrone and Natalie Vrbin
Page created by Brooks Widmaier
April 2003