Lesson Plan Table of Contents

QUIZ SHOW! What were you thinking? What did you say?

Objectives: Students will be able to:

• Use the Internet as a research tool.
• Constructively discuss the leadership qualities of four Native American leaders.
• Articulate the variety of responses to U.S. expansion policy by prominent Native Americans.
• Label the complexity of the U.S. westward movement and the different results of that movement.
• Work in groups to synthesize researched information.
• Address a group.
• Read primary sources and draw critical information from them.
• Read biased sources and draw critical information from them.

Standards: U.S. History, English Language Arts.

Skills Addressed: Linguistic, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal.

Interdisciplinary Connections: History/World Cultures, Social Studies, Performance Art.

Length: Two to three fifty-minute class periods: one for research, one for group work (synthesis), one for the game show (presentation).

Materials: Internet access, power shirts created in "Symbols of Power in Clothing Worn by the Plains Indians" Lesson Plan (optional), paper and markers or colored pencils to create team name signs for game show day.

Products: Quiz show presentation, essay on leadership.

Content Introduction: This lesson is designed not only to introduce leadership qualities appreciated in our culture, but also to compare those qualities to the ones manifested by a range of well-known and important Plains Indian leaders in the period 1801–1861. Students will thus study the interaction between the U.S. government and different tribal nations, as outlined in United States History Standard Era 4: Standard 1 (Grades 5–12), "Students should understand United States territorial expansion between 1801 and 1861, and how it affected relations with external powers and Native Americans."

In order to prepare to teach about these leaders, review the web sites introducing each leader in the "Quiz Show! For Students" section. Many books also discuss these leaders. Some good ones are: Great Speeches by Native Americans, edited by Bob Blaisdell (Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 2000); American Indian Leaders, edited by R. David Edmunds (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980); and John Ross: Cherokee Chief by Gary E. Moulton (Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1978).

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Lesson Plan Table of Contents

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