Coast Miwok Unit

3rd Grade Class

Gracie Trice
Dominican University of California
Integrated Curriculum
4/21/2015

Description of the Integrated Curriculum Unit

Title: The Coast Miwok Indian Unit

Grade Level: 3rd
Description of the Unit:
This unit starts with the students creating a KWL chart about the Coast
Miwok Indians and then watching a short video. The students will examine the lives
of the Coast Miwok Indians a little deeper and then expand their knowledge by
conducting research on the Native American tribes of California. The students will
learn about the Native Americans location and environment, food, housing,
ceremonies, and arts and clothing. The students will also learn about population
changes and how the Native Americans adapt to their environment. They will learn
about Native American symbols and do a research project where they will be
working in groups to gather information about a specific tribe. Then they will
present their information to the class. Towards the end of the unit, the students
will examine the housing more deeply and actually get to build a model of Coast
Miwok housing. To finish the unit, students will present their models and go on a
virtual fieldtrip to Miwok meadows in preparation for the actual fieldtrip later on
in the year.

Academic Content Areas

English Language Arts

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Reading nonfiction
Critical thinking and problem solving
Comparing and contrasting
Creative Writing
Listening, speaking, reading, and writing

History/Social Studies
o Geography and Mapping
o Students describe the American Indian nations in their local region long ago
and in the recent past.
Art
o Writing with symbols
o Drawing pictures of symbols
o Creating their own symbols
Math
o Problem solving: population changes, calculations
Science
o Learn about materials
o Gathering materials to build models
Technology
o Video clips
o Research projects

Common Core State Standards

Math Standards
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.NBT.A.2

Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on
place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and
subtraction.
English/Language Arts Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.7
Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words
in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and
how key events occur).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.7
Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
History-Social Studies Standards
3.1

Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps, tables,

graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about people, places, and
environments in a spatial context.
1.

Identify geographical features in their local region (e.g., deserts, mountains,

valleys, hills, coastal areas, oceans, lakes).

2.

Trace the ways in which people have used the resources of the local region
and modified the physical environment (e.g., a dam constructed upstream
changed a river or coastline).

3.2 Students describe the American Indian nations in their local region long ago
and in the recent past.
1.

Describe national identities, religious beliefs, customs, and various folklore

traditions.
2.

Discuss the ways in which physical geography, including climate, influenced

how the local Indian nations adapted to their natural environment (e.g., how
they obtained food, clothing, tools).

3.

Describe the economy and systems of government, particularly those with

tribal constitutions, and their relationship to federal and state governments.

4.

Discuss the interaction of new settlers with the already established Indians

of the region.
2.0 CREATIVE EXPRESSION

Art Standards

Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Visual Arts.

Students apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to
communicate meaning and intent in original works of art.

Introduction

The unit will be introduced by having the students close their eyes and
imagine that they are Indians. They will imagine that there are plants and animals
and no buildings and that they go to get water and hunt for their food, etc. Then
the students will open their eyes and will be introduced to the unit. They will
create a KWL chart and watch a video clip. Then we will discuss upcoming activities
and expectations.

The unit will be concluded with a virtual fieldtrip to Miwok meadows to get
the students excited about their actual field trip to Miwok meadows later on in the
year. The students will then write a reflection about the unit including their likes
and dislikes about the different aspects of the unit and any questions they may
still have. They will then fill out a teacher evaluation, self-evaluation, and group
evaluation for all the group work they did.

I will differentiate instruction for students by utilizing multiple intelligence

teaching strategies and implementing Blooms Taxonomy. For differentiating
instruction, I will look at students needs and designed lessons and activities to
meet those needs. I will integrate many different types of activities and subjects
to encourage interest and engagement and consider intelligences. I will provide
support for English learners such as visuals, videos, discussion, reading, and writing
as well as art, math, science, technology, and social studies. I will assess students
both formally and informally throughout the unit. There will be many opportunities
for students to be exposed to the different categories of Blooms Taxonomy which
are knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Multiple Intelligences

Throughout the unit, there are several opportunities for students to learn
based on their strengths and needs. Although, this is primarily a social studies unit,
the activities and lessons will cater to the different intelligences. Students will be
able to explore their naturalistic, linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and logical
intelligences in the different activities throughout the unit. Naturalistic and
bodily/kinesthetic students will be interested in gathering materials to build the
houses of the coast Miwoks. Verbal/Linguistic students will be able to shine in the
various writing activities and the presentation. There will be many opportunities
for students to interact with others and reflect on their work engaging the
interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences. Students will be able to use their
logical/mathematical intelligence to solve math problems related to population
changes.
Blooms Taxonomy
The unit will incorporate the six categories of Blooms Taxonomy. Students
will have opportunities throughout the unit to gain knowledge, improve
comprehension, apply that knowledge, analyze, synthesize and evaluate. In the
various lessons and activities, the students will be recalling information,
discovering, observing, listing, and locating (KWL, input chart, videos, research).
Students will demonstrate comprehension as they read and discuss information
about the Native Americans (reading passages). They will get to apply this
knowledge through creating their presentations and building their house models.
They will analyze the information, and use old concepts to create new ideas as they
synthesize. Lastly, the students will compare and evaluate ideas as well as evaluate
themselves, their group, and the overall unit to provide feedback.

Technology

Technology will be incorporated through the use of video clips and chrome
books for conducting research. Students will be able to use the chrome books with
a list of acceptable websites to help them fill in a graphic organizer on their
assigned Native American tribe. They will then organize that information into a
presentation. Additionally, students will be able to look up information about
materials to build their model Miwok houses.
Differentiating Instruction
I will differentiate instruction for all students, including English Language
Learners and students with special needs. Each activity and lesson will include
multiple strategies and different forms of delivery of the information. Each will
have a visual, writing, reading, speaking, and hands-on component to differentiate
for different learning styles and provide necessary support. There will be a variety
of different groupings and pairings and frequent opportunities for discussion and
check-ins. In addition to providing extra support to students, I will create
extension activities to challenge students and enrich their learning. I will design
lessons and activities keeping in mind Multiple Intelligences and Blooms Taxonomy
as well as GLAD strategies to accommodate for all learners and modify my
instruction based on assessment and observation as the unit unfolds.
Assessing Student Learning Outcomes
I will assess student learning through the use of rubrics for the major
assignments, exit slips, and informal assessment through observation and checkins. I will collect student work, frequently ask questions, and check for
understanding to help inform and guide further instruction.

Reflection
I had the opportunity to plan the entire unit but due to time and scheduling
conflicts, I was only able to teach one of the lessons. However, I still enjoyed
planning the unit and integrating other subjects within the social studies topic.
Integrated units are useful for hitting a variety of standards but also for inspiring
and engaging students in learning. The lesson I was able to teach was on Native
American symbols. I had the students learn about some of the symbols, write
messages with the symbols, and then try to read and interpret each others
messages. The students were all interested and engaged during the lesson and they
had the opportunity to be creative and artistic. It was a powerful learning
experience and showed me how much time and effort is necessary for creating a
two-week unit but that it is also a fun process. Teaching this lesson made me
realize that the more lessons integrating different subjects the better because
students can form connections between disciplines and express themselves in a
variety of different ways while also progressing towards the academic standards.
If I had the opportunity to go back and do it all over again, I would
definitely try to teach more of the lessons and activities from the unit so that I
could gain some more experience of what it is like to create and implement an
entire integrated unit with all of its different components. Now that I have
experience in planning this unit, I feel more confident in creating units for my
future classroom.

Resources
Teachers Reference Materials (Textbooks, books, articles, websites)

Social Studies Textbook pages: 17-39

The California Native American Indian Series Called, Coastal Miwok by

Thank a Teacher
Youtube videos: Coast Miwok
Graphic organizer (attached)
Miwok Meadows website

Multimedia

Chrome books
Videos
Native American Tribe Website List for the Research Project
POMO
Search Pomo tribe
Scroll down to Pomo California Indians
Website: factcards.califa.org/cai/pomo.html
WASHO
Search Washo
Scroll down to Washo California Indians
Website: factcards.califa.org/cai/washo.html
YUKI
Search Yuki tribe
Scroll down to Yuki California Indians
Website: factcards.califa.org/cai/yuki.html
CHUMASH
Search Chumash tribe
Scroll down to Chumash California Indians
Website: factcards.califa.org/cai/chumash.html