North American Indians

Third Grade
Elizabeth Breitbarth and Rebecca Evans

1. Aloian, M., & Kalman, B. (2006). Nations of the Southeast. New York: Crabtree Pub. Co.

(Nonfiction)

This is book covers many things about the Southeast Indians. It starts of explaining the

geography and Southeast regions. It continues to explain the economics of the Indian people in the area.

Every page goes into detail about an individual tribe. Their culture, language, work ethics, and more. It

then explains how economics changed when settlers came to their homeland. Furs and crops were used

for trade. At the end, it shows how the Indians in the area became civilized with the Europeans, which

led to the trail of tears. Last the book explains Native Americans today and to never forget its past and

culture before.

This book will be read in sections as the students learn about the Southeast Native Americans. It

will be read by the teacher to the students to introduce each tribe when learning about this region. It is

the perfect book to explain the differences in all the Southeast tribes that are similar in many ways. It is

not too difficult for third grade reading. Native Nations will be used in the classroom to educate the

students about the Southeast Indians section of the unit.

2.) Baylor, B., & Bahti, T. (2007). When clay sings. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks. (Informational fiction)

This book is about the pottery made, designed, and used by Native Americans. It explains how

clay is taken from the ground and molded into useful utensils. Then it goes to explain using the visuals

on the poetry to maybe tell a story. It uses the symbols found on clay bowls in the Southwest region as

examples. When they used the symbols to explain a story it was explaining the culture at the same time.

This book would be most likely read by the teacher. It is an easy reading level. It only can be

confusing to understand without the teacher being able to comment between pages and point out
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Third Grade
Elizabeth Breitbarth and Rebecca Evans

illustrations. The book talks about the carved illustrations and why they were on the clay pottery. This

can be read before allowing the students to create their own clay pot with designs. This could also be

used for the teaching of Southwest Indians in the Unit.

3.) Bruchac, J., & Goetzl, R. F. (2004). Many nations: An alphabet of Native America. New York:

Cartwheel. (Non-fiction)

This book goes through the entire alphabet; each page with a sentence pertaining to Native

Americans. Varying from different tribes, animals, and their culture. It teaches about all different tribes

from different regions and something they are doing culturally. Very easy for third graders to read. Its

entertaining knowing what letter comes next in the English alphabet and how the author incorporated it

to Native Americans.

This would be a book the students could read on their own. It has a variety of all different Native

American cultures randomly throughout the book. It is lengthy with all 26 letters of the alphabet being

used to give facts. The facts describe what is happening in the beautiful visuals. This can be encouraged

for students to look through in the reading center throughout the entire unit of Native American

teachings. It works for all lessons because it talks about different tribes in different regions in America.

There are hundreds of tribes and this book will give the students an idea of just a few of the many

Native American tribes.

4.) Carlson, L. (2008). More than moccasins: A kids activity guide to traditional North American Indian

life. Paw Prints. (Non-fiction) (Third-Fifth grade.)

This book is a guide or instructions to create crafts and artifacts to represent Native American

culture. There are even recipes to make food that was eaten by the Native American Indians at the time.

It has game ideas to play with students to help learn in a fun exciting way. There are instructions on how
 North American Indians
Third Grade
Elizabeth Breitbarth and Rebecca Evans

to make clothing from that time when the Native Americans had certain resources to make their

clothes.

This book can be used by the teacher to do activities with the students. To create a visual or

artifact that resembles the Native American culture in North America. This can also be read and looked

at by the students on their own time being an easy reading level ages 5-9. This book can be used in all

sections of learning about Native Americans in North America because it covers all regions. This book

gives the classroom opportunity to enjoy learning about Native American culture that we do not see

today.

5.) DePaola, T. (1988). The legend of the Indian paintbrush. New York: Putnam & Grosset. (retold fiction)

This is a story of a young boy who was not born to be a mighty warrior but for another purpose.

He began to paint. Every morning and every evening he would paint the sky. His color fell onto the

ground when he painted the colors from the sky. And the color continued to sprout from the ground.

and every spring the people prayed and thanked the boy for his beautiful creation.

This book is an easy level reading for the students. They are welcome to read this on their own

or it can be read by the teacher before a painting activity for instance. This book will be used when

discussing American Indians in the plains. This book shows visuals of the geography in the area, and

explains how they lived, what they believed in and their culture.

6.) Ekoomiak, N. (1990). Arctic memories. New York, NY: Henry Holdt and Company, Inc.

Arctic Memories is a collection of memories written by an Inuit man. In his short vignettes, he

describes the various aspects of his Inuit tribe and how they lived. The illustrations were done by the

author and show two unique forms of art: needlework and painting. The author includes many facts of
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Third Grade
Elizabeth Breitbarth and Rebecca Evans

daily living in a traditional Inuit home and shares what the religious meanings are for many of the

people. The book talks about some of the stereotypes people may have of the Inuit.

This book would be used with several other books to provide the students with information

about the traditional ways that the Inuit people lived. The students will each create a diorama of a tribe

that they have selected from the five regions. In this activity, the student will use natural materials to

create the dwelling, the habitat, and landscape of the tribe represented. This book would be a great

resource for understanding the lifeways of the Inuit people.

7.) Krensky, S., & Watling, J. (1991). Children of the earth and sky: five stories about Native American

children. New York: Scholastic. (Historical fiction)

The Children of the Earth and Sky is a remarkable book because it details the lifeways of five

different Native American Tribes through the eyes of a child of each tribe. In the stories, the children

solve different problems that come up by using the skills they have learned living in their tribe. The book

represents three of the 5 regions covered in our lesson: the stories about the Hopi, the Navajo, and the

Comanche are from the Southwest, the Mandan from the Great Plains, and the Mohican from the

Northeast. The illustrations in the book are very detailed and accurate.

The teacher will use the book as a read aloud. The students will be able to work as a group on

one of the five tribes from the book. They will read the story and identify the various aspects of the tribe

they study such as dwellings, food sources, economy, and how the people dressed. They will present

what they find to the class using a poster board with diagrams and examples of the culture about which

they are learning. The group will develop a pre-plan that includes each group members responsibility

and a timeline of how to develop the project and presentation. Each member will have a specific role in

the presentation.
 North American Indians
Third Grade
Elizabeth Breitbarth and Rebecca Evans

8.) Sage, A. (1997). I am Native American. New York: PowerKids Press. (biography)

This is book is about a current Native American living in America today (1997). It explains its

culture. It talks about what tribe Austin is from, Hopi tribe. He then explains where his tribe resides,

Arizona. He talks about the geography, housing, religion, ceremonies, and their culture such as food,

clothing and crafts.

This is a book that the third graders can easily read on their own. The book mentions culture we

talk about in the lesson such as pueblo houses, and importance of corn. This book can easily give a child

understanding of who the Native Americans were and are today. This book can be read in less than ten

minutes. It will be encouraged to read if/when learning about the Indians in the Southwest region of our

unit.

9.) Sneve, V. (1989). Dancing Teepees: Poems of American Indian youth. New York, NY: Scholastic.

(Poetry)

Dancing Teepees is a collection of poetry that young Native American Students wrote based on

original oral traditions passed down from their grandparents. Some of them were ceremonial prayers or

chants, and others are lullabies or tribal songs. In the Native tradition, words were sacred and words

were chosen carefully. The poetry reflects a variety of different tribes throughout North America. The

watercolor illustrations by Stephen Gammell reflect traditional symbolism of the Native Americans.

This book will be used as a read aloud. Prior to the students creating their own poetry, the students will

list noteworthy item they have learned about the tribe they have chosen to study. Then, the students

will create a journal of poetry that they have written. They will experiment with different forms such as
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Third Grade
Elizabeth Breitbarth and Rebecca Evans

diamantes, acrostics, sonnets, limericks, and haikus. After completing the journal, the student will

participate in a literary circle and share at least one poem they have written.

10.) Turtle, E.W. (1987). Keepers of the fire: journey to the tree of life based on Black Elk's vision. Santa

Fe, N.M: Bear. (Fiction)

Keepers of the Fire is a famous book that fictionalizes Black Elks speech to the Lakota about the

ways of Native Americans. In the story, the author takes a journey to visit all the Native Tribes across

North America doing all the things that Black Elk describes in his speech. The paintings depict the

customs and lifeways of various tribes and their villages. The author touches on many of the deeply held

spiritual beliefs of traditional Native Americans and their connection to the earth. Most of all, Blue

Spotted Horse is on a mission to the world to unite all people in respect and harmony. Third Graders

would enjoy the paintings and may need some help with the poetic language.

Keepers of the Fire would be a great book to use as a summary book for the unit on Native

Americans in North America. It reviews many of the tribes that the students would know, touches on the

lifeways and customs that they have studied, and emphasizes the importance of the traditions and

cultures of Native Americans today. Throughout the unit, this book could be kept in the literacy center

for students to become familiar with prior to the closing of the unit. The uniqueness of the book is a

starting point for any study in Social Studies as it connects the humanity of all people.