Bats!

A few weeks ago, we read a story titled "The Great Ball Game". It is a Native American folktale about how the birds came to fly south for the winter. 

The story goes like this:

 The Birds thought they were the greatest. The Animals thought they were the greatest. After arguing about it both sides decided to have a contest to see who is better. If you had wings you were a bird. If you had teeth you were an animal. The game was set: carry a ball into the other side's endzone. Whoever has the most points will win and has to decide the fate of the other team. 

Along came a ... bat. 

The bat has both wings and teeth. The birds didn't want him because he has teeth and therefore must be an animal. The animals didn't want him because he had wings and was a bird. Finally Bear took pity on Bat and allowed him on the Animal Team. 

The Birds were able to carry the ball high above the animals, therefore making a point. The Animals were fast on their feet and were able to outrun the birds, earning a point. 

Finally, Bat got the ball, holding it in his teeth and flew toward his endzone, flying faster than the Birds, earning a point for the Animals, the Animals winnning. 

Bat decided the Birds' fate .... they must fly south for winter. 

The reading focus skill the week of this story was Plot - beginning, middle and end. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a bat activity and modified it a bit. 

Students were to divide their bat into 3 sections: beginning, middle and end. They then had to fill in each section, telling the beginning, middle and end of the story "The Great Ball Game".  (I found this idea of using a bat to tell Plot via Pinterest.)

Enjoy their bats!

Totem Poles

I know this isn't an original idea... but I'm happy I was able to think of it and use it. 

This week we read about 6 different types of Native American Indian tribes that lived in North America. We talked about how each tribe lived, how they worked, and about their powwows. 

One tribe that we read about, the Tlingit tribe found in Alaska, created totem poles. We talked about the meaning behind totem poles and what the animals carved into the totem poles meant. 

Students then were able to choose 3 types of animals that they felt described them as a person, color them, cut them out and glue them to their 'totem pole' (a piece of power towel roll). 

The kids were excited about doing art projects. We've done a few more, which I'll share as soon as I remember to take pictures of them! I need to do that before the project goes home tomorrow, as they're in the students' mailboxes ready to go home tomorrow. 

Anyway, enjoy the totem poles!