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    Indigenous Groups of America and Their Importance

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    At a Glance

    Grades:6
    Subject:Social Studies
    Topic:Indigenous Civilizations of the Americas
    Lesson Length:60 - 65 mins

    Standards / Framework:

    Brief Description

    What will students learn in this activity?

    Students will explore the impact of one of the four major indigenous civilizations from the Americas: Olmecs, Incas, Aztecs, or Mayas.

    Know Before You Start

    What should students know before this activity?

    Students should have an understanding that many civilizations were present in the Americas prior to European colonization.

    Hook

    How can teachers introduce this lesson?

    • Present the four major ancient tribes that populated the Americas (Olmecs, Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs.) Ask students what they know about any of these civilizations. 

    • Read and discuss the sample comic about the Olmec. Center the discussion around present-day ideas or technology that stem from ideas and inventions from any of these civilization, e.g., concept of zero. Discuss their impact with the class.

    Activity

    What will students do?

    • Introduce the following vocabulary:
      • indigenous
      • tribe
      • Mesoamerica
      • ancient
      • society
      • civilization
      • agriculture
      • trade

    • Research the contributions of one of these ancient civilizations.

    • Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a three-panel comic illustrating the contributions of one of one of these civilizations, e.g., math, technology, literature, etc. 

      • Panel 1: Introduce your selected civilization. Who were they? Where were they located? 

      • Panel 2: What lasting idea or technology did they invent that made an impact on future civilizations? Describe it.

      • Panel 3: Show how we still use this idea or technology today.

    Closure

    How can teachers wrap up the lesson?

    • Categorize and display the completed comics by civilization.

    • As a class, compare and contrast the four groups. 

    • Have students explain which group they believe had the biggest impact and why. Students must present evidence for their rationale.

    Differentiation

    How can teachers differentiate this activity?

    • Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
    • Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
    • Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.

    • Assign students a specific indigenous civilization. 

    • Provide sentence frames as needed.

    Related Resources:

    • Comic to print or display: Comic.

    Related Content:

    Suggested Story Starters:

    Assign “Indigenous Groups of America and Their Importance”

    Related Ideas

    Think Like a Geographer

    Students will explore the interaction inhabitants of river valley civilizations had with their surrounding environments and how they adapted and innovated to meet their needs.

    How Similar Are We?

    Students will be able to compare and contrast cultural aspects of different ancient civilizations that developed around the same time.