Craft Lesson Three

Resources-
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. NY: Little, Brown, 2007.
Computer lab
Indian cultural items
Discussion-
Many young adolescents haven’t been exposed to Indian culture or reservation life. There are many preconceptions based on movies and TV programs that inaccurately represent Native Americans. This craft lesson uses The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to help students relate to and understand how real Native Americans perceive the modern world. By the end, the student will know more about Indian reservations, tribes, and their culture.
How to teach it-
To begin the lesson, the class will brainstorm anything they know about Indians. This will be composed into a list that will be kept for the entire lesson. The students will then begin to read Sherman Alexie’s book. After reading the first section, the students will use the computer lab in groups to look up specific tribes and reservations mentioned in the book. The groups will pick three interesting facts and present them to the class before the next reading. The follow up activity for the second reading would be to examine some cultural items Indians used in the past, as well as some modern Indian items (blankets, dream catchers, carvings, etc.). After the final reading, the class will evaluate the list they made at the beginning and revise previous stereotypes. They will then use this revised list to write a narrative story from an Indian's perspective.