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Here are our "suggestions" for plugging Kit resources into the sample lesson:
The lesson title implies that the extended expository section about the Spiro Mounds is to be read by students. It might take third or fourth graders longer to work through the 67-sentence, 11th grade reading selection (Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level) than it would to search for information on the Internet, which may be a more enjoyable reading exercise. We recommend the text only for the teacher, as background. Have students search online for information they can use for one of the interpretive activites found at the end of the lesson. The query "Spiro Mounds" returns sites that contain both pictures and text, which students may find more interesting and accessible.
As a Snippet Sleuth activity, have the students identify related vocabulary that provides clues in the top returns about the Mounds (which could be used in subsequent queries). For example, here are the top four Google returns for "Spiro Mounds":
Spiro Mounds, Oklahoma’s only archaeological park, is a 140-acre site ... Spiro Mounds Archaeological Park is located 2 ½ miles east and 3 ½ miles north of ...
www.spiro.lib.ok.us/mounds.htm - 4k - Cached - Similar pages |
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The Spiro Mounds Site is one of the most important archeological discoveries ... This headline brought the Spiro Mounds to national attention in the 1930's ...
www.ou.edu/cas/archsur/counties/leflore.htm - 17k - Cached - Similar pages |
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Spiro and the Arkansas Basin. map of Mississippian world. Craig Mound as it appears today at the site of Spiro in eastern Oklahoma. In the early 1930s, ...
www.texasbeyondhistory.net/tejas/fundamentals/spiro.html - 41k - Cached - Similar pages |
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Spiro Mounds - Oklahoma's only archaeological park, is a 150-acre site ... Directions: Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center is located 2.5 miles east and 4.5 ...
www.myspiro.com/spiroMounds.asp - 28k - Cached - Similar pages |
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Just from these snippets, we learn that Spiro Mounds is a park in Oklahoma which has archaelogical importance. One of the features of the park is Craig Mound. By including some of the vocabulary words found here or in the lesson, other queries can provide additional information useful for the projects in the lesson.
Students should be encouraged to choose pages to read on the basis of information in the snippets: the third snippet seems to contain history (national attention, early 1930's) about the park; the fourth snippet seems to be directions to the park. One site says the park is 140 acres, another says it is 150 acres. Which is right? This could lead to an evaluation activity.
Not only does this blended lesson address the the original objective (gain an understanding of the past, etc.) it also helps learners develop and apply vocabulary building strategies, still using a whole language approach.
Original Lesson: Spiro Mounds; Oklahoma's Past Indian History |
Adapted Lesson |
| GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: (3-6) Whole Language |
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| OVERVIEW: To acquaint students in grades 3 or 4 to a part of Oklahoma's heritage by use of Whole Language techniques and Cooperative Learning Groups. |
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| OBJECTIVE: Students will have gained an understanding of the past by creating a part of it. |
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| RESOURCES/MATERIALS: "The Art of Flintknapping" by D.C. Waldorf, American Indian Books, 533 Summit, Webster Groves, Missouri, 63119. |
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| SPIRO MOUNDS Prehistoric Gateway ... Present-day Enigma (text omitted) |
In place of reading Present-day Enigma, students search online for information they can use for one of the interpretive activites found at the end of the lesson.
The query "Spiro Mounds" returns sites that contain both pictures and text, which students may find more interesting and accessible.
Snippet Sleuth: have students identify related vocabulary that provides clues in the top returns about the Mounds (which could be used in subsequent queries). See example of the top four Google returns for "Spiro Mounds" |
ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
1. Make a model of a Spiro village---include grass roof, evidence of farming, hunting and pottery making.
2. Make a three-dimensional map or chart of the Spiro trade network. Use real materials to illustrate your work.
3. Pretend you are an archaeologist. Use classroom as a "site". Write an exact description of all you find and then describe how you think they were used.
4. Write a story describing your life as a member of the Spiro village. Illustrate your story.
5. Compare and contrast other mound builders in other parts of the United States and elsewhere.
6. Do some flintknapping (read "Art of Flintknapping" by D.C. Waldorf, American Indian Books)
7. Corn grinding--use a matate and dried corn
8. Pottery making
9. Create a Pump Drill--an ancient tool that was used by Indians throughout the Americas.
10. Word Search |
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| REFERENCE: Hightower, Ernestine. "Spiro Mounds; Oklahoma's Past Indian History." www.col-ed.org: Columbia Education Center 25 January 2007 < http://www.col-ed.org/cur/lang/lang37.txt >. |
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