Journey
5th grade students were reading journey stories in reading class and studying about the different Native American cultures in Social Study. With me students scanned, analyzed, and interpreted the Thomas Cole’s painting Distant View of Niagara. Students noticed that the Native American in the painting was wearing a bag. We discussed what he might be carrying and why. We then discussed if we were going on a journey today what would we want to bring in our bag.
Students then planned and created a parfleche bag. A type of leather bag used by the plains Indians to carry sacred and everyday items. They created their cover designs based on a symbol that represented their identity. Students then drew small images of objects that they would want to take with them on a journey and put them in their bags.