Indians of Indiana integrated unit : Honors 499 special project

The Indians of Indiana have played a very important role in the history of this state. Evidence can be found everywhere, illustrating the influence the Indian culture has had on the way we live today. Traces of Indian can be found in our language, government, food and even in the fine arts. Unfortunately, though, the Indian culture has experienced and still is experiencing a wide range of mistreatment and disrespect from the dominant white culture. Prejudice and disrespect comes from a lack of knowledge and understanding and the solution to this devastating problem is education. Teaching children at an early age about this fascinating culture and the Native American side to the story concerning the discovery of America could help prevent history from repeating itself. Educating children about the Indian culture would also help them to appreciate the culture and way of life. By focusing on the Indiana tribes specifically, the teacher can help make the learning experience for the students of this state a little more meaningful by connecting concepts to be learned with people and places with which they are familiar. This helps to make learning a little less abstract. Also, the topic, Indians of Indiana, is still very broad and can easily integrate many different areas of the curriculum, allowing the teacher a perfect opportunity to create an integrated unit specifically designed for his/her students.Integrated units offer many benefits to both the teacher and the students. For the teacher, integrated units act as a framework for organizing materials and activities. After choosing a topic, the teacher is able to connect goals and activities in a way that helps to organize thoughts and ideas, but integrated units also help to insure that all lessons interconnect with each other. David Cooper (1993) states the following in his book, Literacy: Helping Children Construct Meaning.Honors CollegeThesis (B.A.