Teachers select two workshop breakout sessions that include relevant and resource-rich experiences to support effective use of American Indian-focused classroom lessons and resources from Teaching for Change and NMAI. The goal of the Teach-In is to support awareness of the museum’s Native Knowledge 360° (NK360°) national education initiative and its classroom lessons to promote improved teaching about American Indian communities. Teachers play a crucial role in advancing the museum’s work to transform popular understandings of Native history, cultures, and contemporary lives.
Teaching Indigenous Narratives in the Nation’s Capital and Beyond
This year’s program features a keynote address by Dr. Elizabeth Rule (enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation). She will highlight the centrality of Native peoples to the history of the District of Columbia, showcase Indigenous contributions to the capital city, and discuss efforts under way to reaffirm D.C. as an Indigenous place. She will also explore what teaching about Indigenous peoples in the nation’s capital looks like in a modern context and how teachers can become allies with the Native community in D.C. and beyond by imparting lessons, inspiration, and empowerment.
About the Keynote Speaker
Our keynote speaker, Dr. Elizabeth Rule (enrolled citizen of Chickasaw Nation), is a writer, public scholar, policymaker, and advocate for Indigenous communities. She is the author of the monograph Indigenous DC: Native Peoples and the Nation’s Capital and the creator of the Guide to DC mobile application. Rule is an assistant professor of critical race, gender, and culture studies at American University and currently holds a social practice residency at the Kennedy Center.
Workshops
Americans: A Dialogue Toolkit for Educators Grades: 4–12
American Indians represent less than one percent of the U.S. population, yet names and images of Indians are everywhere—from state, city, and town names, to advertising campaigns, to the Tomahawk missile. And how about that heroine connected to Jamestown, Pocahontas? Join Erin Lee, an experienced classroom teacher, for a look at the Americans exhibition, with a focus on images of Pocahontas, that examines how Americans have always been fascinated, conflicted, and profoundly shaped by their relationship with American Indians. Teachers will also spend time exploring how to fill in the story of Pocahontas with the people themselves through Life Along the River: The Pamunkey Indian Tribe of Virginia a digital storybook and one of the museum’s online toolkits and consider how the questions and understandings about American Indians presented can fuel dialogue and learning in the classroom. Grades 4–12.
By the Book: How Popular Children’s Books Tell the Thanksgiving Story Grades: 3–8
How do we learn and teach accurate and balanced stories about Thanksgiving and the Wampanoag? DC Public Library Children’s Librarian Alexandra Genia (Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa) will dive into supporting question one in the new NK360° resource and the related ELA and SS Standards. Focusing on the children’s book Keepunumuk with this set of questions will teach learners to think about Thanksgiving books critically and to evaluate outdated and inaccurate sources with important questions in mind. NMAI’s literature rubric will also be shared as a tool for critically analyzing books about and by Native people.
The “First Thanksgiving”: How Can We Tell a Better Story? Grades: 3–5
The “First Thanksgiving” as a foundational national story is inaccurate and incomplete. Yet, the Thanksgiving myth is still commonly taught and can play an outsized role in the celebration of national holidays in schools. NMAI education specialist Nichelle Garcia (Winnemem Wintu) will introduce a new NK360° resource to help students and teachers dispel the misconceptions and misunderstandings of the “First Thanksgiving.” This inquiry-based resource will examine a more complete story through sources that add nuance, multiple perspectives, and age-appropriate detail, including Wampanoag voice and perspectives that have been largely absent in this narrative. Native Knowledge 360° (NK360°) provides educational resources and teacher training that incorporate Native narratives, more comprehensive histories, and accurate information to enlighten and inform teaching and learning about Native America. Open to all teachers but recommended for grades 3–5.
Identifying Indigenous Narratives in Children’s Books Grades: K–12
In “Teaching Indigenous Narratives in the Nation’s Capital and Beyond,” Dr. Elizabeth Rule’s keynote lecture for the eighth annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Curriculum Teach-In, Rule asked teachers to think about Native presence in the nation’s capital. In her workshop, Debbie Reese of American Indians in Children’s Literature will ask us to think about Indigenous narratives in children’s books. She will use Jacqueline Woodson’s essay, “Who Can Tell My Story,” to help teachers see whose story is being centered in classic and popular books found in curriculum materials, and identify Indigenous narratives in children’s books by Native authors and illustrators.
Native Words, Native Warriors: Honoring the Legacy of Native American Code Talkers Grades: 4–8
Alexandra Harris, NMAI senior editor and co-author of Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces, will discuss the history of code talking during World Wars I and II using the Native Knowledge 360° resource “Native Words, Native Warriors.” Rachelle Pablo (Diné), US Army veteran, will give an overview of the National Native American Veterans
Memorial, its origins and meaning in honoring Native American veterans. Bert Correa (Taíno), NMAI museum program specialist, will guide educators through the online lesson “Native Words, Native Warriors.” The lesson uses photos, primary sources, and classroom resources to support teaching and learning about American Indian men and women who served in the United States military.
Pipeline Protests: Putting Climate Civil Disobedience Into the Curriculum Grades: 6–12
This workshop is built around the documentary film Necessity: Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance. The film details the story of multiple climate activists, including Indigenous leaders in the climate justice movement, valve turners who use civil disobedience to stop the flow of oil, and legal teams that use the “necessity defense” in the courts. Participants will deepen their understanding of this intricate story through role-play exercises where they take on the perspectives of real-life subjects from the film. Attendees will gain a stronger foundation for teaching about climate change and the environmental crisis. Facilitated by Suzanna Kassouf, high school teacher, Zinn Education Project Prentiss Charney Fellow, and Rethinking Schools contributor.
Teaching Indigenous Central America Grades: 1–12
Many students in U.S. classrooms can trace their roots to Central American countries, yet the history of the region is largely absent from the curriculum. There is even less regional-specific content focused on Central America’s rich and centuries-old Indigenous cultures, such as the Mayans. This interactive session will provide teachers with strategies and resources from Native Knowledge 360⁰ for introducing the Indigenous history of Central America in their classroom. Participants will explore the Popol Vuh, the Maya origin story, which highlights the importance of corn and nature to the Maya and other Indigenous communities. They will also learn about the Garifuna, an Afro-Caribbean culture in Central America. This workshop will help teachers share with their students a deeper understanding of Indigenous communities throughout the Americas and the challenges they face today. Facilitated by Jonathan Peraza Campos, middle school teacher and Teach Central America program specialist.
Zitkala-Ša: From Reservation to Boarding School to Washington, DC Grades: 3–12
Participants will engage in a lesson that demonstrates how to use contemporary and historical sources to explore the meaning and legacy of boarding schools. The lesson will showcase a connection to local D.C. history through the extraordinary life and work of Zitkala-Ša. We will analyze a piece of boarding schools-themed artwork by renowned mixed media artist Shan Goshorn from her series “Resisting the Mission; Filling the Silence.” The session will include an examination of Zitkala-Ša’s experiences as a student and teacher at Indian boarding schools. Teachers will learn about Ša’s rejection of forced cultural assimilation and her tireless advocacy for Indigenous sovereignty and power through her work with the Society of American Indians, her founding of the National Council of American Indians, and her fight for the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. Participants will walk away with classroom-ready resources that underscore how Native people resisted settler colonialism and how Indigenous histories are an integral part of local Washington, D.C., history. Facilitated by Tiferet Ani, high school social studies educator, curriculum developer, Zinn Education Project Prentiss Charney Fellow.
2024 Native Knowledge 360° Teach-In
2024 Native Knowledge 360° Teach-In
Register | Schedule | Keynote | Workshops
ONLINE via ZOOM
Saturday, November 2, 2024
12:00PM – 3:00PM ET / 9:00AM – 12:00PM PT
The annual 2024 Native Knowledge 360° Teach-In, hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in collaboration with Teaching for Change, is an opportunity for educators around the world to access classroom resources from NMAI’s online education portal Native Knowledge 360°, the Zinn Education Project, and more. This event will be hosted ONLINE via Zoom.
Teachers select two workshop breakout sessions that include relevant and resource-rich experiences to support effective use of American Indian-focused classroom lessons and resources from Teaching for Change and NMAI. The goal of the Teach-In is to support awareness of the museum’s Native Knowledge 360° (NK360°) national education initiative and its classroom lessons to promote improved teaching about American Indian communities. Teachers play a crucial role in advancing the museum’s work to transform popular understandings of Native history, cultures, and contemporary lives.
Teaching for Change and NMAI museum educators will share key concepts from NMAI’s Essential Understandings Framework, children’s literature from Social Justice Books, and classroom materials from NMAI’s Native Knowledge 360° education initiative. See highlights from the 2023 Native Knowledge 360° & Teaching for Change Teach-In.
Professional development credit and ASL interpretation will be available.
Register Today!
Schedule
EASTERN TIME
12:00 PM – 12:35 PM: Welcome & Keynote Address
12:40 PM – 1:30 PM: Workshops Round One
1:35 PM – 2:25 PM: Workshops Round Two
2:25 PM– 2:35 PM: Evaluation
2:35 PM – 3:00 PM: Grade Level Collaboration and Resource Exchange
Keynote
Teaching Indigenous Narratives in the Nation’s Capital and Beyond
This year’s program features a keynote address by Dr. Elizabeth Rule (enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation). She will highlight the centrality of Native peoples to the history of the District of Columbia, showcase Indigenous contributions to the capital city, and discuss efforts under way to reaffirm D.C. as an Indigenous place. She will also explore what teaching about Indigenous peoples in the nation’s capital looks like in a modern context and how teachers can become allies with the Native community in D.C. and beyond by imparting lessons, inspiration, and empowerment.
About the Keynote Speaker
Our keynote speaker, Dr. Elizabeth Rule (enrolled citizen of Chickasaw Nation), is a writer, public scholar, policymaker, and advocate for Indigenous communities. She is the author of the monograph Indigenous DC: Native Peoples and the Nation’s Capital and the creator of the Guide to DC mobile application. Rule is an assistant professor of critical race, gender, and culture studies at American University and currently holds a social practice residency at the Kennedy Center.
Workshops
Americans: A Dialogue Toolkit for Educators
Grades: 4–12
American Indians represent less than one percent of the U.S. population, yet names and images of Indians are everywhere—from state, city, and town names, to advertising campaigns, to the Tomahawk missile. And how about that heroine connected to Jamestown, Pocahontas? Join Erin Lee, an experienced classroom teacher, for a look at the Americans exhibition, with a focus on images of Pocahontas, that examines how Americans have always been fascinated, conflicted, and profoundly shaped by their relationship with American Indians. Teachers will also spend time exploring how to fill in the story of Pocahontas with the people themselves through Life Along the River: The Pamunkey Indian Tribe of Virginia a digital storybook and one of the museum’s online toolkits and consider how the questions and understandings about American Indians presented can fuel dialogue and learning in the classroom. Grades 4–12.
By the Book: How Popular Children’s Books Tell the Thanksgiving Story
Grades: 3–8
How do we learn and teach accurate and balanced stories about Thanksgiving and the Wampanoag? DC Public Library Children’s Librarian Alexandra Genia (Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa) will dive into supporting question one in the new NK360° resource and the related ELA and SS Standards. Focusing on the children’s book Keepunumuk with this set of questions will teach learners to think about Thanksgiving books critically and to evaluate outdated and inaccurate sources with important questions in mind. NMAI’s literature rubric will also be shared as a tool for critically analyzing books about and by Native people.
The “First Thanksgiving”: How Can We Tell a Better Story?
Grades: 3–5
The “First Thanksgiving” as a foundational national story is inaccurate and incomplete. Yet, the Thanksgiving myth is still commonly taught and can play an outsized role in the celebration of national holidays in schools. NMAI education specialist Nichelle Garcia (Winnemem Wintu) will introduce a new NK360° resource to help students and teachers dispel the misconceptions and misunderstandings of the “First Thanksgiving.” This inquiry-based resource will examine a more complete story through sources that add nuance, multiple perspectives, and age-appropriate detail, including Wampanoag voice and perspectives that have been largely absent in this narrative. Native Knowledge 360° (NK360°) provides educational resources and teacher training that incorporate Native narratives, more comprehensive histories, and accurate
information to enlighten and inform teaching and learning about Native America. Open to all teachers but recommended for grades 3–5.
Identifying Indigenous Narratives in Children’s Books
Grades: K–12
In “Teaching Indigenous Narratives in the Nation’s Capital and Beyond,” Dr. Elizabeth Rule’s keynote lecture for the eighth annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Curriculum Teach-In, Rule asked teachers to think about Native presence in the nation’s capital. In her workshop, Debbie Reese of American Indians in Children’s Literature will ask us to think about Indigenous narratives in children’s books. She will use Jacqueline Woodson’s essay, “Who Can Tell My Story,” to help teachers see whose story is being centered in classic and popular books found in curriculum materials, and identify Indigenous narratives in children’s books by Native authors
and illustrators.
Native Words, Native Warriors: Honoring the Legacy of Native American Code Talkers
Grades: 4–8
Alexandra Harris, NMAI senior editor and co-author of Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces, will discuss the history of code talking during World Wars I and II using the Native Knowledge 360° resource “Native Words, Native Warriors.” Rachelle Pablo (Diné), US Army veteran, will give an overview of the National Native American Veterans
Memorial, its origins and meaning in honoring Native American veterans. Bert Correa (Taíno), NMAI museum program specialist, will guide educators through the online lesson “Native Words, Native Warriors.” The lesson uses photos, primary sources, and classroom resources to support teaching and learning about American Indian men and women who served in the United
States military.
Pipeline Protests: Putting Climate Civil Disobedience Into the Curriculum
Grades: 6–12
This workshop is built around the documentary film Necessity: Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance. The film details the story of multiple climate activists, including Indigenous leaders in the climate justice movement, valve turners who use civil disobedience to stop the flow of oil, and legal teams that use the “necessity defense” in the courts. Participants will deepen their understanding of this intricate story through role-play exercises where they take on the perspectives of real-life subjects from the film. Attendees will gain a stronger foundation for teaching about climate change and the environmental crisis. Facilitated by Suzanna Kassouf,
high school teacher, Zinn Education Project Prentiss Charney Fellow, and Rethinking Schools contributor.
Teaching Indigenous Central America
Grades: 1–12
Many students in U.S. classrooms can trace their roots to Central American countries, yet the history of the region is largely absent from the curriculum. There is even less regional-specific content focused on Central America’s rich and centuries-old Indigenous cultures, such as the Mayans. This interactive session will provide teachers with strategies and resources from Native Knowledge 360⁰ for introducing the Indigenous history of Central America in their classroom. Participants will explore the Popol Vuh, the Maya origin story, which highlights the importance of corn and nature to the Maya and other Indigenous communities. They will also learn about the Garifuna, an Afro-Caribbean culture in Central America. This workshop will help teachers share with their students a deeper understanding of Indigenous communities throughout the Americas and the challenges they face today. Facilitated by Jonathan Peraza Campos, middle school teacher and Teach Central America program specialist.
Zitkala-Ša: From Reservation to Boarding School to Washington, DC
Grades: 3–12
Participants will engage in a lesson that demonstrates how to use contemporary and historical sources to explore the meaning and legacy of boarding schools. The lesson will showcase a connection to local D.C. history through the extraordinary life and work of Zitkala-Ša. We will analyze a piece of boarding schools-themed artwork by renowned mixed media artist Shan Goshorn from her series “Resisting the Mission; Filling the Silence.” The session will include an examination of Zitkala-Ša’s experiences as a student and teacher at Indian boarding schools. Teachers will learn about Ša’s rejection of forced cultural assimilation and her tireless advocacy for Indigenous sovereignty and power through her work with the Society of American Indians, her founding of the National Council of American Indians, and her fight for the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. Participants will walk away with classroom-ready resources that underscore how Native people resisted settler colonialism and how Indigenous histories are an integral part of local Washington, D.C., history. Facilitated by Tiferet Ani, high school social studies educator, curriculum developer, Zinn Education Project Prentiss Charney Fellow.
Posted: September 18, 2024