The study of myths of the Abenaki's of the White Mountains.

Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks:

• 1.3 - Apply understanding of agreed-upon rules and individual roles in order to make decisions.
• 1.4 - Know and apply rules for formal discussions
• 16.4 - Identify the adventures and exploits of a character type in traditional literature
• 16.6 - Acquire knowledge of culturally significant characters and events in mythology and traditional literature.
• 18.4 - Develop and present characters through the use of basic acting skills, explain the artistic choices made, and use a scoring guide with teacher-developed categories to create scoring criteria for assessment
• 19.19 - Write stories or scripts with well-developed characters, setting, dialogue, clear conflict resolution, and sufficient descriptive detail.
• 21.6 - Revise writing to improve organization and diction after checking the logic underlying the order of ideas, the precision of vocabulary used, and the economy of writing.
• 25.4 - As a group, develop and use scoring guides or rubrics to improve organization and presentation of written and oral projects.

Introduction:

In the Language Arts lesson for this unit, we will be studying the journey of Oral Traditions throughout the Abenaki culture. These legends do not stop, they are living, and they are forever. They were passed along on an oral journey from generation to generation over the course of hundreds of years. These stories were not recorded on paper until after European arrival in North America. They illustrate the core of the Abenaki values in a dramatic, memorable, and entertaining ways.

Some of these values are very applicable to the lives or our eight graders. Such as, harmony with the environment, cooperation with others, respect and compassion for others, self-discipline and moderation and balance, self-restraints and generosity. Behaviors that are consistently frowned upon include vanity and laziness, deception and waste, irresponsibility and greed. We are constantly trying to teach our students these types of values and it is extremely powerful for the students to see that the same lessons of morality were being taught hundreds of years ago.

The ways that these stories or myths are passed on, keeping traditions alive and teaching the same lessons to everyone that hears them, is a journey unto itself.

In this unit, students will read stories from the Abenaki tribes about the mythical character, Gluskabi. We will use literary analysis of myths to find following:

• Overall meaning of the myth
• Lessons being taught in the myth
• Environmental influence on the story
• Literary elements used

As two major assessments of the knowledge gained during this unit, the student will first write a myth and then as a final activity, the student will write a play based on one of the myths that we have read in class.

For the writing assignment, the students must choose one of the following:

1. Write your own myth, explaining some occurrence in nature. Describe what the earth was like before the events you will relate; then tell how the earth has changed.
2. Write your own myth. Create a character whose weakness is too much of one particular quality, such as humility, carelessness, or vanity. First describe the character briefly, and explain the character's weakness. Then tell of the specific events that were caused by that weakness.

For the final activity, the class will work together to produce a one-act play based on the events of one of the myths read in class. They will work in small groups with classmates to write dialogue and stage directions, choose and coach actors, design and make costumes, and design programs. The class will perform the play to the sixth grade students in the school.

Objectives:

• Students will explain how legends and myths play a significant role in passing on the the values and culture of a society.
• Student will identify values taught in each Abenaki legend studied.
• Students will demonstrate how values and appropriate behavior can be taught through myths.
• Students will demonstrate cooperative ways to work together to reach a predetermined goal.

Lesson: Drama Project

In this lesson, the students will be working on their final drama project. First, they will be working in small groups to choose the play that they will be reenacting for the students in the sixth grade. The students must first choose the myth that they are going to use. The only requirement is that they have to choose one of the myths that they have read in class.

The students first break up into self appointed groups of 4 students. They must decide among themselves which story to use and they must support their decision with reasons. Then the class must get together as a whole and each group must tell their decision. Finally, as a class, they need to come to a final determination using the conflict resolution strategies that we have learned over time in class. Once the class has decided which play that they are going to do, then they must determine among each other who will do what. For example:

• Who will play what character?
• Who will be in design and build the set?
• Who will design and make the costumes?

Over the three weeks, the students will be using class time to prepare for their performance. I will be available for questions, but want the students to really take control of the planning and execution. They will also, as a class, develop scoring guides and rubrics to assess their script development, participation, performance and group work. Their final grade on this project will be determined with these rubrics.

Resources:
Bruchac, J. (1985). The wind eagle and other abenaki stories. New York: Bowman Books.

Calloway, C. (1989). The abenaki. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.