4 Seasons of the Laguna Pueblo

Summer-“Grab Day”

DESCRIPTORS

Curriculum Areas: Social Studies, Language and Literacy, Math

Recommended Levels: Kindergarten-First grade

Time Frame: 30 minutes for 5 days

Tribal Affiliation: Laguna Pueblo

Geographic Location: Southwestern New Mexico

Developed by: Claudia Douma

Email addresses of developers: cdouma_2000@yahoo.com

Date lesson was developed: July 27, 2001

American Indian Standards:

Social Studies

Standard 6 Performance Expectations a,b,c K-4

Standard 10 Civic Ideals and Practices K-4

Language and Literature

Standard 1,2,4,5,6,14,16

Math

Standard 4 Mathematical connections

Standard 5 Estimation

INSTRUCTION

Goal: To promote cultural understanding through “Grab Day” at the villages in Laguna Pueblo.

Behavioral Objectives:

• Understand the meaning behind our “Grab Days” at the Pueblo.
• Learn the dates when “Grab Days” take place.
• Make a collage of items thrown on grab day (pictures of food items, kitchen items, etc.)
• Label collage appropriately by association (environmental print)

Prior Knowledge Needed:

• Participate in cooperative groups

• Students will have some knowledge of why we have grab days.
• Students will know of the saints for who we celebrate the grab days.
• Be familiar with environmental print

Materials and Resources Needed:

• Food items (fresh vegetables, non perishable homemade breads and cookies)
• Miscellaneous items (kitchen ware, bathroom toiletries, etc.)
• Water
• Community members and friends
• Honoree and family members (example: Saint John’s Day, June 24. A person who has the name of John is the person for who the family will be throwing for. See lesson summary below).
• Art supplies

Culture Content and Strategies:

• History of “Grab Day” told to the students by an elder from the community.
• Participation in first “Grab Day” of Summer, Saint John’s Day, June 24.

Lesson Summary and Performance Tasks:

Example of “Grab Day” is: Honoree and family members throw water, food items and miscellaneous items from the rooftop of their home to the people standing below. The family begins with a short speech to the people, asking them to pray for good health and abundance for the honoree and his/her family. In return the family throws the items to the people in thanksgiving for their prayers and good wishes for the past year and the coming year. The event begins with water being thrown with dippers on the people below, because it is the source of life to all. The family purchases items a little at a time throughout the year in order to take part on “Grab Day”. The people below (community members and friends) catch the items and put them in a plastic bag to take home. This event is one of the most exciting and enjoyable times of the summer season. Almost all of the Keres speaking Pueblo’s in New Mexico have “Grab Days” during the summer months, from June to August. At Laguna we have 5 grab days. They are Saint John, Saints Peter and Paul, Saint James, Saint Ann and Saint Lawrence. We have 6 villages in our Pueblo. This means that there is grab day going on at 6 villages at the same time. Grab day items may vary from Pueblo to Pueblo. The Elder who will visit the classroom will give this information to the students. After the students have gained this information they will make one large collage of grab day items using magazines. (Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens and grocery store inserts from the newspaper). The students will label items on their collage using their prior knowledge of environmental print. In groups of 3-4 students a survey will be conducted and a graph made by the students of the 4 Kindergarten classes on who celebrates this event. Each group will make their own graph.

Assessment:

• The students will illustrate a grab day scene.
• A standard Group Work Rubric will assess participation in cooperative groups.
• Appreciation of Laguna culture will be expressed verbally (observational assessment during the project by teacher, recorded on checklist).

EXTENSION

Technology Integration:

• Video camera may be used to record grab day event.

• Digital photos may be taken during the project and at the grab day event.
• Teacher/student Power Pointä may be created from digital pictures or from scanned images of the event.
• The students can show the presentation or other technology-based products to the school community during Native American Week in April.

Enrichment/Remediation:

• The students will display the graph and their mural in the hallway of the Administration building.
• Student volunteers from the class can share their explanation of “What is Grab Day?” with the whole school in an assembly during Native American Week. (A grab day is usually held during this week).

Teacher Reflections:

Teacher observations of student behavior and of their expressions during the lesson will show their understanding of the lesson and pride in their culture.

Observations of cultural activities are very important when the students are Native. Many of them can express themselves more appropriately orally and visibly.