“SPRING-NEW
LIFE”
NATIVE CHILI
PLANTING
Curriculum Areas: Science, Language and Literacy, Social Studies
Recommended Levels: Kindergarten
Time Frame: 1 month project 2 times a week for 30 minutes
Seasons: Spring, Summer and Fall for observation.
Tribal Affiliation: Laguna Pueblo
Geographic Location: Southwest New Mexico
Developed by: Claudia Douma
Email addresses of developers: cdouma_2000@yahoo.com
Date lesson was developed: July 25, 2001
American Indian Standards:
Language and Literacy
By the end of the fourth grade, Indian students should be able to:
Standard 1: Listen for meaning and gain information from spoken English and a Native language.
Standard 6: Use a variety of strategies to gain meaning from text.
Standard 8: Locate and use a variety of texts to gain information, for example, historical materials about their tribe, tribal legends and stories and oral history transcription.
Life Science
Standard C1: Develop an understanding of plant and animal life cycles as exemplified in traditional American Indian concepts such as the Medicine Wheel. [life cycles of organisms]
Social Studies
Standard 5: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
Goal: To appreciate native plants
Behavioral
Objectives:
· The students will compare and contrast the seeds of the Big Jim chili and the Indian chili plants.
· The students will learn the Keres words for chili, green, red, water, garden, sun and farmer.
· The students will label pictures in English and Keres for the above words.
· The students will listen while a Laguna farmer explains how to plant chili seeds and care for them. He will discuss preservation methods for chili used by the Laguna people.
· The students will observe a Laguna artist draw a traditional Laguna garden.
· The students will draw their own garden and label with English and Keres words.
· The students will plant seeds in a starter planter with soil.
· The students will show the growth of their plants using a digital camera on a weekly basis.
· The students will print digital pictures, label them and make a nice cover in “The Writing Center.”
Prior Knowledge
Needed:
Materials and Resources Needed:
Culture Content and Strategies:
Having students interact with the Elders is very important because it helps to bridge the gap between the age groups. Elders have knowledge and wisdom to give the students, and they enjoy seeing and knowing the little ones.
Lesson Summary and Performance Tasks:
The teacher will
introduce the lesson to the students at the beginning of Spring. The first week will be for listening to oral
history of traditional farming and chili preservation. The Laguna farmer will share with the
students the basic process of planting chili.
The students will compare and contrast the Big Jim chili seeds and the
Indian chili seeds. The farmer will
show prepared picture cards of green chili, red chili, water, sun, garden and
farmer. He will teach the students the
Keres words for each and label each in English and Keres. The picture/word cards will be posted on our
Laguna Picture/Word Wall for daily viewing and oral recitation. The second week
will begin with an Art Lesson by a Laguna Artist. Using white butcher paper she will demonstrate a very simple way
to draw a chili garden, typical of Laguna culture. Students will attach labels to drawing (mural). Students will use a 12x14 sheet of
construction paper and markers to draw their own chili garden. They will also label the mural. The third week the students will plant both
types of chili seeds in starter planters and place them in our
backyard. They will begin the process
of taking care of the plants. Using a
digital camera they will show the growth of the plants on a weekly basis. All pictures will be printed, labeled and be
made into a booklet. When the plants
are ready for transplanting we will transport them to the Laguna Rainbow
Elderly Center. Students will meet with
the residents and make the plants a donation to them. Through an interpreter the students will explain our chili
project to them. The students will
transplant the starters in the garden at the LRC with the Elder who
takes care of the garden.
Assessment:
· Visual recognition of chili plants.
· Students will say words in Keres (Laguna)
· Checklist for plant description
· Correct labeling of garden picture
· Correct operation of digital camera
· Student participation in project
Technology Integration:
Enrichment/Remediation:
·
During the Spring
Season and into the summer the students will visit the garden weekly to take
pictures of the chili plants.
·
In the fall at harvest
time the students will assist the Elder at LRC in picking the chili.
·
The students will
bring samples of both types of chili back to school and compare and contrast the
finished product.
·
The students will
roast some of the chili and dry it as one way of preserving.
·
The students will
allow the rest of the chili to get red.
They will tie it and make a ristra (a string of chilies tied together).
·
The students will make
two 16x20 booklets to show chili planting and terminology. The other booklet will be students’
paintings of their favorite part of the project.
· Both booklets will be placed at the Laguna Rainbow Elderly Center.
Teacher
Reflections:
The teacher will interview individual students about what they learned from this project about traditional planting and preservation of Native chili.
Making booklets is an important skill for these students. It gives them ownership of their learning materials and makes them self-directed learners.