Becoming a Mohican

May 15, 2009

How do you transform a group of 2/3's into Mohican Indians? How do you help them to think, live and breathe as a Mohican? By immersing the children in first hand accounts of the culture and exposing the class to real life experiences.

When Lynn and I began thinking about the unit on the Mohicans and the Dutch, we both felt strongly that it should be an "experiential" adventure as opposed to a research intensive theme. Information about the migration of people and the topography of our area was read and discussed as we began to learn why people settled in the Albany area. We read journal records written by Dutch settlers describing the Mohican culture they encountered. With prompts, the children have created a Mohican persona, and used their imagination and the information learned to write journal entries as their fictional character. We asked the class their impressions of journal writing. Here are the thoughts of some of the children:"When I'm writing, I feel like I'm actually there"-Hunter, "It was interesting back in those times"-Veda, "I feel like I'm in the action, actually doing what the Mohicans did"-Justin, "I feel like I am living in the times"-Zian. When Lynn and I read the entries, we feel the same. The children have done an incredible job of writing in the voices of their characters-we actually have a very hard time waiting for the next entry!

The children have been interested in the types of clothing both the Mohicans and the Dutch wore. As part of their study, each class member had his/her body traced by a buddy. Some in the class will turn their tracings into Mohicans and others will become Dutch settlers. We can not wait to learn who picks what to be.

In science, the children have touched on the type of tools the Mohicans used when gardening and learned about the foods the tribe grew. They have planted seeds indoors for a Three Sisters Garden and are anxiously awaiting the warmer temperatures so the seedlings can be planted outdoors.

Our trip to Mabee Farms gave us the opportunity to learn about Mohican and Dutch life along the Mohawk River 400 years ago. This first hand experience launched a long list of learned information and new ideas on how to present this knowledge for our June 5th show of work.

The children went to Susie with their ideas about Mohican artifacts they wanted to create. There is everything from a bow to a stuffed deer head. A multitude of projects!

And after much “bark” painting, bending and binding of “saplings”, and cooperating with each other as we attached the bark to the frame, our wigwam is complete. Many thought putting the structure together was challenging, and we had modern tools.

They definitly gained insight and an appreciation for the Mohican way of life. e

The wigwam has now become the favorite reading spot!

The exctiement about learning continues, the ideas keep exploding to the surface-what a wonderful group!!! We have begun moving into the Dutch phase of our study and Lynn will fill you in on that in a few weeks. Lynne