While the materials used to construct a canoe have changed over time, its shape has changed very little. The canoe remains perfect in its adaptation to the environment of the Great Lakes, to portaging and travel through rivers and large bodies of water.
Here we will look at how exploring this perfect shape, and the materials used to make it, will provide an opportunity to study history and cultural intersection. This project is based on two premises:
1. Learning about traditional skills carries with it an appreciation of the past, and its presence in our daily life.
2. Classrooms need hands-on learning to engage students in diverse levels of understanding, and to provide opportunities for students to apply and demonstrate knowledge in multiple ways.
Below are resources that will support this study in various settings. In all cases, they are (or will be shortly) aligned to the Common Core State Standards. This site and project is a work in progress, and suggestions are welcome on our blog page.
We highly recommend finding a way to build a canoe with people of all ages as part of this process. Teaching with Small Boats Alliance showcases some exemplary projects and partnerships. The North House Folk School and Great Lakes Boat Building School are additional Midwestern resources.
Please use and share this site, and let us know how it goes. Please do credit site resources to acknowledge and respect the work of many.
The canoe above was made by Ferdy Goode, and featured on his site beaverbarkcanoes.wordpress.com.
Lesson resources:
6-8 Grade Math Curriculum and terrific resources from "Intersecting Art Ojibwe Curriculum" University of Minnesota
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Grades 6-12 ELA/Social Studies lesson using photographs, place names on maps of Michigan/Wisconsin, and Andrew J. Blackbird’s Grammar of Ottawa and Chippewa Language
Primary source document resources for lesson available here. Primary Source Analysis Tools from Library of Congress include Map Analysis Tool, Written Document Analysis Tool, Photograph Writing Prompt Template. |