History Pockets: Native Americans, Grade 1 - 3 Teacher Resource

My daughter loves using the History Pockets. We used the History Pockets: Ancient Civilizations, Grades 1-3 last year and it made learning a lot of fun. One thing that I learned last year was to make copies and gather materials the night before so that our activity went smoothly. These are great tools for all students.

I really like the History Pockets series - they're wonderful. And, this book is quite good and full of a variety of age appropriate activities that my boys really enjoyed. However, I question how some of the tribes were selected; specifically, the Seminoles of the Southeast Region. While the HP units can stand alone quite well as a unit study, I like to complement them with additional information and activities for my boys. I found it particularly difficult to find any complementary information/activities for the Seminoles. I think the Cherokee tribe would have been a much better choice. The same holds true for the Maidu tribe of the Californias - very limited information available to supplement. Also, I wish that this book had included tribes for the Great Basin and the Sub-Arctic regions. To include these two areas would make this unit completely comprehensive and thorough. Nonetheless, it is a good resource to have and follow as part of an early elementary study on Native Americans.

I purchsed this book for a unit study of Native Americans for my second grader and it is worth it's weight in gold! When I received it I wanted to start on it immediately (but we have to wait until September!) This book covers various tribes throughout Northern American with text discussing life relating to each tribe. Children make a pocket (folder) from large sized construction paper relating to each specific tribe. Within each section of the book a tribe is covered with special information about tribal life. It includes cut and paste activities to complete and place in each folder. History pockets could stand alone as a unit study for 1st-3rd graders, but could certainly be expounded upon with additional reading and activities.