LAI 521

LESSON TITLE: Introduction to the Iroquois

GRADE LEVEL: 4

ESTIMATED TIME:
50 minutes

OVERVIEW:
This lesson is an introduction to who the original Iroquois were. The purpose of this lesson is
to understand where the Iroquois lived in relation to the students.

PREREQUISITE LEARNING:
Reading skills
Reading comprehension skills

STANDARDS/BENCHMARKS ADDRESSED:
New York State Common Core Social Studies Standard, Framework 4.2a. - Geographic
factors often influenced locations of early settlements. People made use of the resources and
the lands around them to meet their basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter.
New York State Common Core Social Studies Standard, Geographic Reasoning A. - Use
location terms and geographic representations (maps and models) to describe where places
are in relation to each other, to describe connections among places, and to evaluate the
benefits of particular places for purposeful activities.

CONNECTIONS TO OTHER TOPICS/DISICPLINES:
This lesson incorporates basic geography skills, as well as reading comprehension and
critical thinking skills.

OBJECTIVES:
Students will know who the Iroquois are. Students will learn the tribes consisting of the
original Iroquois Confederacy. Students will also learn the relative location on a map of the
Iroquois tribes when the League of Nations was founded.

MATERIALS:
Map of the present-day United States
Unlabeled maps of the Iroquois territory (approximate time = founding of the Confederacy)
Pencil/Pen
Introduction chapter from If You Lived With The Iroquois by Ellen Levine
Which nations made up the Iroquois League? chapter from If You Lived With The Iroquois
by Ellen Levine
Half sheets of paper
Smart board
Picture of Red Jackets memorial

ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY:
LAI 521
Students will be asked to write down facts they may already know about American Indians.
Students will share their ideas by raising their hands and waiting to be called upon.
The teacher will record ideas in a web using a smart board.

INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN:
Students will read Introduction and Which nations made up the Iroquois League?
The teacher will show a map of the United States.
The teacher will ask students where New York State is.
The teacher will hand out unlabeled maps of the Iroquois territory.
The teacher will guide the students through plotting where each of the tribes was located
based off of the clues in the readings.
The teacher will ask questions relating to the land surrounding the Iroquois tribes to prompt a
discussion of why the Iroquois inhabited that territory.
The teacher will introduce the acronym SCOOM to help students remember the name of the
members of the League of Nations.
The students and teacher will recite the names of SCOOM to practice.
The teacher will guide students to plot the approximate location of Buffalo, Rochester, and
Syracuse on their Iroquois map.
The teacher will show students a picture of Red Jackets memorial and explain the location.
The teacher will explain that Red Jacket was a leader of the Iroquois who died in Buffalo.
The teacher will lead a discussion about why it is important we learn about the Iroquois.
Students will write two factual sentences based on their readings or map plotting on their half
sheet of paper.
Students will write the 5 names of the Iroquois nations on their half sheet of paper.

SUSTAINING, CONCLUDING, OR EXTENDING ACTIVITIES:
The students will tell a neighbor their sentences/facts.
The class will recite out loud, in unison, the names of SCOOM.

EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT:
Student ability will be assessed by writing two factual sentences about the Iroquois that refer
to the readings and/or map plotting activity.
Students will be assessed by naming the original League of Nations members with an
accuracy of 4/5 (spelling does not count).

REFERENCES

Levine, E. (1998). If You Lived With the Iroquois. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.


New York State Common Core Social Studies Framework Grades K-8. (2014, March 1). .

Retrieved May 10, 2014, from

LAI 521
http://www.engageny.org/sites/default/files/resource/attachments/ss-framework-k-8.pdf