Native American Tribe

For this jigsaw learning method we looked at Native American tribes. In order to complete this experience, the class was broken up into home groups. Within our home groups, each student was required to sign up for a Native American tribe which included the Tlingit, Lakota, Dine’, Mohawk/Iroquois, and Muscogee. For my expert group, I chose the Tlingit Native American tribe because going into this project I had no knowledge about any of the given tribes, so I chose one that sounded the most interesting to me. This group consisted of everyone who had picked the same Native American tribe as I did. Within my group, we had to research the topic that included the history, culture, geography, food, clothes, habitat/homes, famous people, and generalization. Each person was in charge on a specific topic on the tribe. I chose to research the habitat/homes of the Tlingit tribe.  When researching the Native American tribe it helped me develop content knowledge about the topic because I had to research and read about the Native American tribe to found out the information I needed. Once each person in my group did their research we came together to put it all together in a PowerPoint. When putting it together, each member talked about his or her topic and it helped each person understand the information before presenting it to our home groups. I think breaking up the information within the group is helpful because you aren’t as overwhelmed as you would be researching all the topics. It is also easier to retain the information. Once our PowerPoint was done, I learned a lot about my Native American tribe, as well as how its geography affected the way they lived.

   Overall, this was a great experience because I was able to learn a lot of information on different Native American tribes in such a short period of time. The jigsaw learning method also helped me interact with my peers better, as well as practice teaching in front of them. This project was one of my favorite ones in class because it was fun and engaging. I was not just stuck in one group, I was able to move around and work with others. When I become a teacher, I will make sure to use this technique because it was very beneficial and informative. However, I will make sure to adapt the lesson as needed for the specific grade level.  I think this project will help students learn geography because the students will learn how geography affects the way you live. For instance, I learned that the Tlingit relied heavily on their wildlife and the lush forests that surround them. These forests and wildlife help the Tlingit tribe create their shelter, clothing, and food. They also needed to live in close proximity to water to help them obtain the food they eat as well as the wildlife in the forest.