Lesson 2

Lesson Question: What can Inuit life on Baffin Island teach us?

Standards Met:
Performance Expectations for Middle Grades: Theme 1: Culture, from EXPECTATIONS OF EXCELLENCE: CURRICULUM STANDARDS FOR SOCIAL STUDIES, developed by the National Council for Social Studies.

The learner can:

.	compare similarities and differences in the ways groups, societies, and cultures meet human needs and concerns;
.	explain how information and experiences may be interpreted by people from diverse cultural perspectives and frames of reference;
.	explain and give examples of how language, literature, the arts, architecture, other artifacts, traditions, beliefs, values, and behaviors contribute to the development and transmission of culture;
.	explain why individuals and groups respond differently to their physical and social environments and/or changes to them on the basis of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs;
.	articulate the implications of cultural diversity, as well as cohesion, within and across groups.

Standard 4, from LEARNING STANDARDS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS:

Students will read, write, listen and speak for social interaction. (Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.)

Students will be able to:

• research Inuit life and the Arctic environment;
• interview a younger child;
• write a children's book about Inuit life, using appropriate research and materials concerning Arctic living and the results of their interview with the younger child;
• cooperate in small groups (pairs) on learning tasks;
• create a rubric for assessment and peer evaluation;
• give and receive peer evaluation;
• reflect on the learning experience for future improvement.

Set-up: Read the children's book NORTHERN LIGHTS: THE SOCCER TRAILS, by Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak and Vladyana Krykorka (illustrator), to show students an example of good children's literature set in the Arctic. Show several children's books about the Inuit and place these books in a classroom display during the unit.

Teaching and Learning Tasks: In pairs, students will write and illustrate a children's book about the Inuit, using information they research about Inuit peoples and homelands and on interview with a child from the second or third grade.

The students will create a list of interview questions to ask the child in the second or third grade. Sample interview questions might include:

	.	What is your favorite game?
	.	What colors do you like best?
	.	How many brothers and sisters do you have?
	.	What is your favorite food?
	.	Which animals do you like best?
	.	What games do you and your friends play most?
	.	What kind of music do you like?
	.	Which toys are your favorites?
	.	Do you like dogs? Describe a dog you know.
	.	Did you ever move or travel to far away places? How did it feel being in new lands?

Students will want to record accurate answers in order to include the child interviewed in the Inuit stories they write.

A preagreement will have to be made with the elementary-grade teachers so that the students and younger children can be matched and no child is left out. Arrange meeting places with plenty of room and suitable furniture to accommodate the interviews and presentations.

Other tasks you might include:

• Listen to classical music as you illustrate and write the story.
• Include scientific and numerical information about the Arctic natural environment in the story. Include accurate references to animals, plants, and other parts of the natural environment, such as the tundra or flow edge.
• Illustrate the book.

Closure: Students will read their completed books to the children in second or third grade. They could also tape themselves reading the book and give this tape to the second- or third-grader as well.

Reflection: Students and teacher consider problems encountered and resolve to learn about improving lessons and work.