Unit: The Ho Chunk Nation
Grade: 4
Unit EQ's: Who are the Ho Chunk? What is their nation’s makeup and how was it traditionally run? What are their beliefs and traditions? How have their lives and land been shaped by the American Government?
Lesson 4: Treaties
Lesson EQ: How have their lives been shaped by the American Government? How did the Ho Chunk work politically with the government?
MMSD Standards:
Behavioral Sciences 1: Compare and contrast individual perspectives and differences.
Political Science and Citizenship 1: Identify the Major Wisconsin and U.S. treaties and how the affected Wisconsin Tribes.
Materials Needed:
Whiteboard/markers
Overhead Projector
Laptop
Copies of the Treaty
Objectives:
SWBAT: participate with the negotiation process of creating a treaty
SWBAT: Demonstrate their knowledge of treaties and their creation by participating in discussions and negotiations
SWBAT: Compare and contrast their belief of what was agreed upon with the treaty originally as opposed to what they received.
SWBAT: Express their opinions about how the lesson made them feel and how they felt about our activity as a whole.
Lesson Context:
This will be the fourth lesson in a unit about the Ho Chunk Nation and will last 2 days. The purpose of the lesson will be to familiarize students with how treaties are created and also dwell into how one party in power can use the system unfairly to their gain. I will also touch on dishonestly and using unfair advantages during the negotiation process.
Lesson Opening:
The teacher will begin the lesson by writing the word “Treaty” on the board. The teacher will ask the students to write down what they believe the definition of the word “Treaty” is. Once students are done, the teacher will collect the pieces of paper and read the students answers out loud to the rest of the class. The students will not be asked to include their names on the sheets, This will be used as a tool to assess the students prior knowledge.
Procedure:
1. Upon completing reading the students answers I will ask the students to share where they have heard to word treaty used before. Students will likely respond that they may have heard it used to end wars
2. I will then explain that a treaty is “a contract or agreement between two sovereign nations.” It is a legal form of how nations deal with one another. That Native American Nations, such as the Ho Chunk, are considered sovereign to the United States, they are considered to be a separate nation. Due to this, up until 1871, every tribe that the American government dealt with was done through a treaty.
3. At this time I will turn on an overhead projector and begin a powerpoint slide show. I will show the first slide, which has a direct quote from the Constitution; Article VI, saying that all treaties made shall be the supreme Law of the Land. The teacher will read the quote and explain that this means that all treaties made have the same legal standing as the Constitution.
4. The next slide will show 4 cannons or “standards” by which treaties are to be interpreted. I will explain that because the treaties were written in English and the Native American tribes did not always speak English, they had to have standards to use when creating treaties so that nothing is misinterpreted. I will ask for volunteers to read one at a time and at the end I will ask them if those standards seem fair. The students will likely remark that the standards do favor Native Americans and a couple end with “favor Indians.”
5. I will then explain that today they will be negotiating a treaty with me. The situation is that I, as the teacher, feel that I do not have enough room for my desk in the classroom and so we will negotiate terms with one another so that I may have more space in the classroom for my belongings.
6. The teacher will pull up a word document and will begin a discussion with the students as a whole as to what they will want in return for ceding their space in the classroom to me. I will let the students confer amongst themselves to discuss their demands and let them compile a list.
7. Once the students have completed their discussion and written down their demands I will ask them to read me what they will want in return for giving up their space. I will write down their demands on the white board.
8. Once all of their demands are written on the board I will intentionally begin to negotiate some of their demands and try to swing the deal in my favor. I will also be sure to use language and words when negotiating that the students might not be familiar with in order to gain an advantage. I will use words like provisional, compensation, equitably, and relinquish. The purpose for this will be to simulate using language that the students do not understand.
9. I will hopefully have timed the lesson so that the students will head to lunch and recess, and I will write up the treaty and print off one copy for the class. The reason for printing off one copy is so I can increase my chances of getting my way with the treaty as they will likely get impatient and not read all of the fine print.
10. When the students return from recess I will tell the class that I have our treaty written out and I will ask for 5 volunteers to act as the classes representatives. Those representatives will be responsible for reading over the fine print and their signatures will be legally binding for the whole class. I will give the representatives 20 minutes to review the document and sign it. The other students will be asked to grab a book and complete their daily silent reading, because I totally have that in this class.
11. The student representatives will read through the document and I will be there to answer questions they may have, but I may not be completely honest with my answers. If they have problems with the document, I can negotiate with them and make changes in order to make sure we both agree with what is written. Once the students sign the document I will ask them to go and do their silent reading with the rest of the class.
12. Once their silent reading time is up and before we move on to the next subject I will tell the students that the treaty is signed and will take affect tomorrow.
13. The next day I will set up the classroom so that I am taking full advantage of the treaty signed the previous day and will have a copy of the treaty printed out for every student, but I will not pass it out until social studies.
14. I will teach one subject and then will move on to the remainder of this lesson.
15. I will then hand out the treaty to the students and will ask them how they like their new, smaller arrangement. The students will likely bring up that I am suppose to have something for them in exchange for the new arrangement in which case I will explain that for any particular reason (their behavior that morning, wearing a certain color, or perhaps for singing) I will not be honoring our treaty. I am in a position of power and things will just have to continue on the way that they are.
16. I will ask the students how that makes them feel, in which they will likely respond that it is not fair, that I was lying, and that they not happy.
17. At this point I will offer the students a new proposal, I will offer to work on a new treaty with them, but they must give up more space in the classroom. However, if they do not want negotiate a new treaty I will simply force them into the hallway and they will have to stay there.
18. I will ask the students to turn to a couple of students around them and talk amongst themselves as to whether they would do it and why or why not? During this time I will walk around the classroom and listen to their conversations.
19. Once the students have had time to discuss their opinion I will ask them to share with me and the rest of the class what they would do.
20. Once they are done sharing I will ask the students if they feel that our treaty activity was fair or not and why they felt that way. What was not fair about what we did? What was difficult about what we did? What were the challenges they faced during this activity.
Closure:
I will end the lesson by explaining that a lot of the issues that the had with me while creating our treaty were similar to those faced by the Ho Chunk during their treaty negotiations, issues with unfamiliar language, different and new procedures for creating it, etc... I will explain that because they were not always familiar with English, they were often at the mercy of the negotiators or even the translators. I will then let the students know that in the next lesson we will be studying the treaties the Ho Chunk made with the Government and how they affect their tribe.
Assessment:
Teacher will informally assess the students understanding based on their involvement with class discussions and the negotiations for the treaty.
Grade: 4
Unit EQ's: Who are the Ho Chunk? What is their nation’s makeup and how was it traditionally run? What are their beliefs and traditions? How have their lives and land been shaped by the American Government?
Lesson 4: Treaties
Lesson EQ: How have their lives been shaped by the American Government? How did the Ho Chunk work politically with the government?
MMSD Standards:
Behavioral Sciences 1: Compare and contrast individual perspectives and differences.
Political Science and Citizenship 1: Identify the Major Wisconsin and U.S. treaties and how the affected Wisconsin Tribes.
Materials Needed:
Whiteboard/markers
Overhead Projector
Laptop
Copies of the Treaty
Objectives:
SWBAT: participate with the negotiation process of creating a treaty
SWBAT: Demonstrate their knowledge of treaties and their creation by participating in discussions and negotiations
SWBAT: Compare and contrast their belief of what was agreed upon with the treaty originally as opposed to what they received.
SWBAT: Express their opinions about how the lesson made them feel and how they felt about our activity as a whole.
Lesson Context:
This will be the fourth lesson in a unit about the Ho Chunk Nation and will last 2 days. The purpose of the lesson will be to familiarize students with how treaties are created and also dwell into how one party in power can use the system unfairly to their gain. I will also touch on dishonestly and using unfair advantages during the negotiation process.
Lesson Opening:
The teacher will begin the lesson by writing the word “Treaty” on the board. The teacher will ask the students to write down what they believe the definition of the word “Treaty” is. Once students are done, the teacher will collect the pieces of paper and read the students answers out loud to the rest of the class. The students will not be asked to include their names on the sheets, This will be used as a tool to assess the students prior knowledge.
Procedure:
1. Upon completing reading the students answers I will ask the students to share where they have heard to word treaty used before. Students will likely respond that they may have heard it used to end wars
2. I will then explain that a treaty is “a contract or agreement between two sovereign nations.” It is a legal form of how nations deal with one another. That Native American Nations, such as the Ho Chunk, are considered sovereign to the United States, they are considered to be a separate nation. Due to this, up until 1871, every tribe that the American government dealt with was done through a treaty.
3. At this time I will turn on an overhead projector and begin a powerpoint slide show. I will show the first slide, which has a direct quote from the Constitution; Article VI, saying that all treaties made shall be the supreme Law of the Land. The teacher will read the quote and explain that this means that all treaties made have the same legal standing as the Constitution.
4. The next slide will show 4 cannons or “standards” by which treaties are to be interpreted. I will explain that because the treaties were written in English and the Native American tribes did not always speak English, they had to have standards to use when creating treaties so that nothing is misinterpreted. I will ask for volunteers to read one at a time and at the end I will ask them if those standards seem fair. The students will likely remark that the standards do favor Native Americans and a couple end with “favor Indians.”
5. I will then explain that today they will be negotiating a treaty with me. The situation is that I, as the teacher, feel that I do not have enough room for my desk in the classroom and so we will negotiate terms with one another so that I may have more space in the classroom for my belongings.
6. The teacher will pull up a word document and will begin a discussion with the students as a whole as to what they will want in return for ceding their space in the classroom to me. I will let the students confer amongst themselves to discuss their demands and let them compile a list.
7. Once the students have completed their discussion and written down their demands I will ask them to read me what they will want in return for giving up their space. I will write down their demands on the white board.
8. Once all of their demands are written on the board I will intentionally begin to negotiate some of their demands and try to swing the deal in my favor. I will also be sure to use language and words when negotiating that the students might not be familiar with in order to gain an advantage. I will use words like provisional, compensation, equitably, and relinquish. The purpose for this will be to simulate using language that the students do not understand.
9. I will hopefully have timed the lesson so that the students will head to lunch and recess, and I will write up the treaty and print off one copy for the class. The reason for printing off one copy is so I can increase my chances of getting my way with the treaty as they will likely get impatient and not read all of the fine print.
10. When the students return from recess I will tell the class that I have our treaty written out and I will ask for 5 volunteers to act as the classes representatives. Those representatives will be responsible for reading over the fine print and their signatures will be legally binding for the whole class. I will give the representatives 20 minutes to review the document and sign it. The other students will be asked to grab a book and complete their daily silent reading, because I totally have that in this class.
11. The student representatives will read through the document and I will be there to answer questions they may have, but I may not be completely honest with my answers. If they have problems with the document, I can negotiate with them and make changes in order to make sure we both agree with what is written. Once the students sign the document I will ask them to go and do their silent reading with the rest of the class.
12. Once their silent reading time is up and before we move on to the next subject I will tell the students that the treaty is signed and will take affect tomorrow.
13. The next day I will set up the classroom so that I am taking full advantage of the treaty signed the previous day and will have a copy of the treaty printed out for every student, but I will not pass it out until social studies.
14. I will teach one subject and then will move on to the remainder of this lesson.
15. I will then hand out the treaty to the students and will ask them how they like their new, smaller arrangement. The students will likely bring up that I am suppose to have something for them in exchange for the new arrangement in which case I will explain that for any particular reason (their behavior that morning, wearing a certain color, or perhaps for singing) I will not be honoring our treaty. I am in a position of power and things will just have to continue on the way that they are.
16. I will ask the students how that makes them feel, in which they will likely respond that it is not fair, that I was lying, and that they not happy.
17. At this point I will offer the students a new proposal, I will offer to work on a new treaty with them, but they must give up more space in the classroom. However, if they do not want negotiate a new treaty I will simply force them into the hallway and they will have to stay there.
18. I will ask the students to turn to a couple of students around them and talk amongst themselves as to whether they would do it and why or why not? During this time I will walk around the classroom and listen to their conversations.
19. Once the students have had time to discuss their opinion I will ask them to share with me and the rest of the class what they would do.
20. Once they are done sharing I will ask the students if they feel that our treaty activity was fair or not and why they felt that way. What was not fair about what we did? What was difficult about what we did? What were the challenges they faced during this activity.
Closure:
I will end the lesson by explaining that a lot of the issues that the had with me while creating our treaty were similar to those faced by the Ho Chunk during their treaty negotiations, issues with unfamiliar language, different and new procedures for creating it, etc... I will explain that because they were not always familiar with English, they were often at the mercy of the negotiators or even the translators. I will then let the students know that in the next lesson we will be studying the treaties the Ho Chunk made with the Government and how they affect their tribe.
Assessment:
Teacher will informally assess the students understanding based on their involvement with class discussions and the negotiations for the treaty.
