In 1850, the Territory of New Mexico was formed by the United States Government. This territory was not a state, but included present day Arizona, southern Colorado, southern Utah, and southern Nevada. Settlers from the east began moving to the newly opened territory. With this expansion, conflicts arose between the new settlers and the Native Americans and Mexicans who had lived there for generations. In the year 1864, 8,000 Navajos were forced to leave their land and march 300 miles to Fort Sumner. Your assignment will involve an investigation of this time period in our state.
You will need to complete individual and group assignments. The first assignment will be by yourself, the second with be with your group. There will be 3 people in each group. Follow the directions in the assignments section.
Each group member will choose a new identity and look at history from this point of view. Use your imagination and your research to think about what life might have been like for you if you had been living in 1864. Remember to examine the information you research from the point of view of your character.
After groups are formed, choose a cultural identity from the following list. Everyone in the group needs to have a different identity. You will be the same age and gender as you are now.
1. a Navajo boy/girl
2. an emigrant traveling with your family from the East
3. a Spanish speaking child whose parents own a store near Bosque Redondo
During the first part of this process, you will be working individually creating your identity and learning some background knowledge about the time period.
Then, you will work with your group members
to create a theatrical presentation which brings all of the group's
characters together.
Assignments
Record Keeping:
Each person will keep a notebook with your written work with these sections:
1. A section for work in progress.
2. A section for drafts.
3. A section for completed written work.
4. Note: ALL group members will need a copy of the final group project.
5. A page where you will keep the URL and Site name for the links you use in your research. You will also need to put references to books you use in this section
Make sure you describe each link you visit, as this will be part of your grade. Do not just write the URL or name of the site. You should give a brief description of what you found.
Individual Assignments:
*After choosing your identity, you will need to look at the web sites listed as well as books available from your teacher. You can also look for more information on your own, in the library or on line.
Step 1, Individual Questions:
Remember to answer all questions from the point of view of your character.
1. Describe the physical location of your community: dwellings, jobs, people who live there, etc..
2. What is your house like?
3. How are you being educated?
4. Where is your family from originally? What languages do you and your family speak?
5. How do you dress? Are there any special foods, celebrations or beliefs (including community and religious) which are unique to your family or community?
Resource Links:
The Long Walk to Bosque Redondo
Native American Concentration Camp
Off-line Resources:
Cohesion, inequality, and interethnic conflict in Territorial New Mexico / by Twila Faye Turpen
Women of the New Mexico Frontier, 1846-1912 / Foote, Cheryl J.
Dispossessed people : Settler Resistance on the Maxwell Land Grant, 1860-1901 / Maria Elaine Montoya.
Individual Writing:
When you are finished with your research, write a draft narrative (story) using your imagination and research. Describe yourself, your family and what your life is like. Make sure your work is at least two pages long. Include information you found from your resource, and the questions you answered. Concentrate on vivid descriptions which will help your reader feel what it was like to live in 1864 from the viewpoint of your character.
Group Assignments:
In this part, you will use the information you gathered on your own, plus work you will do with your group mates.
1. First, share your narrative with your group members. Listen carefully as the group goes over what has been written. As a group you will need to edit each other's work. Check for spelling, grammar and make sure the information is historically correct.
2. Homework for individuals: After group editing, make sure to write a final copy of your narrative and place it in your notebook.
3. When everyone is done with their narrative, you will write a play, based on your characters and the events which happened in the year 1864.
4. Your play needs to include all characters. Make sure each person has approximately the same amount of lines. Check with your teacher to find additional hard-copy examples of children's plays, or check on line at (link here).
5. Play presentation. You do not have to memorize lines. An excellent presentation will include more than simply reading your lines. Consider movement, simple costumes and sets, make sure everyone can hear your words clearly. Use expression and emotion throughout your presentation.
You will receive grades for each section of your work.
| Excellent | Good | Poor | |
|
Individual: Research
Writing
|
R: Student has visited all links and found additional resources. Student has kept complete records of links visited and books read. W: Excellent content. Beyond the basics, shows imagination. Few or no errors in mechanics. Narrative is longer than two pages and shows depth of character, vivid descriptions, accurate information |
R: Student has visited most links and found some additional resources. Record keeping is not exemplary, but most references are included. W: Content understandable. May be some problems with logic or flow of writing. Few errors in mechanics. Narrative is less than two pages long. Some descriptions, characterization most info is accurate. |
R: Few links visited, little or no additional resources are indicated. Record keeping is minimal or sketchy. W: Content unclear. Many problems with flow of writing. Problems with mechanics interfere with comprehension of writing. Narrative is less than a page long.
|
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Group: Editing Play: 1. Written 2. Presentation |
E: Students work cooperatively to edit all work. Serious attempts made to find each other's errors before asking for help P1: Includes all criteria included in assignment. P2: Includes all criteria mentioned in assignment. |
E: Total cooperation is not always evident. Students are not careful in the editing process and/or go to the teacher frequently for help without attempting to problem solve in the group. P1: Some criteria is missing, such as: not all students have equal voice etc.. P2: Some criteria is missing, such as: not all students can be heard during presentation, etc. |
E: Little or no attempt is made to cooperate in the editing process. Many mistakes are missed. Students rely heavily on teacher. P1: Many of the criteria listed in assignment section is missing or poorly done. P2: Presentation is hurried, thrown together and/or missing much of criteria listed in assignment section. |
| Notebook |
Now that you have learned about a conflict
between cultures in New Mexico's history, are problems like this
still occurring today? What about cultural conflicts which you
have heard about beyond New Mexico, in other states or countries?
Why do you think such conflicts continue to happen?
Resources and Teacher Notes
Grouping:
When grouping your students for this project, consider homogeneous grouping of students with different ability levels, interests and backgrounds. Differing ideas and experiences among group members will enhance the outcome of a project of this type.
Collaboration in the Classroom and Over the Internet
Anticipated schedule:
The amount of time needed for this project will, of course vary. The individual portion is designed to take 3-5 class periods, with the group paragraph editing, creation of presentation and performance from 1 to 2 weeks.
A note about links:
A difficulty of doing research on line is the tendency to get side tracked by visiting many links. For this reason, the designers of this Webquest have limited the number of embedded resource links. We felt this was especially important due to the age group (6th-7th grade) that this project was developed for.
On-line resources:
You may be able to find other pertinent links. Currently, there are many links dealing specifically with the Long Walk, few with other customs of settlers in the Ft. Sumner region during the period of the Walk.
You might consider printing the following link, which contains the actual treaty which was drawn up between the U.S. Government and the Navajos in 1868, and use it as the basis of a whole group classroom lesson.
Resource for ordering children's plays.
Off-line resources:
Please be sure to have a variety of books, magazine articles, simple children's plays as additional resources for your students. A list of suggestions follows. Many reading series include plays, especially for lower grade levels. You may be able to find resources by contacting elementary schools in your district, local theater groups or arts councils.
Curriculum construction : Resource Units
for a Junior High School Treatment of New Mexico History / John Paul Taylor
Cohesion, inequality, and interethnic conflict in Territorial New Mexico / by Twila Faye Turpen
Women of the New Mexico Frontier, 1846-1912 / Foote, Cheryl J.
Dispossessed people : Settler Resistance on the Maxwell Land Grant, 1860-1901 / Maria Elaine Montoya.
The Kit Carson Campaign: The Last Great Navajo War / Clifford E. Trafzer
Navajo Stories of the Long Walk Period / edited by Ruth Roessel
The Long Walk / L. R. Bailey
Grading:
The evaluation section may not be right for your assessment style or the requirements of your school. You may need to change the criteria found in our sample rubric to suit your classes' need.
Extension:
You may choose to have the children in your class answer the questions posed in the conclusion as a group, individually, in written format or branch off into a new unit of study.