Activity 18: Tale of the Sun
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Every culture in the world has stories that are part of its history and tradition. These stories reveal information about the environment and perspectives of the people who tell them. In this activity, your students can analyze a story told by the Muskogee (Creek) Indians of present-day Oklahoma. Later, students can read and discuss stories told in other cultures from around the world.
This is one of 96 activities that can be found in PLT’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide. To get the activity, attend a training either in person or online and receive PLT’s PreK-8 Guide.
The PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide is a supplementary curriculum that is multi-disciplinary, with an emphasis on science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies.
Each activity displays explicit connections to practices and concepts expected by the following national academic standards so teachers can easily see where the materials will fit into their lesson plans:
- Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
- Common Core Toolkit, includes
- English Language Arts (CCSS.ELA)
- Mathematics (CCSS.MATH)
- College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies (C3)
Our professional development further demonstrates these connections, as well as to state and local standards, contact your state coordinator.
STEM: Tale of the Sun
Ideas to engage elementary and middle school students in science, technology, engineering, and math as they learn about history, tradition, and storytelling.
Word After Word After Word
Word After Word After Word Grades 3-5 Written by: Patricia MacLachlan Published by: HarperCollins, 2010 ISBN-13: 978-0060279714 Recommended Reading Every school day feels the same for a group of fourth grade friends: Lucy, Henry, Evie, Russell, and May. Then a guest speaker – a real, live, and well-known writer – named Ms. Mirabel, visits... Read more »
Circle Unbroken: The Story of a Basket and Its People
Circle Unbroken: The Story of a Basket and Its People Grades K-2 and 3-5 Written by: Margot Theis Raven Illustrated by: E.B. Lewis Published by: Square Fish, New York, 2004 ISBN-13: 978-0312376031 Recommended Reading A young girl sits in her grandmother’s lap and learns how to sew a basket made of natural sweetgrass. The... Read more »
Wishtree
Wishtree Grades 3-5 and 6-8 Written by: Katherine Applegate Illustrated by: Charles Santoso Published by Feiwel and Friends (Macmillian), 2017 ISBN-13: 978-1-250043-22-1 Recommended Reading This book’s narrator is a “two hundred and sixteen rings old” oak tree named Red. Red is a community wishing tree—and every May 1, adults and children alike bring their... Read more »
A Walk on the Tundra
A Walk on the Tundra Grades 3-5 Written by: Rebecca Hainnu and Anna Ziegler Illustrated by: Qin Leng Published by Inhabit Media Inc., 2011 ISBN-13: 978-1-926569-43-7 Recommended Reading Have you ever picked a flower because it tastes tangy and sweet? Have you learned how to prepare your grandmother’s most delicious meals? Do you know... Read more »
The Happiest Tree: A Yoga Story
The Happiest Tree: A Yoga Story Grades K-2 ISBN-13: 978-1600603600 Lee & Low Books, 2008 Recommended Reading The Happiest Tree: A Yoga Story, written by Uma Krishnaswami, is an empowering story of a young girl’s road to self-confidence. In addition to introducing the practice of yoga to young children, this story’s protagonist, Meena, offers... Read more »
The Three Questions
The Three Questions Grades K to Grade 3 ISBN-10: 0439199964 Scholastic Press, 2002 Recommended Reading A young boy named Nikolai seeks the answers to three essential questions. He immediately turns to his three animal friends and asks them: When is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is... Read more »
Mud
Mud Ages 3 and up. ISBN: 0152024611 Published by Sandpiper, 2001 Authored by Mary Lyn Ray Illustrated by Lauren Stringer Recommended Reading What happens in spring? What happens before the fruit blossoms, before the daffodils flower, before the grass even grows? Why, mud, of course. In this book, the earth seems to secretly thaw... Read more »
EE Resources
Native Land Digital
Curated and designed by an Indigenous-led team, Native Land Digital is a tool that maps Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages. Download The Land You Live On Education Guide for some exercises to increase students’ awareness of the history of the land around them, and for help with discussions about Indigenous history, geography, and the rich and diverse... Read more »
Five Ways to Make the Outdoors More Inclusive
Discover ways to help make our outdoor spaces, state and national parks more inclusive with these five ideas and action steps from outdoors experts and activists. According to the most recent National Parks Service survey, about more than 70 percent of those who visit or work in federal parks are white. Moreover, the outdoors industry workforce lacks... Read more »
Tree Product Images
Print out pages containing many examples of everyday products from trees!
Explaining the Sun
Here are some additional resources detailing how humans have historically explained the Sun.
How Grandmother Spider Stole the Sun
This simple PowerPoint presentation was created by Bea Futch of Cascade, Idaho, to help tell the “How Grandmother Spider Stole the Sun” story. The ordered animal images match with the tale’s progression. Meet the bear, fox, possum, buzzard, and, of course, Grandmother Spider.
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