RI.6.7

“Light Up the Darkness, Yurok Territory” © Louisa McCovey

Yurok Land and the California State Parks

RI.6.7, WHST.6-8.7, HSS 8.8.2, WL.CM1.N: Interpretive Communication

This middle school unit offers teachers a meaningful and engaging opportunity to bring California’s Indigenous history and contemporary partnerships into the classroom through the lens of the Yurok Tribe’s work with California State Parks. Through four thoughtfully designed lessons, students will explore the ancestral and present-day relationship between the Yurok people and the lands now known as Sue-Meg State Park and the Chah-pekw O’ Ket’-toh Visitor Center in Humboldt County. The unit highlights themes of land stewardship, cultural preservation, Yurok language integration, and historical reexamination, and introduces students to the significance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in caring for the land.

Picture courtesy of Dania Colegrove (Hupa) 2024

K’iwinya’n: The Preferred Acorn of Hupas (Na:tinixwe)*

RI.6.7, MS-LS2-1, MS-ESS3-3

Lessons in this unit could be used for a week, or up to a month. Students will receive a foundational understanding in Hupa culture, traditional ecological knowledge and environmental science. Opportunities for written/multimedia expression as well as critical thinking are integrated throughout lessons. This unit prepares students for the interactive “Life of an Acorn Game” unit. Authors recommended completing this unit before the game unit. Essential questions: Why do Hupa peoples prefer Tanoaks? Why should I prefer/prioritize acorn trees over all other trees? What are the expected results of promoting healthy acorn trees? What do I need to understand to unlock the acorn as a food source?

Exterior view of the Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple

Overview of Religion in Vietnam

HSS 6.6, W.6.9, RI.6.7, SL.6.4

Students will be able to analyze differences between the major religions in Vietnam, including Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Caodaism, Hòa Hảo Buddhism, and Chăm Islam, by conducting research and creating a poster.

Image of the Hmong diaspora from The Hmong journey: Hmoob txoj kev taug by Ger Thao.

Hope Away from Home

HSS 6.6, RI.6.7, W.8.2

Through oral storytelling and text, students will learn about the diasporic history and experience of the Hmong people, where they settled after being displaced, what hopes and dreams they had of traveling to new unknown places, and challenges they faced coping with life in their new homes. Students will create an Accordion Book to demonstrate their learning(s) of the Hmong diasporic experience.

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