3rd Grade Michigan Studies

Unit 3: The History of Michigan

SS030303
Lesson 3

Lesson 3: Traditional Stories of Michigan Indians

Big Ideas of the Lesson

Stories were an important part of the cultures of Michigan Indians.

Stories were used to teach lessons, to explain things and to pass along history.
Stories were passed down through time.

Lesson Abstract:
In this literature-based lesson students add to their knowledge of American Indian cultures in
Michigan by reading and analyzing traditional stories, such as Shingebis, and Legend of the
Lady Slipper. Students then analyze the strengths and weaknesses of traditional stories as
sources of historical evidence.
Content Expectations
3- H3.0.4:
Draw upon traditional stories of American Indians (e.g., Anishinaabeg Ojibway
(Chippewa), Odawa (Ottawa), Potawatomi; Menominee; Huron Indians) who lived in
Michigan in order to make generalizations about their beliefs.
Integrated GLCEs
R.NT.03.02 Identify and describe the basic elements and purpose of a variety of narrative genre
including folktales, fables, and realistic fiction. (English Language Arts).
R.NT.03.03 Identify and describe characters thoughts and motivations, story level themes (good
vs. evil), main idea, and lesson/moral (fable). (English Language Arts).
Key Concept
culture
Instructional Resources
Equipment/Manipulative
Chart paper
Highlighters
Overhead projector or document camera/projector
Student journal or notebook
Student Resource
Lunge-Larsen, Lise and Preus, Margi. The Legend of the Lady Slipper. Boston, MA: Houghton
Mifflin, 1999.
McConnell, David. Meet Michigan. Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale Educational Publishers, 2009. 64-66, 6972. Or other similar textbook.
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3rd Grade Michigan Studies

Unit 3: The History of Michigan

SS030303
Lesson 3

Van Laan, Nancy. Shingebiss: An Ojibwe Legend. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
Teacher Resource
Egbo, Carol. Supplemental Materials (Unit 3, Lesson 3).Teacher-made material. Michigan
Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum, 2009.
How Beaver Got His Tail. 23 November 2009 <http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-HtmlLegends/HowTheBeaverGotHisTail-Ojibwa.html>.
Lady Slipper photograph. 23 November 2009 <http://www.send-flowersonline.ws/images/minnesota-ladys-slipper.jpg>.
Native American Legends. 23 November 2009 <http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-HtmlLegends/Legends-VZ.html>.
Wargin, Kathy-Jo. Legend of the Ladys Slipper. Chelsea, MI: Sleeping Bear Press, 2003.
Lesson Sequence
1. Review the term culture and briefly review the cultural components studied in the last lesson
when students learned about the groups belonging to the Three Fires alliance, such as housing
styles, foods and objects they made. Explain that another important part of the cultures of
American Indians, like the Three Fires groups, were the stories they told.
2. Explain that stories had many purposes, such as the following:
Stories were often designed to teach a lesson.
Stories often explained things people didnt understand such as why there was
thunder, or why the leaves changed colors.
Stories were created to help people remember important historical events.
Stories helped pass time on long winter nights.
(Note that pages 69-72 from Meet Michigan or similar pages from another text can be used as
introductory information for this lesson if desired.)
3. Using Word Card #19, explain the term legend. Explain that many American Indian stories are
called legends. Explain that students will now have a chance to hear an Ojibwe legend called
The Legend of the Lady Slipper.
4. Display the photograph of the Lady Slipper located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 3,
Lesson 3). Pose the following question and ask students to write an answer in their Michigan
journals: Where do you think the flower got its name?
5. Read The Legend of the Lady Slipper by Lise Lunge-Larsen and Margi Preus or a similar
legend to students, stopping at appropriate places to discuss what can be learned about Ojibwe
culture and beliefs from the text and illustrations. Review the entire story using these questions:
How did natural things like the snow and the ice help her on her journey?
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3rd Grade Michigan Studies

Unit 3: The History of Michigan

SS030303
Lesson 3

What does this tell us about how Indians viewed the relationship between people and
nature?
What parts of the story seem realistic? What parts seem like fantasy?
What does the story explain in the end?

6. Display the Story Elements chart, located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 3, Lesson 3) or
create a similar chart on chart paper. Discuss the story by completing the chart with students.
Note that a chart showing sample answers has been included in the Supplemental Materials
(Unit 3, Lesson 3) for a reference.
7. If time permits, you may wish to read Kathy-Jo Wargins version of the same legend. This
allows for a text-to-text comparison of how different authors and illustrators retell the same
legend.
8. Ask students if they think the legend of the lady slipper may have been based on true events.
Discuss their responses and guide them in understanding that this story may have told of a real
village in which many people became ill. The main character may have been based on a young
girl who actually lived in the past.
9. Explain that the next story students will hear is a very different type of story. Show students the
cover of Shingebiss or a similar animal tale from a Michigan Indian group. Explain that this
legend is about a special kind of duck, a merganser duck, which dives under water to catch
fish.
10. Display the Glossary of Ojibwe words found in the front of the book and give pairs of students a
copy to share. Review the words and their definitions by asking students to try and pronounce
each of the words and phrases. Draw students attention to the section at the bottom which
describes how the moon was used to identify various months of the year.
11. Next, read the first paragraph of the introduction. Connect back to geography by explaining that
this legend, which describes how the duck survived winter, is an example of how animals and
people adapt to their environment.
12. Read students the legend and share the illustrations. Make sure to draw students attention to
how the woodcut illustrations of this book are so different from the illustrations in the Legend of
the Lady Slipper. Discuss the story using the following questions:
What were some of the ways the duck managed to survive winter?
What kind of things did Winter Maker do to defeat the duck?
Why do you think Winter Maker was so angry when the duck kept finding ways to
survive?
Do you think this story really happened in the past? Why or why not?
Why do you think the picture of the people ice fishing was included as the last picture
in the book?

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3rd Grade Michigan Studies

Unit 3: The History of Michigan

SS030303
Lesson 3

13. Divide students in groups of three and give each group another copy of the Story Element
chart located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 3, Lesson 3). Assign a recorder for each
group and explain that groups should work together to complete the chart. Note that a chart
showing sample answers has been included in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 3, Lesson 3)
on the same page as the examples for Legend of the Lady Slipper.
14. Give groups time to work, and then have them share ideas from their charts in the large group.
15. Explain that as students have learned from the stories in this lesson, stories can help us
understand about the cultures of the people who passed the stories along. They can help us
understand what people valued and what their beliefs were. Explain that they can also be clues
to the past. For example, the Legend of the Lady Slipper probably tells the story of a real
village of the past. Using a T-chart drawn on chart paper labeled Strengths on one side and
Weaknesses on the other, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of using stories as clues to
the past. Note that a T-chart showing sample answers has been included in the Supplemental
Materials (Unit 3, Lesson 3) for a reference.
Assessment
As an assessment, have students read How the Beaver Got Its Tail located in the Supplemental
Materials (Unit 3, Lesson 3) and then complete a Story Elements chart. Note that a chart showing
sample answers has been included in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 3, Lesson 3) to guide the
evaluation process. Note that depending on your group of students you may wish to read the first
page to students and then have them read the second page independently. A final option would be
to read the whole story out loud to students and then have them fill in the chart independently.

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