Expository/ Informational. Non-Fiction. Organizational Aids: Bold print, Bullets, Headings, Captions, Italics, etc.

Transcription

1 Unit: Pre Columbian Goal: The student will compare narrative and expository text structures. Materials: Legend, Non-fiction piece, venn diagram, journal/learning log Lesson: 1. Review the anchor chart on text structures. 2. Read the two types of text; The Three Sisters Legend and the Three Sisters essay. 3. In groups, the students will fill out a venn diagram identifying the similarities and differences between the two types of text. 4. Journal entry: Answer the question. The two pieces of text were about the same topic. How were they different from each other? Text Structures Narrative Expository/ Informational Practical/ Functional Structure Text Features Examples Focus of the text is on a series of actions Can be fiction or non-fiction Characters with defined personalities/identities. Dialogue often included - tense may change to the present or the future. Descriptive language to create images in the reader's mind and enhance the story. Fiction: realistic fiction, science fiction, mysteries, folk tales, fairy tales, and myths. Non-Fiction: reports, factual stories, and biographies. Text which informs or explains something. Non-Fiction Print Features: Index, Glossary, table of contents, Appendix, etc. Organizational Aids: Bold print, Bullets, Headings, Captions, Italics, etc. Graphic Aids: Diagrams, Maps, Tables, Charts, Photographs, Illustrations drawings, etc. Text books, Encyclopedias, essays, reports, news articles, etc. Text is writing meant to help the reader accomplish an everyday task. Non-Fiction Directions Instructions Description of task, event, or instruction to be followed. What, when, where Table of contents Instruction/operation manuals, recipes, rules for games, flyers, science experiments, road safety rules. Descriptive writing, compare and contrast, problem and solution, and cause and effect are also text structures, but they can be organized in a narrative or expository pattern.

2 Legend of the Three Sisters A long time ago there were three sisters who lived together in a field. These sisters were quite different from one another in their size and way of dressing. The little sister was so young that she could only crawl at first, and she was dressed in green. The second sister wore a bright yellow dress, and she had a way of running off by herself when the sun shone and the soft wind blew in her face. The third was the eldest sister, standing always very straight and tall above the other sisters and trying to protect them. She wore a pale green shawl, and she had long, yellow hair that tossed about her head in the breeze. There was one way the sisters were all alike, though. They loved each other dearly, and they always stayed together. This made them very strong. One day a stranger came to the field of the Three Sisters - a Mohawk boy. He talked to the birds and other animals - this caught the attention of the three sisters. Late that summer, the youngest and smallest sister disappeared. Her sisters were sad. Again the Mohawk boy came to the field to gather reeds at the water's edge. The two sisters who were left watched his moccasin trail, and that night the second sister - the one in the yellow dress - disappeared as well. Now the Elder Sister was the only one left. She continued to stand tall in her field. When the Mohawk boy saw that she missed her sisters, he brought them all back together and they became stronger together, again.

3 The Three Sisters According to Iroquois legend, corn, beans, and squash are three inseparable sisters who only grow and thrive together. This tradition of inter planting corn, beans and squash in the same mounds, widespread among Native American farming societies, is a sophisticated, sustainable system that provided long-term soil fertility and a healthy diet to generations. Growing a Three Sisters garden is a wonderful way to feel more connected to the history of this land, regardless of our ancestry. The Iroquois believe corn, beans and squash are precious gifts from the Great Spirit, each watched over by one of three sisters spirits, called the De-o-ha-ko, or Our Sustainers". The planting season is marked by ceremonies to honor them, and a festival commemorates the first harvest of green corn on the cob. By retelling the stories and performing annual rituals, Native Americans passed down the knowledge of growing, using and preserving the Three Sisters through generations. Corn provides a natural pole for bean vines to climb. Beans fix nitrogen on their roots, improving the overall fertility of the plot by providing nitrogen to the following year s corn. Bean vines also help stabilize the corn plants, making them less vulnerable to blowing over in the wind. Shallow-rooted squash vines become living mulch, shading emerging weeds and preventing soil moisture from evaporating, thereby improving the overall crops chances of survival in dry years. Spiny squash plants also help discourage predators from approaching the corn and beans. The large amount of crop residue from this planting combination can be incorporated back into the mound at the end of the season, to build up the organic matter in the soil and improve its structure.

4 Corn, beans and squash also complement each other nutritionally. Corn provides carbohydrates, the dried beans are rich in protein, balancing the lack of necessary amino acids found in corn. Finally, squash yields both vitamins from the fruit and healthful, delicious oil from the seeds. Native Americans kept this system in practice for centuries. They often look for signs in their environment that indicate the right soil temperature and weather for planting corn, i.e. when the Canada geese return or the dogwood leaves reach the size of a squirrels ear. Early European settlers would certainly never have survived without the gift of the Three Sisters from the Native Americans.

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