Exploring Maria Tallchief: A Dance Journey Through History
Guiding Question: How can we honor the contributions of others?
Big Idea: This lesson uses the story of Maria Tallchief to engage students in the idea of honoring the contributions of others. Students learn the importance of honoring their own backgrounds and the backgrounds of others. Students also learn how art is a form of personal expression.
Students will learn about how we commemorate historical figures through the life of Maria Tallchief. Students will learn the importance of honoring our own backgrounds and the backgrounds of others and how art can be used as a form of personal expression. They will read and watch a video about Maria Tallchief. Students will also learn what a Google Doodle is. After learning about Maria and analyzing the Google Doodle that represents her, students will create a Google Doodle for a person that they find significant.
45 minutes recommended
- Students will identify Maria Tallchief and how she influenced others.
- Students will analyze sources that include Maria Tallchief and generate questions about her.
- Students will create a Google Doodle to highlight the contributions of someone of their choosing.
Students should have experience with the Observe, Reflect, Question Protocol.
- Book: She Persisted: 13 Americans Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton
- Images of Maria Tallchief from Library of Congress
- Blog post of Maria Tallchief from Library of Congress
- Observe, Reflect, Question Protocol
- Maria Tallchief Google Doodle
- Maria Tallchief Google Doodle Explanation
- Google doodle examples
- Google Doodle Template
Ask students if they have ever heard of a Google Doodle? Invite students to discover the new term by discussing what Google means and what Doodle means. Write ideas on the board for all students to see. Then show students a few examples of a Google Doodle. You can look up specific days or have students provide dates to look up. Ask students to describe the examples. Use these examples to generate a clearer definition of a Google Doodle.
Next, watch the following Video about Maria Tallchief. This will help students develop background knowledge on her experiences and contributions. Before watching, tell students that today we will be learning about an influential women named Maria Tallchief. Also, tell students to be looking for ways Maria was significant. After watching, ask students to share aloud why Maria was so well known?
After the read aloud, engage students with primary sources of Maria Tallchief. This can be done in small groups of 3-4 students. Each group can get 1 photo of Maria from the Library of Congress. Engage students in the Observe, Reflect, Question Protocol. Remind students what it means to Observe (to notice something), then provide students 5 minutes to write down any observations from the source on their sheet. Bring students attention back together and remind them what it means to Reflect (think deeply about, consider why), then provide 5 more minutes for students to write down any reflections they have. Lastly, bring students attention together to remind them what it means to Question (look for things you want to know more about) and then allow another 5 minutes for students to record any questions.
Bring the students back together whole group. Allow time for each group to share a bit about what they observed, reflected and questioned from their source.
Show students the Maria Tallchief Google Doodle. After, ask students to make connections between the book, the sources they analyzed and the artwork in the Google Doodle. Ask students what the artist might have been thinking? Then show students the Maria Tallchief Google Doodle Explanation where the artist explains their creation process.
Have students turn and talk to answer the question: How was Maria honored in the Google Doodle? What other ways can we honor someone like Maria?
Lastly, invite students to create a Google Doodle of someone they find significant. Perhaps a family member or a teacher. Have students write a paragraph to go along with their Doodle that describes why they picked the person and how they are significant, and what they included in their Doodle to honor the person they picked.
- Google Doodle Template (above) can help students who have difficulty drawing
- Maria Tallchief Video
- She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton
- Maria Tallchief Quarter
- Book: Tallchief: America’s Prima Ballerina by Maria Tallchief provides Maria’s view of her life
C3 Standards:
- D2.His.3.K-2. Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped a significant historical change
- D2.His.3.3-5. Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities.
- D2.His.12.K-2. Generate questions about a particular historical source as it relates to a particular historical event or development.
- D2.His.12.3-5. Generate questions about multiple historical sources and their relationships to particular historical events and developments.
This biography is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Region Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University. Content created and featured in partnership with the TPS program does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress.
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