Walking on Earth and Touching the Sky

Walking on Earth and Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School

Edited By Timothy P. McLaughlin, Paintings by S.D. Nelson

Abrams Books for Young Readers, New York, NY

2012

Reading Levels: Lexile- N/A , Grade- 4

Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2013

“identity, Lakota, children, culture, community”

This is an exceptional poetry collection written by Lakota students in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The historic school was founded in 1888 at the request of Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota. The poems enable readers to learn about the unique lives and heritage of students growing up in such distinctive circumstances and straddling cultures. The collection was compiled by a teacher at the school, working with school administrators, and contains never-before-published artworks by award-winning artist S. D. Nelson.

Suggested Delivery: read aloud selections, encourage independent reading

Electronic Resources:

1. http://www.redcloudschool.org/page.aspx?pid=474

This is the Red Cloud Indian School’s official website, the school from which the students who wrote the poetry in the collective attended. The website provides a lot of information for both teachers and students about the Lakota people, as well as the school and their mission and successes. The website also provides a history of the Lakota people and information on their heritage.  This website could be used by teacher for information to assemble lesson plans or to present to students to build prior knowledge before reading.

2. http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/native-american-and-alaska-native-heritage-month-grades-k-5.html

This site provides a list of teacher resources and lesson plans that can be used to teach Native American studies to elementary students. The lessons cover a wide range of topics from history, culture, and current issues. Many of the lesson ideas would pair well with this text to create a meaningful ELA and social studies lesson.

Teaching Suggestions:

1. Vocabulary:

• Perspective: a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view
• Insight: a deep understanding of a person or thing
• Reservation: a legal designation for an area of land managed by a Native American tribe
• Assimilation: The process by which a person or persons acquire the social and psychological characteristics of a group
• Indigenous: originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.
• Resilient: able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.
• Poverty: the state of being extremely poor.

2. Before, During, and After Reading Suggestions

Before Reading:

Before reading poetry selections, introduce the text by reading aloud the Foreword and Introduction to the book by Timothy P. McLaughlin. The introduction to the book provides content background knowledge of the Lakota people and their culture, history, and struggles in the present day. The foreword presents a clear purpose for reading and places emphasis on themes and symbols to look for in the poetry.  While reading each selection, document important quotes, details, and keywords from the text that fit into the seven themes McLaughlin creates in the text. Use the example below to create the anchor chart.

Themes	Foreword	Introduction
Natural World
Misery
Native Thoughts
Silence
Spirit
Family, Youth, and Dreams
Language

During Reading:

To increase comprehension during reading, read aloud a poem from each themed section in the text. After reading aloud the poem give the students a few minutes to write down their thoughts and opinions about the poem. Use the following questions to prompt students to think about the language, symbolism, and meaning of the poetry.

• What message do you think the author of the poem is trying to send?
• How does the author use metaphors and symbolism in the poem?
• How does the language the author use relate to the Lakota people and their heritage?

Ask the students to pair up with a partner and share their thoughts and opinions on the piece using the prompting questions as a guide for discussion. After sharing with each other select a few pairs to share their discussion with the rest of the class.

After Reading:

Teachers can use this book as an introduction to a larger Social Studies Unit that focuses on Native Americans. After reading some selections from the book, place the book in the classroom library and encourage students to continue reading poetry from the book. Add authentic Native American literature, non-fiction texts about Native American culture and history, and realistic or historical fiction books that represent Native Americans. Encourage students to read the texts for independent reading throughout the unit or use the non-fiction titles as reference or research resources.

Writing Activity:

The students at the Red Cloud Indian School wrote their poems from their own experiences as being a part of the Lakota people and their culture and traditions. Ask students to write their own poem using a writing frame to organize their thoughts, about their own identity and experiences with their own culture. Encourage students to include details about their heritage, major events in their life, their daily life, struggles, or successes they’ve experienced.