Winter Counts

Inquiry Design Model (IDM) Blueprint™ “Winter Counts” | OSEU 5: Oral Tradition & Story Compelling Question What can we learn by looking at a picture? Standards and Practices OSEUS 5.1 Identify elements of Oceti Sakowin culture within oral tradition, written accounts, and primary source information, and compare them to written accounts by mainstream historians. 6.H.3.1 Compare and contrast primary and secondary sources to identify multiple perspectives of the same event. 6.H.5.3- Utilize primary and secondary sources and examine the credibility and intent of those sources. Staging the Question How did the Oceti Sakowin record important events? How do Winter Counts align with European accounts of historical events? Supporting Question 1 Supporting Question 2 Supporting Question 3 What are Winter Counts? Who was in charge of recording the Winter Count? What events in a specific Winter Count correlate with a Western account of history? Formative Performance Task Formative Performance Task Formative Performance Task Read the “Winter Count Overview” tab and the “Pictures and Materials” tab. Make a poster with 2 sides: 1. Winter Counts Are… 2. Winter Counts Are Not… On each side of the poster, write at least 2 things that Winter Counts are/are not based on the reading. Present your poster/findings to the class. Read the “Winter Count Keeper” tab. Summarize the information from the reading about the keeper by writing 3 things you learned about the keeper of the Winter Count. Would you have wanted to keep the Winter Count? Why/why not? (at least 3 sentences) Click “View Winter Counts” Choose a specific year and look at the pictures from that year’s Winter Count. Record the year and one picture that you chose. Now research the history of the United States during that same year of the Winter Count you chose earlier. Do any of the same events match up? Why/why not? Featured Sources Featured Sources Featured Sources Smithsonian Lakota Winter Counts http://wintercounts.si.edu/index.ht ml Smithsonian Lakota Winter Counts http://wintercounts.si.edu/index.ht ml Smithsonian Lakota Winter Counts http://wintercounts.si.edu/index.html Watch “Oral History & Ledger Art” with Donald Montileaux http://www.wolakotaproject.org/oseu- 5-oral-history-ledger-art-with-donald- montileaux/ Summative Performance Task Argument Which way do you learn best - words, pictures, or both? Why? After studying Winter Counts, which type of account, (words, pictures, or both), do you believe gives the best description of an event? Why? Provide 2 examples to support your answer. Extension Create a Winter Count of your life- one event for each year. Remember that the event does not have to be the most important event that year, but just the most memorable. (If you are 12 years old, you would have 12 events.) These can be events that you remember, or events that you have heard about through stories. (Of course you probably don’t remember much about your first two or three years of life.) You cannot use the same event more than twice. Draw a symbol for each event. On a separate sheet of paper, write a 2- 4 sentence summary of each event that you choose. What is this event? Why was it memorable? You may share with the class if you like. You may want to use a crumpled paper bag for your Winter Count to get the same effect as an animal hide. Cut one edge of the paper bag so it lays flat like a sheet of paper. Crumple up the bag, being careful not to tear it. Then smooth the bag out. Draw/color the bag. Taking Informed Action Choose a current event article from the newspaper or TV news website. Print/cut out the article. Write a summary of that event in 5-7 sentences (who, what, when, where, why, how). Now use that summary to make a Winter Count of that same event. Include 3 of the most important pieces of information about that event. (You will have 3 pictures.) Include the original article with your Winter Count.