Sites and Stereotypes Subject: Technology Grade: 6-8, 9-12

Brief Description

Students use online resources to create portraits of present-day American Indians.

Objectives

Students learn to evaluate Web site content and recognize online stereotypes.

Keywords

technology, stereotypes, Internet, literacy, Native Americans, Indians, critical thinking, media literacy

Materials Needed

• computer with Internet access
• Techniques for Evaluating American Indian Web Sites, online or printed and distributed to students
• Web sites about Native Americans, such as

  Native Sites
  Index of Native American Resources on the Internet
  Grade Schoolers' First Americans

Lesson Plan

• Ask students to read Techniques for Evaluating American Indian Web Sites. Discuss with students the Content Guidelines section of the site.
• Brainstorm with students a list of tribes and ask each student to select a particular tribe.
• Explain to students that they will create a written portrait of the life of a present-day member of their selected tribe. Have students use the Web sites provided above and additional sites to locate information about the tribes and create their portraits. Remind students to use the Techniques for Evaluating American Indian Web Sites to verify the reliability of the sites they use and to avoid stereotypes in their reports.
• Ask students to present their reports to the class. Discuss how the Indians depicted in the portraits differ from the images of Native Americans that students had before writing their reports.

Assessment

Evaluate students on the accuracy of the information in their reports.

Lesson Plan Source

Education World

Submitted By

Linda Starr

National Standards

Technology:
  NT.K-12.5