由Ellen McMichael, Grace Na和Julie Rink ' 88撰写，三年级领导教师
After being given an opportunity to review the third grade curriculum, 我们觉得有机会扩大我们对十大体育外围平台排名地区以及该国其他地区土著人民的知识和教学. We were thrilled to receive a Kast Grant, a professional development opportunity offered to GA faculty, to do just that. 这让我们有资金深入研究美国原住民的生活, both in the past and the present. 然后，我们利用我们在研究中获得的知识，开发了一个引人入胜的、文化响应的课程，与我们的学生分享.
Because the Lenape were the first to live in this region, 我们决定在新年伊始举办一些活动，让学生们了解莱纳佩人. 我们努力通过让学生坐在传统制作的长屋中的校外实地体验来建立理解, learning about how the Lenape hunted, games children played, how the Lenape fished and hunted, and more. We also invited a member of the Lenape Nation,Carla Messinger, 与我们的学生分享她的故事和文物，以进一步发展他们的文化见解.
我们的承诺使我们发展了一个为期一天的校园活动，后来被称为Lenape日. It was held in The Preserve, Germantown Academy’s six acres of unbridled natural habitat, 它创造了一幅引人注目的画布，鼓励学生们想知道几百年前这片土地是什么样子的. 这些活动的亲身实践和身临其境的性质鼓励了三年级学生与所学材料的个人联系. Our students smelled the smoke from the fire as they gathered around it to listen to indigenous myths; they whittled their own sticks; and they visualized Rainbow Crow他是土著神话中的一个人物，并将这个故事以艺术的形式表现出来. 学生们玩Lenape游戏，乘着独木舟沿着Wissahickon溪漂流. 与此同时，鼓声一直回荡在保护区的各个角落.
我们最初作为一个三年级团队的梦想变成了一个有这么多人伸出援助之手的合作努力, and we are grateful for their support. Our intrepid associate teachers Janine Bowers, Raquel Green, and John Bernhardt, led students through the multiple station rotations, replete with activities! Sue Szczepkowski, Head of Lower School, 教学生如何使用小刀，如何削削自己的木棍, and Troy Holiday ’01, the Upper Elementary science teacher, helped us shove off shore while canoeing on the Wissahickon. Lower School librarian Sarah Letts read the Rainbow Crow myth, 低年级美术老师基利·詹宁斯分享了土著艺术，并领导了一个莱纳佩丝带艺术项目. 上小学音乐老师Jodi Bohr 1760提供击鼓和游戏体验. Allison Sasson, Assistant Head of Lower School, and Amanda Mitchell, Early Childhood Coordinator and Admissions Office, helped ensure that the activities ran smoothly. 我们还要特别感谢我们的维修团队他们搭建了火圈并准备好了所有的独木舟!
学生们在他们的日记中回顾了莱纳佩日，他们写的东西真的很鼓舞人心. One student noted, “My favorite part of Lenape Day was the canoeing. At first, I was a little scared (I’m not going to lie). But I said to myself, ‘I can do it.’ I got to paddle. It was outstanding. And that was my first-time canoeing. That is a great memory.” Another student shared, “I honored the Lenape. Lenape means ‘first people’. Lenape make so many things with their hands. I think it’s cool the Lenape share a lot. That is how kind I want to be someday.”
After months of discoveries and explorations, 学生们通过为低年级感恩节大会制作演示来分享他们的学习成果. 三年级学生提供了有关该地区历史上莱纳佩民族的有趣事实, and read aloud the following Land Acknowledgement: “…we affirm the aspiration of the great Lenape Chief Tamanend, 在这片土地上的土著人民和移民的后代之间保持和谐, ‘as long as the rivers and creeks flow, and the sun, moon, and stars shine.’
For the third grade teachers, 在我们对勒纳佩人的研究中，我们看到了真正的合作努力，这让我们感到欣慰. 在帮助学生认识莱纳佩人的重要性的努力中，我们感到得到了支持, both past and present. This experience was impactful and rewarding, 我们计划今后每年都提供这种沉浸式的机会. 我们希望，在整个研究过程中获得的宝贵经验将在未来的岁月中与学生们同在!
Check out more photos from our Lenape Day experience here on smugmug.
