LESSON PLAN SUMMARY
Native Peoples of the Hudson Valley

Destination
Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center
Bowdoin Park
County Dutchess
Subjects Social Studies, Science, Environmental Education, English/Language Arts, Arts
Grades 1st Grade, 2nd Grade
Author Rebecca Burdett, formerly, Poughkeepsie Day School

Gives students a glimpse into the lives of the first peoples who made their living on the banks of the Hudson River. Through site-visits, readings, and in-class activities, children are encouraged to formulate an idea of what life was like for children and families living near the Hudson before the first contact with European explorers and settlers.

This unit begins with a field trip to Bowdoin Park, and then picks up back in the classroom for a four week exploration of the life of the Wappinger Indians during the late Woodland period. During these four weeks, children create a wigwam within the classroom, decide on a clan name, and participate in a variety of activities that provide basic needs for their community, such as ceramic pot making, corn grinding, weaving, and making corn husk dolls and instruments.

The unit culminates in an activity that gathers the students' research and discoveries into a Wappinger Indians Fact Book, reproduced as a coloring book for all the children in the class.