A Week to go until Powwow

No matter what age, the students still remember how much fun it was when they had their Powwow. It's hard to believe that our Powwow is only a week from today. Parents have been busy cutting, hemming, fitting, and adding bead work to the costumes that the girls and boys will be wearing for our Powwow. Students have been called out in the hall by parents to decorate their headbands, necklaces, bracelets, and berry pouches. Our tribe is the Lenape which means "The Original People." They came from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. During the day, through read alouds and in Reader's Workshop, the students are learning about our tribe. They learned that the Lenape were farmers in the summer and hunters in the winter. They lived in wigwams, some with only one family and some with up to ten families living in them - then it was called a "long house." The wigwams had a hole in the middle of the roof to let the smoke out. When they slept, they had their feet pointing to the fire to keep warm. All of these facts about our tribe make learning about the Lenape fun and interesting. Our classroom entrance is decorated as a wigwam. When we enter it, we have to duck to get in the door. Inside the entrance there are chairs, benches and a mock fireplace to represent the inside of a real wigwam. During Reader's Workshop, students are allowed to go in there for partner reading. It is such a treat for the children and they love reading their books in the wigwam. For the next few days, we will be practicing our songs and dances. On Tuesday, we will have a family night, whereby parents are invited into the classroom to make a wigwam. A week to go...