Lesson Design Template: MAT/Certification Elementary

Candidate Name: Robin Kornfield Host Teacher Name: Georgianna Starr

School: Alaska Native Cultural Charter School Grade Level: 4 # of Students: 15
Date & Time of Lesson: 3.8.2022 Length of Lesson:60-90 minutes
Topic of Lesson: Dena’ina tools for living— Content Area: Social Studies, Art
birch bark baskets.
Materials: Include all materials including types of technology used: Film: The Dena’ina way of making a
birch bark basket. Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, National Park Service. nps.gov. Golisek-
Nankerv, L. (2018) Making a paper model of an Athabascan birch bark basket, YouTube, Alaska Libraries
Archives Museums. Basket materials include two-sided copy of birch bark outside and inside on card stock.
Material for making a rim such as ¼ inch cord, lashing material such as yarn or string, narrow strips of card
stock to use as a second layer around the top edge of the basket, hole punch, stapler, glue stick, scissors.
Examples of birch bark—a log or branch from a birch tree.

ALASKA CONTENT STANDARD

History:
A. A student should understand that history is a record of human experiences that links the past to the present and the future.
A student who meets the content standard should:
5. understand that history is a narrative told in many voices and expresses various perspectives of historical evidence.
6. know that cultural elements, including language, literature, the arts, customs, and belief systems, reflect the ideas and attitudes of
a specific time and know how the cultural elements influence human interaction
8. know that history is a bridge to understanding groups of people and an individual’s relationship to society.

Art:
Standard #10: Relate, synthesize, and express both knowledge and personal experiences as a way to participate in the arts.

Alaska Cultural Standard for Educators

A. Culturally-responsive educators incorporate local ways of knowing and teaching in their work.
Educators who meet this standard:
1. Recognize the validity and integrity of the traditional knowledge system
B. Culturally-responsive educators use the local environment and community resources on a regular basis to link what they
are teaching to the everyday lives of the students.
Alaska Cultural Standards for Students
A. Culturally-knowledgeable students are well grounded in the cultural heritage and traditions of the community.
Students who meet this cultural standard are able to:
1. Acquire insights from other cultures without diminishing the integrity of their own;
2. Make effective use of the knowledge, skills and ways of knowing from their own cultural traditions to learn about the
larger world in which they live
3. Make appropriate choices regarding the long-term consequences of their actions
TRANSFER GOAL(S) (transferability)
Traditional knowledge is as valuable today as it was in the past.

STAGE ONE – Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions (meaning/broad purpose of the lesson)
Enduring Understanding(s): What Essential Questions will be Considered?
Students will understand that….
What is the value of using local resources for making
The Athabascan developed art and tools such as birch useful tools rather than going to the store and buying
bark baskets as required for helping them live a something made from plastic?
healthy and successful subsistence lifestyle. The
birchbark basket is an example of a tool that is still How does participating in and with art enrich
used today land and traditional values continue to people’s lives and raise awareness of community and
sustain the Alaska Native people today. environment?

Participation in the arts encourages people to connect What does it take to live a healthy and productive
experiences and construct meaning. life?

STAGE ONE (pt.2): Objectives STAGE TWO: Assessments

Students will learn about the lifestyle and values of the
first people who lived, and still live, in Anchorage and
Southcentral Alaska, the Dena’ina people.
Students will learn from elder Helen Dick primary
information about how to make a birchbark basket.
Evidence of Learning/Accountability -
Formative/Summative/Performance
F—Discussion about the use of traditional tools. What
are some of the important ways and innovations
Athabascan people developed so they could live
successfully? Option for students to break into small
groups and then share.

Knowledge - What students should know…. Assessment(s)/Other Evidence:

What foods, shelter and skills have always sustained P—Students will participate in a discussion about
the Athabascan people? traditional tools and why they are important even
today.
Skills - What students should be able to do……. Assessment(s)/Other Evidence:

Follow written instructions. P—Students will follow directions and create their
own model of a birch bark basket.
Use their own ideas to determine how they would like
to make the rim of their basket.
STAGE THREE: Opportunities to Learn (Acquisition)
Introduction/Hook: Vocabulary: Eliza Jones of Central Koyukon language calls a birchbark basket or dish
kk’eeyh tl’ok.
They were also called “water container,” too tl’ok. Families also picked berries into their baskets which were
called kk’eeyh.
Alaska Native Collections, Athabascan culture, National Museum of National History. alaska.si.edu.
Processes and products for Learning Strategies for Differentiation/ Multimodal
Opportunities: Instruction/Universal Design for Learning:

Teacher will:
Show 15minute film featuring Helen Dick of
Lime Village about the traditional process of
gathering materials and making a Dena’ina
birch bark basket. Baskets have been used for
thousands of years to store food, to carry food
and to make an “emergency cup” while
traveling.
Students will:
View film.
Teacher will:
Stop film periodically to talk about they type of birch about the birch bark making film and what Helen
trees she looks for and the process of gathering the
materials required for baskets.
F—Discussion about the use of traditional tools. What
are some of the important ways and innovations
Athabascan people developed so they could live
successfully? Option for students to break into small
groups and then share.
A formative discussion about the innovations of
Athabascans that have made it possible to live
successfully can be conducted in small groups that
will include students who may have special needs.
Students with difficulty hearing or seeing will have
the opportunity to touch and feel a birch tree and
baskets made from birch and other materials.
Teacher will involve all students in a discussion
Dick teaches about finding the right materials for a
basket and then making one.

Teacher will: Some students will require assistance from the

Share a short birch log so students can see that the
outside of a birch tree is made of thin, paperlike,
bark.
Teacher will share several styles of baskets and pass
them around for students to examine more closely.
teacher or another student, especially when sewing
the top rim, which is the most difficult part of the
basket making activity. Students will work in groups
to identify the current and former settlements of the
Dena’ini people. More advanced students will
scaffold those who need more experience with maps

Discussion: Where might a grass basket come from?

Where might a pottery container come from?

(All Native people have traditionally needed

containers for day-to-day use, whether for storing
food, as containers, for gathering berries and greens
and for cooking. Basket making designs vary and are
dependent upon the resources available where the
people live.)

Discussion:
What kind of birch bark trees did Helen Dick look
for?
(She mentions few branches, few knots, good bark
that is not too thick. Some trees have bark that is too
thick, others are too thin.

Always start cutting on the “belly” side. It is thinner.

Do not cut through the whole bark—only the outside
layer so you do not kill the tree. Easy to peel in May,
June and early July. In fall, the trees are “stingy for
their bark.”

Birch bark basket making activity:

Teacher will:

Demonstrate how the students will make a model

basket using paper, yarn string and rope using
A model created by the Alaska by Lisa Golisek-
Nankery of the Alaska State Museum out of card
stock. One side of the paper is a color copy of the
outside of birch bark and the other side is a color
copy of the inside.

Students will:

Cut out the basket.

Each student write name on the white side bottom
of the basket.
Fold into a bowl shape.
Staple the flaps along the top of long side and
close to the edge.

Students will use their own ingenuity to

Select from several choices of materials for
making a rim—narrow pieces of card stock for the
edge, ¼ inch cord for the edge, punch holes as
indicated around the upper edge of the basket.
Wrap yarn or string around the top edge and
through the holes to sew the rim to the outside
edge of the basket. Glue stick or tape helps make a
sort of needle to help push the yarn or string
through the holes.

Discussion:
Why might making a real birch bark basket be a
good way to learn more about traditional Native
culture?

Are birchbark baskets still useful today?

Closure:
Take picture of each student with their basket or as a group.

Talk about ways they can use their basket at home or at school.
What is the value of using local resources for making useful tools rather than going to the store and buying
something made from plastic?

Reflection

This lesson began with a 15 minute video, The Dena’ina way of making a birch bark basket. Lake Clark
National Park and Preserve, National Park Service. nps.gov. The film features elder, Helen Dick, of Lime
Village, who explicitly explains and demonstrates how the materials are gathered and made into a traditional
birch bark basket. I collect baskets and shared a variety of baskets from several different tribal groups in
Alaska and also in Russia, where they also make containers using birch bark. I also passed around some small
birch logs so the students will be able to recognize birch bark in the future.

Using a template created through the Alaska State Museum, we made our own “birch bark basket” made of
card stock imprinted with the outside and inside bark of birch trees. The instructions are printed on the
template and ahead of time I viewed a YouTube of Lisa Golisek-Nankery making the model basket.

For the class, I demonstrated how to follow the directions and cut out the bark, fold the edges, add a strip of
“birch” around the rim, make holes and then to thread cord around the edge. I instructed the students to sign
the bottom of the basket just as basket artists do.

I thought the students did well, although the noise level became loud and my host teacher intervened
periodically. Most students needed help with the folding of the “bark” and making holes around the top edge.
Some students were more proficient than others and moved into a helper role when their basket was finished.

All students completed their basket. It was interesting that two students who perform below grade level
arrived halfway through the class yet caught on and finished more quickly than some of the academically
advanced students.

Once the baskets were complete, we talked about how the students will use the baskets and we took a group
photo. Several students commented on how much they liked the project.

I think the procedures for this project went well. I had all the materials required other than needing to borrow
a stapler from my host teacher. It took 2 hours, which was longer than expected, as I have found in all the
lessons I have taught. We could have worked on the project over two days, but I appreciated the willingness
for us to use the full two hours to do the project and clean up as the last activity of a busy week.
 Resources

The Dena’ina way of making a birch bark basket. Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, National Park
Service. nps.gov. Golisek-Nankerv, L. (2018)

Athabascan birch bark basket, YouTube, museums.alaska.gov.

Artifacts