Integrating Alaskan Culture

Into Your Elementary Classroom

By: Malie Koehler

EDEP 311- Takanishi
ITE 326C- Herring
Summer 2015

The People of Alaska

Live Differently (Midnight Sun, Environment,

Northern Lights)
Surviving in Extreme Conditions (Staying
Warm, Getting Food, etc.)
Beliefs (Morals), Traditions

Language

Alaskan people have many different languages

and dialects of those languages that they
practice

Literature

The native people of Alaska are known for

their story-telling, whether they be true,
passed-down legends, or completely made up.

Tradition

The native Alaskan people have practiced

many other ways to tell stories outside of their
literature (just writing it down and sharing)
They like to tell stories through art like
drawing, crafts, music, and dance

Art: Drawing

Alaskan people have a very distinct style of

drawing
They tell stories with their drawings, much like
we have seen in cave art

Art: Crafts

Another way Alaskan people have told their

stories is by creating objects to represent
ideas and characters
Dolls, Mosaic, Weaving, Statues, etc.

Art: Music/Dance

Every culture has their own

type of music and dance to go
with it; this was the most
exciting and interesting to me
On your travels you could pick
up a DVD, like this one, which
has images, sounds, and
music that represent its
culture and environment
You could also spend time
learning a native song and/or
dance (i.e. Happy Birthday in
the native language) and
teach that to your students

Pics from Alaska

2015

Just for fun.

Slide 1- Most of you probably know that during our short little Summer break, before the start of this semester, I went on a trip
to Alaska to visit my family. Well, I had booked this trip prior to knowing the dates for the Summer F2F sessions, and the flights
were non-refundable and unchangeable since we bought our tickets during a sale. So unless I wanted to lose out on $800, I had
to miss our F2F session last month. Since our professors are so understanding, they were willing to have me create and share a
presentation with you to make up for my absence. Jennifer, Stacey, and I decided together that I would share with you a little bit
about the Alaska Natives, their culture, and some ideas on how to incorporate other cultures and personal travels into your
classroom. Now, some of you know that I have traveled quite a bit; Ive gotten around. Ive been to some beautiful and amazing
places, like Mexico, Guatemala, and Israel (to name a few). Some may view this time away as time lost when considering a
teachers responsibility in their classroom. While you would miss out on being with your students (if the trip was scheduled for
some time other than a designated DOE break), I dont think it was all for not. You can take your personal experiences, both past
and current, to teach valuable lessons to your students. Through my travels, I now have the background knowledge to help my
students create a knowledge base of their own. My experiences and my life become a means of exploration and learning for
them to experience with me (after the fact, of course). Having said all that, I would like to share with you some ideas of things
you could incorporate in your classroom to help your students learn specifically about the Native Alaskan culture, but also things
to look for on your own travels so that you can incorporate those as well.
Slide 2- Social Studies Lesson- Prompt students to consider the similarities and differences between the Alaskans way of life (or
whatever culture youre teaching them about) and their own lifestyles.
Science/Art Lesson- Talk about the Northern Lights, what causes them, what they look like, what its like to grow up around
different kinds of beauty, create art based of the Northern Lights,
Slide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6-Literacy Lesson- Learning words in other languages alongside English. This can go for any culture, any place, any
language. It would be helpful to do this for whatever cultures your students are a part of, but also incorporating cultures that
may be more foreign is good as well, because it builds their background knowledge. Plus, if they ever meet somebody from that
particular culture, it will not seem so foreign. This will promote equality, understanding, and respect.
Slide 7- Literature Lessons- Analyzing existing stories, finding alternative media to express/represent the main ideas of stories,
or creating short stories of their own based off of cultural examples.
Book- Chugach Legends (Pick a short story to share)
Activity/Idea- Balto, puppet (share a true story through means of a puppet)
Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10- Art Lesson- Decode art to figure out what story the artist is trying to tell, re-tell a story by drawing, or create an original
short story by drawing
Slide 11Slide 12- Art Activity/Lesson- Creating dolls, mosaics, weaving, or statues of their own, decoding stories from weaving or statues
Slide 13Slide 14- Music/Dance Lesson- learning a native song, dance, or both, creating a dance to a native song, based off of other
cultural dances shown
Integration- Using other cultures songs as brain breaks or playing their music during transitions