Aamoog; 15 Minute Lesson

Date: Sept. 30/14

Title of Lesson:
Why aamoog have stingers.
Curriculum Area:
Unit of Study:
Grade 1 Science
Understanding Life Systems; Needs and
Characteristics of Living Things.
Learning Expectations
Academic:
Social:
Students will Understand that
Living things have basic needs (air, water,
The children will sit quietly and be respectful to
food and shelter) that are met from the
the storyteller.
environment.
The children will discuss their prior knowledge
Students will know that bees make honey
about bees with each other as a large group,
by collecting nectar from flowers.
facilitated by the storyteller.
-That bees need the honey to eat over the
winter.
Children will freely choose and look together at
-That animals will die if they dont have food.
non- fiction books about animals.
- Bees have ways of saving and protecting their
food to eat at a later time.
Children will share books and converse freely
together about the information in the books.
Students will be able to
Expectation 2.2; Investigate and compare the
basic needs of humans and other living things,
including the need for air, water, food, warmth
and space, using a variety of methods and
resources.
Expectation 3.6; Identify what living things
provide for living things.
Prior knowledge:
Students will have prior knowledge of who
Aanishnaabe people are and what Turtle Island
is. Children will have also already been
introduced to Nanabush (or Winnebozho).
Assessment Strategies:
I will assess for learning by observing
what the children know about bees and
their basic needs during our group
conversation in the introduction.

Teacher
Resources
Traditional
story.

Through oral
communication, each
student will tell me what
their animal of choice
eats, how they get their
food and if they store
food away like the bees.

I will document what each

child tells me on chart
paper (and use the
information in further
lessons relating to habitat
and sustainability.)

Materials/Resources
Human
Student
Equipment
Resources
Materials
Voice. Blackboard and chalk. Chart paper
Expression,
Non-fiction
and marker (for documentation
enthusiasm.
books.
/assessment/further exploration).
Personal Notes/Reminders/Homework/Other Considerations:

Take your time. Practice aanishnaabemowin! (the language of the Ojibwe/ The Council of the Three
Fires peoples.)
*Groupings: W = Whole class, S= Small Group I = Independent
Whole class for presentation and then moving to small group or individual for the research and reporting
extension.

Delivering the Lesson

Timing

.5

1-5,
depending
on student
initiated
conversati
on about
bees.
5

Groupin
g
W
S I
X

x
5

x
1.5-4.5

Section

Hook/Mental Set: Prompt;

Stand up everybody! How do bees get to flowers?
Thats right! They fly! Do they fly like this, with big
flappy wings like birds? (demonstrate)
No?! Show me how bees fly.
Yes, they have very fast buzzy little wings!
( demonstrate)
Very good! Ok little bees, buzz on over to the carpet
and take a rest while I tell you a story!
Sharing the Purpose/Objectives:
Im going to tell you a very old Anishnaabe story
about bees. Does anyone know the Anishnaabe way to
say bees? Aamoog Say it after me; aamoog(k)
great!
Now does anyone know what bees eat?
Take a few answers and clarify or repeat back that;
Yes, bees, aamoog, eat both pollen and nectar from
flowers!
What do bees make from the nectar in flowers? Yes,
honey and we like to eat it too! Well....
Body: Tell the story;
How the aamoog got their stingers.
Along long time ago when there were more animals on
Turtle Island than people.

x x Closure:
So what do you think? Do you think that someone
climbs up in a tree,like makwa, to the ammoogwadiswan to get the honey we buy? No, thats right,
we get honey from bee keepers who keep them in
hives that look like boxes stacked up. The bee keeper
makes sure that even though we take lots of honey,
the aamoog still have enough food to eat over the
winter.
Now, were all going to go look at the animal books
that I have here...this one is about, this ones about
etc., and we are going to look to find out what
different animals eat. I want you each to pick one

Materials

Voice (tone and

expression)
Body
(demonstrative)

Same as above.

Same as above.

Quality selection
of age
appropriate, nonfiction, animal
themed picture
books.

animal to report back to me what you find out. I want

you to tell me (the three questions are written on the
blackboard and pointed out);
1) What that animal eats,
2) how it gets or makes the food and
3) if it does anything else cool with the food, like the
bees storing honey for winter!