Classroom Activities
The classroom activities that follow will take up to one week for each quarter, or can be reduced to two activities within one week. The activities will be provided, it is up to the Instructor to decide when and where to use what’s given.
Activity 1
Objectives: Students will use a KWL to introduce or be reminded of the story of the Warrior Twins. Students will listen then retell the story of the Warrior Twins to another person in their family.
Instructor will introduce the lesson through use of a KWL. What do you know about the Hero Twins, or the Twin Warriors? For those who won’t immediately know what the Twin Warriors would be about, ease into providing who the Din4 are first, and that this is a part of their creation story, then ease into the KWL.
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K (What I know) |
W (What I want to know) |
L (What I learned) |
Instructor will then tell the story of the Hero Twins. It is advisable that the instructor must really step into the position of story teller. The story has been laid out here in this unit, but if the instructor is not confident in telling the story, or would rather have a script, Din4 Bahane’ by Paul Zolbrod is a good book that retains a storyteller voice. It is available through Amazon, and local Navajo reservation stores that carry books. Another excellent hard copy resource would be Ethelou Yazzie’s Navajo History. It is also available through Amazon, but in limited numbers, but it can also be purchased at the Din4 College bookstore.
Students, with the guidance of the instructor, fill in the learned part of the KWL. Review KWL, and have the students tell their parents/guardian/siblings the story they heard when they get home. For documentation, create a sign off sheet for the listener to sign off on to prove the story was told by the student.
Activity 2
Objective: Students will listen to the story of the Warrior Twins and will choose a character from the story to illustrate by using his/her imagination.
Reread/retell the story of the Twins journey to the sun as a refresher. If you chose to purchase Yazzie, or Zolbrod’s works, you may make copies of the reading to utilize in the classroom as a follow along. After the story is told/read to the students, let them think about a character that stood out to them. Let them envision what that character would look like, and let them draw a picture of what he/she/it would look like. Design the character based off what the student knows from the story. Be mindful to not show any pictures of what the twins or other characters look like from another person’s perspective. Students need to keep their imagination fresh without influence from another person’s interpretation.
Activity 3
Objective: Students will listen to the story of the Warrior Twins and will choose to illustrate a scene from the story. Students will then write a one paragraph description of what’s happening in the illustration.
Retell/reread the story as a reminder then students will illustrate a scene of their choosing from the story. Try to keep them from choosing the same scene if that’s possible. Students will then write a paragraph for the illustration detailing what’s happening. Try to encourage the use of a storyteller voice, but if not, no pressure. This is meant to be fun and smooth, not discouraging. I say this as a reminder to myself and other Din4 teachers.
Activity 4
Objectives: Students will retell the story of the Warrior Twins to another student. Students will create their own stories using their imagination and knowledge of the Warrior Twins.
If the opportunity for your students to tell the story to a grade younger presents itself, or it could be arranged, that would be excellent. Otherwise, have the students retell the story to another classmate. Students should be feeling confident, or more at ease with retelling the story. Next, inform the students that it is their turn to create a story. It can be a continuation of a character’s story from the Warrior Twins, an alternate ending, a spin-off, or a completely new set of heroes with new monsters to battle. Let the students create their own story by letting them illustrate the new characters, or new scenes, and write a short narrative to go along. Utilize a graphic organizer of your choice, and follow with the revision process of writing. Students will then tell their new story to their classmates, family members, pets, or whomever.
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