Strategies
After understanding and learning background information about peacemaking and today’s court system on Navajo land, students will create a mock peacemaking scenario and a Western court system scenario. Students will compare and contrast the two models, then discuss, share, and select the best model, explaining why it is the preferable choice and how it benefits self. Next comes creating an Inquiry Chart to have students begin to think, discuss, and show how the Diné people settle issues within their families, clans, and community. Students will know that problems and questions resolved without the police and courts are timely and cost-effective. They will learn the process of the “peacemaking” method which is a restorative justice the court system is attempting to embed within the Navajo justice system.
Students will create a large interactive map to show where the “The Long Walk” took place and why it happened. This detailed interactive map contains stories about the areas where slave traders stole the Diné people (women and children). Moreover, it will show how some perished on their way to the prison camp. A sketch and write with a short explanation about significant events during the timeframe will be added to the map. Photos from the website, accompanied with a brief caption, will be added to the timeline. Students will create pictorials and stories of chiefs who were influential band leaders, including Narbona, Ganado Mucho, Barboncito, and Manuelito, and these too will be included in the timeline. These leaders had large bands and were well known among other groups and the U.S. military leaders. A teacher-created process grid will accumulate crucial information about each leader and how they cared for and protected their clans, communicated with the U.S. soldiers and commanders, and collaborated with other bands. The process grid will help students write various genres (comparative, contrast, reflection, summary, letters, opinion, and informative) to show understanding of given information.
At the aforementioned local correctional facility, our class will study and learn about how the facility functions, the role of police officers, and the court system. An officer with his K9 will conduct a presentation in the classroom, then will explain his duties and responsibilities as an officer and those of his K9. He will then answer questions prepared by students. He will also show his patrol vehicle and share what makes it unique. During the presentation, students will take notes and pictures, and pose additional questions to the officer. Afterward, students will create a poster about the importance of why our community needs police officers. Students will present their poster to the police department; it will be displayed in their building and then at our local school board building. In addition to the officer’s visit, students will attend a court session at our local courthouse to view the primary functions and progression of a trial. Lastly, students will reflect on their experience at the courthouse.
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