Our Tipi

During journal writing today, one of the students wrote about the "hi-low-glifics" that he had painted on his Native American vest for the Thanksgiving Feast.  (Gotta love that 'kid-writing'!)  His journal writing led perfectly into our next activity which was to make "skins" with picture writing storytelling.  Each student wrote a story on their "skin" using pictures and then shared the story with the class.  (Some were better at telling 'stories' than others.  Some just wanted to say the names of the pictures they drew.)  After sharing, we put the "skins" on the outside of the tipi.

We learned that not all Native Americans lived in the same types of homes.  The Wampanoag tribe which was the tribe in Plimoth at the time of the Pilgrims, lived in round topped wetus.  They were made of dried reeds/plants that had been tied together.  The tipi was used by tribes that had to follow the animals in order to survive.

As the Wetu Turns: A Plimoth Plantation Blog
The First Thanksgiving: Daily Life: Housing
Building a Home - Plimoth
Native American Homes (This site shows many types of homes of the various tribes.)