Alaska Study: Totem Poles-

Big brother has the opportunity to take a trip to Alaska!

So, of course, we are studying the Last Frontier

 in our family homeschool.

Today we learned about totem poles.

We discussed their meaning and their role

throughout history.

We used these handy printables that

I found on one of my favorite blogs:

The Earlybird Homeschool

You can see their totems and find

the link to download your own printable.

We read the information on the printables- originally from

TeacherVision - and then the boys went

to work coloring their own totems.

We had plenty of time to talk about Alaska's history

and how and why the natives would have used

totems while the boys colored and cut out their art.

We used both sides of the small paper rolls to

hold our totem pictures- a paper towel roll would

do a better job if you have them on hand.

For an "older student" version of this project

my 10 year old designed his own totem pole on plain

paper and then wrote the story on the

back of his drawing. He wasn't interested in

coloring it in or anything- but now, when he sees a

totem in Alaska- he will understand its signifigance and

the role it has played in the history of

Alaska's native people.

(obviously, this project can be adjusted to

fit any Native American study)