Honoring Indigenous Peoples

Lesson 9
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ELA

Unit 6

3rd Grade

Lesson 9 of 18

Objective


Explain what messages Chester received about speaking Navajo and why the messages changed.

Readings and Materials


  • Book: Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code, A Navajo Code Talker's Story by Joseph Bruchac  pp. 1 – 11 — Stop at "June 1952: Month of Big Planting"

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Target Task


Writing Prompt

What messages did Chester receive about speaking Navajo from 1929 to 1942? Why did the messages change? 

Sample Response

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Key Questions


  • What happened when Betoli went to boarding school? How does the illustration on page 2 help readers understand what happened?

  • How does Chester feel when he is back at home? What do the matrons say when he returns to school? 

  • Compare and contrast the illustrations on pages 4 and 5. What emotion does each illustration convey? Why? 

  • Chester says he wanted to "prove his worth." What does he mean by this?

  • How does Chester respond when the principal shares that the United States was at war? 

  • Why did the US military recruit Navajo soldiers? 

Vocabulary


encode

v.

(p. 10)

to put a message into the form of a code so that it can kept secret

decode

v.

(p. 10)

to find or understand the true or hidden meaning of something

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Common Core Standards


  • RI.3.3 — Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
  • RI.3.7 — Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

Supporting Standards

L.3.4
L.3.4.b
RF.3.3
RF.3.4
RI.3.1
RI.3.4
RI.3.10
SL.3.1
W.3.10

Next

Explain why the Navajo Code Talkers were vital to the war. 

Lesson 10
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Lesson Map

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