Here are our TOTALLY awesome totem poles...

Totem poles are totally awesome because many of them were used by the Native Americans to tell stories and legends. Many of the North American North West Native Americans did not have a written language. Thus, those Native Americans would use  meaningful symbols that they would arrange in a certain order to tell their meaningful stories.

After learning about totem poles, my students got rid of their 'modern-day' sneakers and learned about the coolest shoes out west...moccasins! 

Who needs a house when you can live in a colorful, portable, inexpensive tepee!  

Oh yeah! We also popped POPCORN! Although, the Native Americans didn't actually discover popcorn, they did discover the unique process of popping it. Many Native Americans used clay pots filled with very hot sand and placed the kernels in the pot until they popped! When kernels get super hot, they burst and make a "popping" sound.

Of course, in the 21st century we have the luxury of only waiting about 2 minutes for the kernels to pop in a colorful, paper popcorn bowl...

Here's my door filled with things we're thankful for...and of course we're thankful for our baseballs, baseball gloves, toys, cars, toy trains, firetrucks, teddy bears, basketballs, Lego blocks, etc. You know...all the important things in life. ;)  

On top of learning about Native Americans all week, my kids delved into their creative, constructional sides and built a city (Gotham?) out of blocks...and of course, Batman if their hero. 

Future architects of America?...