Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning

Lesson 5E Lesson
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Reign of Terror: The Osage Murders

The Osage Nation

Patricia McDaniels-Gomez, Daniel Schwarz, Keiana Cross | Published: August 22nd, 2023 by K20 Center

  • Grade Level Grade Level 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th
  • Subject Subject Social Studies
  • Course Course Oklahoma History
  • Time Frame Time Frame 105-115 minutes
  • Duration More 2-3 Class Periods

Summary

After the discovery of oil on their land, members of the Osage Nation became millionaires overnight. This made them a target for fortune hunters. In this lesson, students will investigate the events of the “Reign of Terror” that occurred during the 1920s in Osage County. Students will think critically about why laws allowed mismanagement and corruption to thrive. By the end of the lesson, they will be able to explain how the Osage people managed to survive and continue on.

Essential Question(s)

How have native people been exploited throughout America’s history? How does the discovery of natural resources impact people?

Snapshot

Engage

Students identify what they already know and what they will learn as they engage in a “What Do You Think?” activity.

Explore

Students analyze the relationships between information by participating in a Honeycomb Harvest activity.

Explain

Students investigate the events from the Reign of Terror using an interactive e-learning activity.

Extend

Students conduct a True for Who? analysis to understand the perspectives of the people profiled in this lesson better.

Evaluate

Students choose three videos about Osage culture today which they will view as part of a Choice Board activity.

Materials

  • Lesson Slides (attached)

  • Explore Honeycomb Harvest handout (attached; one per group)

  • Explain Honeycomb Harvest handout (attached; one per group)

  • Legislative Acts handout (attached; one per student)

  • True for Who? Google Slides (linked)

  • True for Who? handout (attached; one per group)

  • Choice Board (optional; attached, one per student)

  • Computers with internet access

  • Pens or pencils

  • Sticky notes

  • Scrap paper (optional)

Engage

15 Minute(s)

Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the lesson. Display slides 1-4 to introduce the lesson, essential questions, and learning objectives.

Display slide 5 and ask students: Do the man and woman in this photo seem like a married couple? Why or why not? Ask students to find an Elbow Partner and discuss the questions. After 2-3 minutes, ask a few students to share their thoughts with the whole class.

Continue this process for slides 6-9.

  1. Ask students to discuss the questions on each slide with an elbow partner.

  2. Give students a few minutes to discuss.

  3. Have a few students share their thoughts with the whole class.

Explore

10 Minute(s)

Display slide 10. Divide the class into groups of 3-5 students and give each small group a set of the attached Honeycomb Harvest cards. Ask students to think about how the information in one card might be related to information in another card. Have them organize the cards so that the sides of related hexagons are touching. Encourage students to connect all the honeycomb cards in a way that makes sense to them. Display slide 11 to show an example of how a Honeycomb Harvest might look.

Give the small groups 10 minutes to complete their Honeycomb Harvest. Let students know they are not expected to understand the relationship between all honeycombs. Encourage them to make inferences and let them know it’s okay to guess a little as long as they can justify their answer.

Ask a few small groups to share their honeycombs and explain their take on the relationship between the cards.

Explain

30 Minute(s)

Display slide 12. Have students scan the QR code or use the provided URL to access the reading, Reign of Terror: The Osage Murders. Display slide 13 and inform students they can select any text highlighted in orange for more information about that person, word, or phrase. To navigate through the reading, they need to select the Next button at the bottom of the screen. Students should read independently but remain seated with their groups.

After they finish reading, display slide 14 and tell students they will complete another Honeycomb Harvest as a group, but with different cards from the first round. For this Honeycomb Harvest, students will have the information they need to determine several relationships among cards. Allow students to refer to the reading as they complete the activity. Provide students at least 15 minutes to complete their honeycomb. When all groups have completed their honeycomb, ask each group to share what they have learned and explain why they decided to place the cards in that configuration.

Keep students in their small groups and display slide 15. Pass out Three Sticky Notes, or have students use scrap paper. On their first sticky note, ask students to write one word that summarizes the reading. On their second sticky note, ask them to write a phrase that summarizes the reading. On their third sticky note, ask them to write a sentence that summarizes the reading. Have students compare each of the three summaries within their group.

Extend

Keep students in their small groups or mix them up into new groups of 3-5. Display slide 16 and pass out a copy of the Legislative Acts handout, one per group. Give students 5-10 minutes to read through the handout.

There are two options to continue. You can choose to use Google Slides or the paper handout.

If you prefer the paper handout, distribute a copy of the attached True for Who? handout to each group. Display slide 17 and instruct students to read and follow the directions for the True for Who? strategy on the top of the page. Students need to:

  1. Discuss the claim.

    1. What were the circumstances that shaped the claim?

    2. Who made it or would make it?

    3. What were people's intentions and goals?

    4. What was at stake? 

  2. View the claim from each perspective.

    1. Would the people who hold this perspective think this statement is true? False?

    2. Uncertain?

    3. Why? 

  3.  Reach a consensus about where each perspective would fall for the claim. 

    1. Circle the perspective for which the statement would be true.

    2. Cross out the perspective for which the statement would be false.

    3. Underline the perspective for which the statement would maybe be true or false. 

  4. Write down any notes from the discussion that you feel are important and you want to remember.

Evaluate

For this Choice Board activity, students work individually. Display slide 18 and provide either a printed copy of the attached Choice Board handout or a link to the digital version. Tell students to choose one square from each column. They need to watch the video or explore the site linked. While they watch each video or explore each site, have them ask themselves, What does the video tell me about the Osage Nation? How might the videos be a response to the reign of terror?

Once they’ve selected and watched three videos, display slide 19 and introduce students to the How I Know It strategy. Tell students that they will be drawing a circle inside a rectangle on a piece of scrap paper. Let them know that in the circle, they should write down what they learned from the three videos. Once they have done that, they should write down in the rectangle how they learned each bit of information. Finally, they should draw a line between each idea and the manner in which they learned it so that they are able to visualize the ways in which they are able to learn new information.

At the end of the class, you can collect students’ completed How I Know It diagrams. These will serve as summative assessments.

Resources

Publisher

K20 Center

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Downloads

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Standards

Oklahoma Academic Standards (Social Studies: Oklahoma History (9th through 12th grade))
OKH.5.1D: exploitation of American Indian resources, lands, trust accounts,head rights, and guardianship as required by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Facilitator Resources

Click on a file type icon to download an attachment.

  • Lesson Slides—Reign of Terror_ The Osage Murders

Learner Handouts

Click on a file type icon to download an attachment.

  • Choice Board—Reign of Terror_ The Osage Murders
  • Explain Honeycomb Harvest—Reign of Terror_ The Osage Murders
  • Explore Honeycomb Harvest—Reign of Terror_ The Osage Murders
  • Legislative Acts—Reign of Terror_ The Osage Murders
  • True for Who—Reign of Terror_ The Osage Murders

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