Summary
This lesson focuses on the accomplishments and culture of the Spiro Mounds builders and their impact on Oklahoma history. Students will take notes as they watch an interview with a Spiro Mounds archaeologist and read about pre-contact cultures before completing a Two-Minute Paper to summarize what they've learned.
Essential Question(s)
What are the significant symbols and icons of civilizations/cultures? How can we know about the past if we were not there?
Snapshot
Engage
Students participate in an Always, Sometimes, or Never True activity to assess prior knowledge.
Explore
Students watch a short video about the Spiro Mounds while working on a graphic organizer.
Explain
Students read articles about pre-contact cultures and finish their graphic organizer.
Extend
Students write a Two-Minute Paper using their knowledge of pre-contact cultures.
Evaluate
Students re-evaluate and revise their Always, Sometimes, or Never True responses.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Always, Sometimes, or Never True handout (attached, one per student)
GRAPES graphic organizer (attached, one per student)
Internet access (to view the Jigsaw documents linked below)
Paper
Pens/pencils
Dry erase markers (optional)
Dry erase pockets (optional)
Engage
Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the instruction. Display slide 5 and tell students that they are going to participate in an Always, Sometimes, or Never True activity to analyze some statements about indigenous, pre-contact cultures in Oklahoma.
Pass out the Always, Sometimes, or Never True handouts to students and ask them to mark each statement as always, sometimes, or never true. Next to each designation, students should write a short reason for their decision. Once students have labeled and justified each statement, have them discuss their reasoning with an Elbow Partner. Then, ask for 2–3 volunteers to share out their thoughts for each statement with the whole class.
Explore
Display slide 6 and pass out a copy of the GRAPES Graphic Organizer to each student. They can use this handout to organize the information about a civilization into six major areas of focus. Some questions associated with each area are listed below, but students are not limited to just these questions.
Geography—Where was the civilization located? What were/are the major geographic features of the region?
Religion—Was the civilization polytheistic or monotheistic? Who or what did they worship? What were their places of worship called?
Arts—What kinds of items did they create? Were there common themes?
Politics—Who ruled? Were there key political figures?
Economics—Did the civilization trade with others? What did they trade? Did they pay taxes?
Social—Was there a hierarchy? How did members of the civilization interact with one another?
Move to slide 7. Have students watch an Oklahoma News Report video about the Spiro Mounds: “OETA Story on Highway 9: Spiro Mounds.”
As students watch and listen to the archaeologist in the video, have them add relevant information about the Spiro Mounds to their GRAPES handouts.
After the video ends, ask students to share out any particularly interesting information from the video and explain how and why they categorized that information on their GRAPES handouts.
Explain
Display slide 8. Ask students to keep their GRAPES handouts with them as you arrange them into groups of four and assign each group member a number from 1 to 4.
Direct students to the readings in the Jigsaw Documents attachment and lead a Jigsaw learning activity. Each student is responsible for becoming an expert on one of the documents in the packet, based on their assigned number.
Spiro Mounts Hold Mystery by Bonnie Spears (The Oklahoman)
Spiro Mounds Excavations Visits To Resume in Eastern Oklahoma by Max Nichols (The Oklahoman)
The Treasure of the Spiro Mounds by M.J. Alexander (405 Magazine)
Spiro Started Upward Spiral in 700 A.D. by Teddye Snell (Tahlequah Daily Press)
As students read their assigned documents, ask them to add information that fits into the six categories of the GRAPES handouts. On the back of their GRAPES handouts, ask them to write down a brief summary of their article.
When students have completed reading and writing their summaries, display slide 9 and have them summarize their document and highlight any important information to other members of their group. As one group member shares out, the rest of the members should be writing down that information in their handouts.
When all students have shared out with group members, ask students to share out the important information they found in the articles with the whole class, and go over the GRAPES responses to ensure that all groups found the key information.
Extend
Ask students to get out a blank sheet of paper. Show slide 10 and read the prompt: "Why is it important to preserve historical sites such as the Spiro Mounds?" or "What can we learn from the preservation of pre-contact cultures like that found at the Spiro Mounds?" Students will write a Two-Minute Paper responding to this prompt.
Evaluate
Display slide 11 and ask students to return to their Always, Sometimes, or Never True handouts from the beginning of the lesson. Tell students to review their original labels and make any changes they deem necessary to their labels or their reasoning. Allow students to share out their changes to the class.
Have students turn in their GRAPES handouts and/or their Two-Minute Papers for a formative assessment.
Resources
Alexander, M. J. (2013, May). The Treasure of Spiro Mounds. 405 Magazine. https://www.405magazine.com/the-treasure-of-spiro-mounds/
K20 Center. (n.d.). Always, Sometimes, or Never True. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/145
K20 Center. (n.d.). Elbow Partners. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/116
K20 Center. (n.d.). Jigsaw. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/179
K20 Center. (n.d.). Two-Minute Paper. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/152
Nichols, M. (2014, February 23). Spiro mounds excavations visits to resume in Eastern Oklahoma. The Oklahoman. https://oklahoman.com/article/3936596/spiro-mounds-excavations-visits-to-resume-in-eastern-oklahoma
Oklahoma Historical Society. (2017, March 29). Spiro Mounds and archaeology [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEI8BIGcpc8
The Oklahoma News Report. (2013, January 8). OETA story on Highway 9: Spiro Mounds aired 12-14-12 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP1h8bVhs7s
Roe, H. (n.d.). Photo of an engraved shell gorget with S.E.C.C. imagery from Spiro Mounds Oklahoma. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6866521
Snell, T. 2011, February 23). Spiro started upward spiral in 700 A.D. Tahlequah Daily Press. https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/features/spiro-started-upward-spiral-in-a-d/article_61c7d558-312e-5cb4-8165-13d086ddfc16.html
Speer, B. (1982, September 12). Spiro mounds hold mystery. The Oklahoman. https://oklahoman.com/article/1995755/spiro-mounds-hold-mystery