The Water Protectors

I have definitely changed the way I teach Thanksgiving over the years. I cringe at some of the art projects I had my students make. They were not culturally aware at all. Now I try to make sure my students know the real story of what happened and all the fascinating, amazing parts of Native American culture.

I LOVE this book! I'm sure it's on book banning lists somewhere but I think it's a truly beautiful, inspiring story about standing up for what you believe in and protecting your heritage. The illustrations alone are so intricate and tranquil. 

We read it together and discussed the imagery and the metaphor of the snake as the oil pipeline. Students then illustrated the Big Idea of the story with watercolors. To justify an objective, they wrote a sentence about how they will become "water protectors". 

I was so impressed with how the students captured the essence of this meaningful book.