2. learn about the Indian's appreciation of natural resources.
3. learn about the life of the Cherokee Indian people including clothing, housing, and natural environment.
1. Gather the children in a story circle. If possible have a real strawberry or a picture of one to discuss what the children know about strawberries. Where do they grow? Where are the strawberry seeds?
2. Read the story, The First Strawberries , retold by Joseph Bruchac. Discuss what lessons both the man and woman learned in this story.
3. Have the children tell about times they have forgiven someone. Children could be given scenarios to role play.
Activity 2
1. Review the story, The First Strawberries . Encourage the children to retell the story. Make a list of the natural resources used in the story such as the various fruits, clothing, and any others they observe in the illustrations.
2. Discuss with the children how nature (the sun and berries) taught the people to forgive each other. Ask children how people felt about nature in this story.
3. Have children make stick or paper bag puppets of the characters in the story (i.e., man, woman, sun, different types of berries). Use these puppets to retell the story in a puppet show. Children could take the different roles and act out the story.
4. Read "Strawberry Moon" from Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back: A Native American Year of Moons , by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London. Discuss how the Seneca Indians respected nature and especially strawberries.
Read different sections of the book as a follow up and discuss the ways different aspects of nature and the environment were respected by different groups of Indians.
Activity 3
1. Have children dictate a list of things we get from strawberries: jam, jelly, jello, drinks, cakes, breads, ice cream, etc. Do the same for other berries named in the story.
2. Select the most popular list of strawberry uses to make a class graph. Have the children color a strawberry and place it beside a picture and/or word of their favorite strawberry use.
Activity 4
1. Review the Cherokee clothing in the book. Locate on a map of the United States where in the southeast the Cherokee tribe lives. Show pictures and share information about the Cherokee people (see A New True Book: The Cherokee , Chicago Press, 1985).
2. Compare the clothing, houses, and physical environment of the two books, The First Strawberries and The Goat in the Rug .
2. Have a strawberry farmer visit the class, discussing how strawberry plants grow and propagate by tubulars rather than seeds.
3. Using the other berries in the story, have the children graph their favorites.
4. Have the children dictate a new story, "The First Blueberry." This could be done with any fruit.
5. Read other Cherokee stories about nature, such as: Joseph Bruchac, "Why Possum has a Naked Tail" in Native American Stories . Discuss the Cherokee legend of the possum's tail.
Bruchac, Joseph. The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story . (New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1993) (ISBN 0803713312).
Bruchac, Joseph and Jonathan London. Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back: A Native American Year of Moons . (New York: Philomel Books, 1992) (ISBN 0399221417).
Caduto, Michael J. and Joseph Bruchac. Keepers of the Animals . (Golden, CO: Golden, Fulerum Publishing, 1991) (ISBN 1555910882).
Lepthien, Emillie. A New True Book: The Cherokee . (Chicago: Children's Press, 1985) (ISBN 0516019384).
Osinski, Alice. A New True Book: The Navaho . (Chicago: Children's Press, 1987) (ISBN 0516012363).
Simons, Robin. Recyclopedia: Games, Science, Equipment and Crafts from Recycled Materials , developed at the Boston Children's Museum. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976): pp. 82,83,86,87.