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NYS
Learning Standards and the Iroquois Indian Museum
A1) Creating, performing, and participating in the
arts.
5,
3
Students
will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performance in the arts
(dance, music, theater, and visual arts) and participate in various roles in the arts.
Our craft
workshop (#5) facilitates students creating one or more traditional Iroquois artforms,
such as beadwork or cornhusk dolls. Sometimes students are engaged as performers and
dancers in our storytelling program (#3).
A2) Knowing and using arts materials and resources.
1, 2, 5
Students
will be knowledgeable about and make use of the materials and resources available for
participation in the arts in various roles.
All of our
programs introduce the materials and resources utilized by Iroquois artists and
craftspeople, although the three programs indicated(# 1,2, &5) have special focus in
this area.
A3) Responding to and analyzing works of art. 1, 2, 3
Students
will respond critically to a variety of works in the arts, connecting the individual work
to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought.
Our Visual
Voices program (#1) and Archeology and Discovery program (#2)directly address this
standard, while our Iroquois Stories program (#3) uses artworks to foster response and
analysis of oral traditions.
A4) Understanding the cultural dimensions and
contributions of the arts.
1, 2, 5
Students
will develop an understanding of the personal and cultural forces that shape artistic
communication and how the arts in turn shape the diverse cultures of the past and present
society.
All of our
programs underscore the importance of art in human life, and the three programs (#1, 2,
& 5) indicated give more attention to the connections between art and culture.
Social
Studies Learning Standards
SS1) History of the US and NYS.
1, 2, 5
Students
will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major
ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States
and New York.
A number
of the artworks on exhibit at the Museum address aspects of Iroquois history, and the
relationship between Iroquois people and the United States, Canada, and New York State.
Our post-contact archeological exhibits provide
concrete and poignant evidence of this history.
SS2) World history.
Students
will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major
ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the
broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.
Because
the Iroquois Museum is an anthropology museum, we situate Iroquois art, culture, and
history within a global and human context. Colonialism
and cultural survival are global occurrences. This
context is presented in the introduction that all groups receive at the beginning of their
visit.
SS3) Geography.
1, 2, 4
Students
will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the
geography of the interdependent world in which we live -local, national, and global-
including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s
surface.
Understanding
the Iroquois loss of autochthonous homelands and subsequent sociogeographic
re-organization onto some sixteen reservations and reserves is one of the things we try to
send every student home with.
SS4) Economics.
2, 4
Students
will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the
United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to
allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making unites function in the United States
and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through
market And nonmarket mechanisms.
Both our
Archeology program (#2) and Environments program (#4) directly address basic issues in
economics, such as how people produce, distribute, and consume the things they need to
live.
SS5) Civics, citizenship, and government.
1, 3
Students
will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the
necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and
other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American
constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship,
including avenues of participation.
Iroquois
culture is famous not for monumental architecture, but for social organization. The contributions Iroquois culture has made to
democracy and women's rights are widely acknowledged by many, including the United States
Congress. A number of artworks here address
the political aspects of Iroquois life.
E1) Students will read, write, listen, and speak for
information and understanding.
1, 3
As
listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover
relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral,
written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral
and written language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.
Most of
the exhibits are accompanied by extensive labels that provide much cultural background for
a given artwork. The Visual Voices program
encourages students to read these labels. The
Iroquois Stories program encourages listening skills.
E2) Students will read, write, listen, and speak for
literary response and expression.
3
Students
will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances,
relate texts and performances to their own lives, and develop an understanding of the
diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent.
As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language for self-expression
and artistic creation.
The
Iroquois Stories program introduces the concepts of oral literatures and traditions, and
takes a comparative approach to different expressions regarding the creation of this
world.
E3) Students will read, write, listen, and speak for
critical analysis and evaluation.
3
As
listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues
presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they
will present, in oral and written language and from a variety of perspectives, their
opinions and judgements on experiences, ideas, information and issues.
The
Iroquois Stories program introduces symbols, and encourages students to analyze and
evaluate oral as well as visual symbols.
E4) Students will read, write, listen, and speak for
social interaction.
3
Students
will use oral and written language for effective social communication with a wide variety
of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to
enrich their understanding of people and their views.
The
Iroquois Stories program explores how mythical accounts can reflect social realities, such
as between women and men, or humans and animals.
N-E1) Students will be able to use a language other than
English for communication.
All
visitors to the Museum are introduced to at least a few words from the Iroquoian
languages.
N-E2) Students will develop cross-cultural skills and
understandings.
1, 3
While all
our programs are designed to facilitate students' development of these skills, the Visual
Voices and Iroquois Stories programs are especially geared towards this standard.
M1) Students will use mathematical analysis,
scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek
answers, and develop solutions.
M2) Students will access, generate, process, and
transfer information using appropriate technologies.
M3) Students will understand mathematics and become
mathematically confident by communicating and reasoning mathematically, by applying
mathematics in real-world settings, and by solving problems through the integrated study
of number systems, geometry, algebra, data analysis, probability, and trigonometry.
M4) Students will understand and apply scientific
concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living
environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
4
M5)
Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and
evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs.
4
M7)
Students will apply the knowledge and thinking skills of math, science, and tech, to
address real-life problems and make informed decisions.
4
Our
Iroquois Environments program makes use of the anthropological concept of ethnoscience to
describe Iroquois concepts about the natural world, which include principles and theories
of causality, acquired knowledge of plant uses, and applications of this knowledge for
healing and survival. We continue to work on creating curricula about Iroquois art and
culture that engages students in mathematical and scientific understandings. We welcome teacher’s input.