Woven basket used by the O'odham tribe with the category "History"

O’odham Living on the San Pedro River – Part 1 History

This lesson investigates the O’odham living in the San Pedro Valley, focusing on the many desert resources. Students will explore water sources, desert animals, desert food, and desert shelter. There was competition for resources as the San Pedro Valley was a natural corridor through which generations of native peoples have traveled for more than 12,000 years, and today many tribes consider it to be part of their ancestral homeland. 

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Course Information

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Course Instructor

Brenda Kilmurray Author

Brenda Kilmurray is a National Board Certified Teacher, currently certified in Arizona with 17 years’ experience in the classroom working with 3rd – 5th grade students.  Brenda was awarded Cochise County’s Arizona Rural Teacher of the Year (2017), The Air Force Association’s Cochise County STEM Teacher of the Year (2017), Sierra Vista Unified School District’s Elementary Teacher of the Year (2017), and The Arizona Educational Foundation’s Arizona Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalist (2018). Brenda brings her passion for the classroom and understanding of the Arizona Department of Education State Standards together to create engaging and developmentally appropriate lessons. These lessons incorporate differentiated reading, writing, and STEAM activities. The lessons featured here were reviewed and critiqued by content experts, including historians, archaeologists, other educators, many of whom are members of Indigenous communities. For a full list the advisors visit Our Contributor’s Page.

Special Thanks to Our Contributors

Amerind would like to thank Angelica Salcido, Angelina Saraficio, and Amy Spotted Wolf for reviewing this lesson. Their comments, advice, and guidance improved these educational materials significantly. We are truly grateful for Angelica Salcido, Angelina Saraficio, and Amy Spotted Wolf’s help. Any errors or oversights in these materials are solely the responsibility of Amerind.

Course Structure

This course is delivered in 4 parts.

  1. History – Includes all links and activities in the Orange column below.
  2. ELA Reading and Writing – Includes all links and activities in the Yellow and Green columns with the title ELA.
  3. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) – Includes all links and activities in the blue column with the title S.T.E.A.M.
  4. Resources – This is a simple page with links for extended learning and study. These are found in the purple column labeled Resources.

The table below gives a quick view of the lessons and links that are found in each of the lessons.

O’odham Living on the San Pedro River Curriculum Chart

History /Social Science Standard

Learning Objectives:
G2.1 – We will explain how people modify and adapt to the Arizona environment.
H1.1 – We will utilize a variety of sources to construct a historical narrative exploring Arizona’s O’odham culture, civilization, and innovation.
RI.1 We will ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a grade-level text.
W.7 We can conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

History ActivitiesELA 
Crosswalk		ELA
Activities		S.T.E.A.M.Digital
Resources
1) O’odham Living on the San Pedro River Digital Notebook
2) O’odham Living on the San Pedro Slideshow 
3) Natural Resources on the San Pedro CLOZE notes		Reading Passages
1) O’odham Living on the San Pedro River
2) San Pedro’s Rich River History and Timeline Activity.
3) San Pedro Beaver History

Writing Assignment
Baby Animals of the San Pedro River
1) San Pedro River Library
2)San Pedro River Vocabulary
3) Rediscovering Tohono O’odham Foodways		1) Nature Walk Art Activity
2) Build a river model
3) Game of Memory
4) Create a Village along the San Pedro River
5) Exploring the San Pedro River.		1) How the San Pedro River Got Its Name
2) Javelina of the San Pedro River
3) San Pedro River
4) Friends of the San Pedro River Valley Educational Series
5) A Video History of the San Pedro River Area

Accessing the Course Content

This course is designed and presented with the goal that the material can be easily used by anyone. As a result, each lesson will present content in multiple ways to accommodate many different teaching styles and technology needs. For each lesson you will have the following options:

  • Website Content – The lessons/worksheets/videos will be available to view inside of the website. You can read and use the lesson from this site.
  • External Link – You will also have a link that directly links you to the resource (ie. Google Doc, Google Slide, YouTube Video)
  • PDF Download Link – If the content is a handout or document, you will have access to a link to download the .pdf.

* IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR GOOGLE DOCS AND SLIDES

If you go directly to a link to save a google document or slide, you must make a copy of the document and save it to your own account.