How does Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation share their water stories?

In this lesson, students will learn about water quality problems from a Native American perspective, to explore how civic stories can be told, and to decide for themselves how civic stories should be told, depending on a variety of circumstances.

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Discipline: Social Studies 

Sub-discipline(s): Civics

Grade level: 9-12

Teacher materials
Student materials

Summative Performance Task

Description: The students will choose a local community problem that they would like to tell a civic story about, either from an insider’s or an outsider’s perspective, and create a plan for telling it. 

Assessment method(s):  Essay, research

Assessment criteria: 

  • Did the student accurately identify themselves as either an “insider” or an “outsider” (relevant to the story they want to tell) according to their own interpretation of these two terms?
  •  Did the student give a clear description of the civic story they want to tell, including relevant details (e.g. causes, potential solutions, etc.)?
  • Did the student explain which medium(s) they would use to tell their story, and why?
  • Did the student reference the importance of matching up the chosen medium(s) and the target audience?
  • Did the student acknowledge any potential pitfalls associated with their chosen perspective (insider vs outsider) and explain how they would try to prevent/address them? 
  • Did the student write about why they want to tell this story, and then explain how their chosen method of storytelling would support these goals?
  • Did the student make a strong argument for how they would ensure that their civic story could be considered “informed” (i.e. why they would be able to adequately tell the story)?
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Taking Informed Action

Description: The students will carry out their civic storytelling plans (created as part of the summative performance task). 

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Types of activities featured in this lesson plan...

C3 Standards

  • D1.5.9-12 Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling and supporting questions, taking into consideration multiple points of view represented in the sources, the types of sources available, and the potential uses of the sources.
  • D2.Civ.5.9-12 Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
  • D2.Civ.7.9-12 Apply civic virtues and democratic principles when working with others.
  • D4.1.9-12 Construct arguments using precise and knowledgeable claims, with evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging counterclaims and evidentiary weaknesses.
  • D4.7.9-12 Assess options for individual and collective action to address local, regional, and global problems by engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning. 

Interdisciplinary Connections

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Overlapping standards and skills

  • English: The basic elements of civic storytelling – setting, characters, plot, and resolution – parallel the basic elements of any literary work. Similarly, purpose, perspective, audience, and medium are all language arts concepts related to the process of storytelling. 

 

  • English: One of the key themes of this lesson is comparing and contemplating “insider” and “outsider” perspectives in storytelling. In doing so, the students will “analyze how the author’s choices related to perspective or point of view contribute to the meaning, significance, or aesthetic of a literary text” (LA.10.RP.3).  

 

  • English: In this lesson, the students will analyze stories told through a variety of storytelling mediums. The activities in this lesson offer opportunities to study mediums like poetry and the short story in depth. By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to prescribe a specific storytelling medium to target a particular audience and achieve a particular purpose. 

 

  • English: Activities in this lesson that involve writing (including the summative performance task) offer opportunities to assess the students’ writing skills. Language arts standards related to grade-level writing skills will be relevant. 

 

  • Fine arts: An important part of learning about civic storytelling is learning about how stories are told. As they would in a fine arts class, the students will learn about different mediums and how to communicate through them. 


  • History: One of the key themes of this lesson is comparing and contemplating “insider” and “outsider” perspectives. In this lesson, the students will consider how different experiences give birth to different world views.  

 

  • History: This lesson contains primary source analysis activities which offer opportunities to practice this skill. 

Relevant lessons from other disciplines

English Lesson: How can we effectively communicate to promote change?

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