Our Current Wit & Wisdom Module:

Module 1 - Cultures in Conflict

Click the following link for the Wit & Wisdom Family Letter to learn more about our program:  Wit & Wisdom Family Letter.

Click the following link for tips for supporting your child during Module 1:  Module 1 Tips for Families.

Module 1 Essential Question

How do cultural beliefs and values guide people?

Module 1 Summary

"'Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired.  My heart is sick and sad.

From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.'

-Chief Joseph, surrender at Bear Paw, 1877

What does it mean to belong to a culture?  How do a culture's beliefs and values guide the actions of its people, both as individuals and collectively? What happens when cultures with very different beliefs and values come into conflict?

Students are coming of age in a world comprising increasingly diverse and conflicting cultures.  They will repeatedly return to these questions as they navigate their own place among others in our complex cultural landscape.  This module gives fifth-grade students the opportunity to ask these universal questions in the context of one of America's most heartbreaking and tumultuous eras as they explore the devastating impact of U.S. territorial growth through the eyes of one American Indian tribe, the Nez Perce" (Wit & Wisdom Teacher's Edition page 2).

Module 1 Core Texts

Novel (Literary):  Thunder Rolling in the Mountains by Scott O'Dell and Elizabeth Hall

"The historical novel Thunder Rolling in the Mountains by Newberry medalist Scott O'Dell and Elizabeth Hall spotlights the conflict between the U.S. government and the Wallowa band of the Nez Perce after the tribe resisted forced removal from their ancestral lands.  The tribe's fate is recounted through the poignant voice of Sound of Running Feet, daughter of Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph.  This perspective illuminates facets of everyday Nez Perce culture and allows readers to witness this pivotal historical moment through the eyes of a young character whose life is significantly different from their own.  Perhaps most important, the novel's unique perspective allows readers to understand Chief Joseph as a respected father, a man of deep values, and a leader who faced impossible decisions about his tribe's fate.  Thorough research - including eyewitness accounts, recollections from Nez Perce survivors, and the author's own travels of the trail - lends authenticity to this tragic, moving story" (Wit & Wisdom Teacher's Edition page 2).

Speech:  "Lincoln Hall Speech," Washington, D.C., January 14, 1879, Chief Joseph, Nez Perce

"Anchoring the module is Chief Joseph's iconic "Lincoln Hall Speech" to members of Congress in 1879, in which he makes his case for his people to return to their homeland in the Wallow Valley.  In eloquent, straightforward language enhanced by repetition and metaphor, Chief Joseph constructs his plea for justice and equality for the Nez Perce people.  His feelings of loss, confusion, and anger over the deliberate destruction of his people and their ways of life are palpable in his words.  Chief Joseph's speech leaves a deep and lasting impression, reminding audiences of the immeasurable losses American Indian cultures suffered in the name of European American expansion" (Wit & Wisdom Teacher's Edition pages 2-3).

Module 1 Focusing Question Arcs

• Focusing Question Arc 1:  How did U.S. westward expansion impact Native American cultures in the West?

• Focusing Question Arc 2:  How did the Nez Perce's homeland sustain their lifestyle and culture?

• Focusing Question Arc 3:  What role do stories play in Nez Perce culture?

• Focusing Question Arc 4:  How does the conflict between the Nez Perce and the U.S. government reveal differing cultural beliefs and values?

• Focusing Question Arc 5:  What important beliefs and values guide Chief Joseph and his daughter, Sound of Running Feet?

• End-of-Module Arc:  What important Nez Perce beliefs and values does Chief Joseph convey in his "Lincoln Hall Speech"?

Module 1 Quizzes and Assessments

• Quizzes:

  • • New-Read Assessment:  Lesson 21

    • Socratic Seminar:  Lesson 32

    • Vocabulary Quick Checks:

      • • VQC #1 Lessons 1-4

          • • Quiz Date:  Friday, September 19th

            • Study Guide

        • VQC #2 Lessons 5-9

          • • Quiz Date:  Friday, October 3rd

            • Study Guide

        • VQC #3 Lesson 10-20

          • • Quiz Date:  To Be Determined

            • Study Guide

        • VQC #4 Lessons 20-31

          • • Quiz Date:  To Be Determined

            • Study Guide

    • Question Sets:

      • • Lesson 5

          • • Quiz Date:  Thursday, September 25th

            • Study Guide

        • Lesson 18

          • • Quiz Date:  To Be Determined

            • Study Guide - Coming Soon!

        • Lesson 20

          • • Quiz Date:  To Be Determined

            • Study Guide - Coming Soon!

        • Lesson 23

          • • Quiz Date:  To Be Determined

            • Study Guide - Coming Soon!

        • Lesson 29

          • • Quiz Date:  To Be Determined

            • Study Guide - Coming Soon!

• Assessments:

  • • Focusing Questions Tasks:

      • • FQT #2:  Lesson 8

        • FQT #4:  Lesson 16

        • FQT #5:  Lesson 28

    • End of Module Task:  Lessons 33-35

    • End of Module Vocabulary Test - Date To Be Determined

      • • Vocabulary Study Guide - Click HERE!