Teacher Feature
A Medal for Peace
Overview
The first nickel of the Westward Journey Nickel Series™ is the Peace Medal Nickel. Don't just show your students the design; have them design their own peace medal!
Activity
View the design on the reverse of the Peace Medal Nickel with your students. Explain that the Peace Medal was one symbol of friendship that Lewis and Clark gave to Native American Indians that they met along the path of their expedition.
Write the following prompt on the board and have the students write a journal entry in response. "If you were to design a peace medal to foster friendship between two people or groups of people, which people/groups would you choose? Why? Describe what your medal would look like and draw it at the bottom of your journal entry."
When students have completed their journal entries, allow them to share their writing and drawings with the class.
Extension
Create a class peace medal to present to another grade/class as a symbol of friendship between the two groups of students. Have the students write an explanation of what the purpose of the peace medal is and how it relates to Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery.
Standards
The project described above reflects some of the national standards of learning as defined by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE), and the International Society for Technology in Education. These standards are listed below:
Language Arts Standards
Demonstrate competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process. Students will write a journal entry in response to a writing prompt.
Social Studies Standards
Individuals, Groups, and Institutions: Students will demonstrate how individuals can foster peace between groups of people.
Back to Related Content
|
Teacher Feature Stockroom
More About Teacher Features
