Moon of the Crusted Snow

Use one or both of these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

ACTIVITY 1: “Tell an Oral Story”

In this classroom activity, students will consider the oral tradition of handing down stories from one generation to the next with an exercise in oral storytelling.

• Work in a small group. The first group member tells a brief story while others do their best to remember the details of story.
• Each group member then retells a section of the story to the class, with each person in the group telling their part in turn.

Journal entry: How well did the group presentation retell the story? What details were left out? What parts were incorrect? What was added that wasn’t part of the original tale?

Question for reflection: Is it easier to remember a story that you hear or one that you read?

Teaching Suggestions: Emphasize that the same story can be told in different ways. Ask for volunteers to tell familiar stories (such as “Cinderella”) to demonstrate how easy it can be to tell a story in one’s own words.

Differentiation Suggestion: As an alternative to the oral exercise for students who are not comfortable speaking extemporaneously, students might compare “The Ojibway Creation Story” to a creation story of another culture. Students should research creation myths and choose one that has some similarities (a great flood, for example) and then write a short essay describing similarities and differences between the two stories.

• Seven-minute video, “The Ojibway Creation Story”

ACTIVITY 2: “Anishinaabe Cooking”

Students will research traditional Anishinaabe foods and present information to the class.

In the novel, the characters who value traditional ways procure and prepare food as their ancestors did and take pride in sharing it. This contrasts with their negative attitude toward those who neglect the old ways and their distaste for store-bought food. It contrasts even more extremely with the strongly implied cannibalism perpetrated by the outsiders.

• Choose a traditional Anishinaabe food to research. Write a one-paragraph description of the significance of the food to the Anishinaabe people.
• Describe how to procure the food (i.e., through fishing, hunting, gathering, or growing) and identify tools that may be needed to gather it.
• Add directions for preparing the food, including any activities that must be done in advance of cooking the food (e.g., building a fire, collecting water).

In a concluding written comment, identify additional qualities about this food, such as its historical and cultural significance, the part it plays in the natural ecosystem, or its nutritional attributes.

Teaching Suggestions: Encourage students to find images of this food they might display when sharing the information with the class.