Talking Without Words in the Old West
20-minute DVD, with 59-page teacher guide
Suggested for 5th – 6th grades

Drawing from a wealth of historical resources, viewers learn about the challenges people face when communicating with people who speak another language.

DVD

In this 20-minute DVD, tribal educators and elders share their knowledge of various forms of non-verbal communication. Through the use of glyphs and symbols, smoke signals, and Plains Indian Sign Language, this film explores how non-verbal communication was essential to the relationships and interactions between different tribal groups, and between Indian people and European travelers, traders and explorers who later came into tribal territories.

Guide features

The 59-page teacher guide includes Pre- and Post-Viewing activities designed to support and expand upon the main themes presented in the DVD. Instructions, student worksheets, materials, and supplementary geographic/linguistic maps are included. A fun, interactive classroom activity, "Talking Rocks: A Simulation on the Origins of Writing," by Robert P. Vernon, will engage students as they learn the importance and complexity of non-verbal symbols as a form of communication.

Each chaptered section contains features designed to facilitate student understanding of the topics and themes, along with suggested activities. These features include:

• Key Concepts
• Vocabulary
• Tribes
• People
• Geographical Places
• Essential Questions
• Transcript Text of DVD narrative

Supplemental Maps & Material

• 1838 Parker Map of Oregon Territory
• Geographical Base Map of the Northwest
• Northwest Tribal Homeland Territories
• Tribal Homelands in Montana and Wyoming
• Language Families of the Plains
• Language Families of the Plateau