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"The history of punishment can serve as a lens to illuminate major cultural changes in a society." Myra C. Glenn
ONE OF THE MORE interesting and too often overlooked figures in American maritime history is Uriah P. Levy, an enigmatic nineteenth-century Jewish naval officer. Variously described by historians as pugnacious, controversial, and flamboyant, Levy was an anomaly for his time. Few Jews in the early nineteenth century were naval officers. Fewer still rose to the rank of Captain. Uriah Levys colorful career as a sailor included fighting in the War of 1812, chasing pirates in the Caribbean, surviving a shipwreck off the coast of Honduras, challenging and killing a man in a duel, and saving the life of a fellow U.S. sailor in a Rio de Janiero street brawl. For his heroism in the latter episode and his overall reputation as an exceptional seaman, the Emperor of Brazil offered Levy command of a new sixty-gun Brazilian frigate. Ever the uncompromising American loyalist, Levy turned down the offer claiming that he would rather serve in the American Navy as a cabin boy than as a captain in any other service in the world.1 A great admirer of Thomas Jefferson, not only did Levy procure and donate to the U.S. government a statue of the nations third president, but he purchased Monticello from the debt ridden descendants of Jefferson in 1836 and sought thereafter to restore the beleaguered two hundred-acre estate.2 His mother, Rachel Levy, is buried on the site, which remained in the Levy family until it was purchased by the Jefferson Memorial Foundation in 1923.
But Levy is perhaps most famous neither for his devotion to Jefferson and curatorial care of Monticello nor for his successes in American maritime, but for the unusual forms of discipline he employed on the ships he commanded. In fact, Levy viewed as among his greatest accomplishments his role in ridding the U.S. Navy of corporal punishment. On his tombstone it is recorded, as directed by his will, Father of the law for the abolition of the barbarous practice of corporal punishment in the United States Navy.3 During his life, Levy was known for his opposition to corporal punishment, but he was even better known for the alternative forms of punishment that he imposed. Curiously, in his attempts to stamp out corporal punishment, Commodore Levy reverted to forms of discipline more typical of the colonial period.
Instead of flogging drunken sailors, the usual practice of the time, Levy made each violator wear a black wooden bottle inscribed with the words punishment for drunkenness around his neck. Petty thieves would be made to wear a wooden collar or some other badge proclaiming their crime. Those who engaged in fighting would be made to drink a pot of sea water to cool the blood and clean the stomach.4 Levys most notorious act of punishment occurred on 7 July 1839. At the time Levy was the Commander of the U.S.S. Vandalia. A mess boy named John Thompson had mimicked a junior officer. For his infraction Thompson was strapped to a gun in front of a crowd of sailors, his pants were then removed, and tar and parrot feathers were applied to his buttocks.5 Levys actions angered many of his fellow officers who eventually had him court martialed. George Hooe, Levys first lieutenant on the Van-dalia, formally charged his commanding officer with scandalous and cruel conduct. The punishment was particularly abhorrent to Hooe because it humiliated and degraded a sailor in front of his peers. The court reviewing the case upheld Hooes charges and decried Levys actions as not only unusual but wholly unlawful and at the same time exceedingly cruel. And this, because its aim was to dishonor and degrade Mr. Thompson.6 For this incident Levy was stripped of his command and ultimately dismissed from the Navy.7
Punishment and Culture
This extraordinary anecdote in the annals of U.S. military history raises several important questions as it concerns the larger issue of the meaning and practice of punishment. Why were Levys actions viewed as so draconian? More generally, why are some forms of punishment considered acceptable in one period and regarded as scandalous in another? How are we to understand the social acceptance or the implausibility of particular types of social control at different historical moments?
Central to answering these questions is understanding the cultural context within which particular types of punishment are practiced. As sociologists have long held (albeit from varying theoretical vantage points), the moral codes and symbols pervading a particular culture at a particular time greatly influence which behaviors will be regarded as deviant and what types of punishment will be used to sanction them. Today Ameri-cans clearly reject the shame-based disciplinary practices of Puritan New England as well as the types of corporal punishment used during the ante-bellum period. Changing cultural codes of moral understanding have played no small part in effecting departures from these previous practices.8 But what new disciplinary practices have emerged in the criminal justice system at the turn of the twenty-first century, and how has culture shaped these new forms of social control?
For Uriah Levy to have sent someone to court monitored treatment for drunkenness would have been regarded as just as unacceptable in 1839 as making someone wear a scarlet letter for adultery or disciplining another through some form of corporal punishment would be today. Why would employing Levys disciplinary practices as well as those he was trying to abolish be regarded as entirely unacceptable in the contemporary United States? Relatedly, what does the current acceptance of alternative forms of social control tell us about contemporary American culture? And how do culturally inspired new forms of legal social control, in turn, shape public understandings of justice, guilt, and crime? A comprehensive examination of the American drug court movement promises to offer insights into these questions.
The burgeoning drug court movement first developed in response to the growing number of drug cases overcrowding Americas criminal court calendars. The drug court offers mostly drug offenders the choice of participating in an intensive court-monitored treatment program as an alternative to the normal adjudication process. The innovative adjudicative model draws heavily on the American therapeutic idiom to give direction and meaning to its philosophy, forms, and procedures.9 Since the first drug court was launched in Dade County, Florida, in 1989, more than eight hundred similar courts have been initiated or are in the planning stages.10 The model has received almost uniformly positive media coverage and overwhelming public support at both the national and local levels. Judges celebrate the drug court as an exciting movement, a new way of justice, even a revolution in American jurisprudence. Before considering a detailed account of the historical developments that led to the emergence and proliferation of drug courts, we first make some initial forays into several of Americas local drug courts, where we find a form of criminal adjudication as dissimilar as one could imagine to the types of punishment practiced by Commodore Levy.
Snapshots of Americas Drug Courts
On a summer afternoon in 1998 several dozen drug offenders sat in the Hayward County Criminal Court, situated about forty miles outside of San Francisco. These defendants were participants in Haywards drug treatment court, presided over by Judge Peggy Hora. After an introduction by the court clerk, Judge Hora entered the courtroom and seated herself behind the bench. Before starting into the court calendar the judge made several special announcements. A drug court participant who had recently passed his GED test was called forward and presented with a graduation balloon. The judge explained that graduation balloons are hard to find in August and that she had trudged through several stores before finally locating one.
The judge then orchestrated a raffle of sorts, where the names from a pool of successful drug court clients (as they are commonly referred in the drug court setting) were selected to receive special prizes. One client received four tickets to a Giants baseball game; another, a mug; and another, a hat. After each name was drawn and announced the whole court applauded. The judge then made another special announcement. This day was the last for the drug court defense attorney, who after being with the court since its inception was getting a new assignment. For her service to the court the defense lawyer was awarded a balloon, a cook book, and a certificate. Taken aback, the defense attorney began to cry. She stood up to receive her gifts, then turned to address the audience of drug court participants. You guys make everything worthwhile, she said. I want so bad for you all to succeed. We all want you to do what you need to do to get through this. I am going to miss you. This is the hardest part of my reassignment. Appearing touched by the sentiments conveyed, the judge invited participants to come forward and share their thoughts. One participant presented the departing defense attorney with a large cup of cappuccino coffee he had purchased especially for her. Another came forward, hugged the lawyer, and tearfully thanked her for all the help she had been to her and to everyone else in the program.
The judge then began the court calendar. She started with successful drug court clients. Among them was the recent GED graduate, who although he had not used drugs for several months had come up positive for marijuana on his most recent urinalysis test. The judge and this client talked at length about the incident trying to make sense of what triggered the use. According to the client, he had been given a bag of marijuana from a friend for his birthday. The judge mused, Funny, my friends dont give me marijuana for my birthday. She discussed with the client the problem with having friends who do such things.
Later during the proceedings, another client came before the bench.
Hi dear, he said to the judge. Visibly irritated with the greeting, Judge Hora retorted, That will be judge dear for you, or how about just judge. Later another client who had been doing well in the program said, Im proud of myself. You should be proud of yourself the judge responded. We are proud of you. You are doing well. To others Judge Hora said things like, You can get what you want, you deserve it. To others, I want you to become NORPsnormal, ordinary, responsible people. Throughout the afternoon Judge Hora offered similar admonishments, compliments, and entreaties in her unusual judicial role of directly helping clients in their recovery efforts.
On the other side of the country, in Washington, D.C., a similar court operates under the judicial watch of Judge Stephanie Duncan-Peters. Unlike Judge Hora, who in traditional style sits behind the bench, Judge Duncan-Peters with microphone in hand roams the courtroom like a daytime talk show host. At one drug court session held in the winter of 1996, Judge Duncan-Peters initiated the proceedings with a discussion of two movies the drug court clients had recently seen as part of the drug court treatment program. Of the two movies, the one of greatest interest to the participants was White Mans Birth. The mostly African American participants reflected on some of the racial issues raised by the movie; they discussed the problems with racism and the importance of justice and equality. One client talked about the foolishness of acting on impulse. Another discussed the impressionability of children and recognized that using drugs in front of children problematically communicates to them that such behavior is somehow acceptable.
Judge Duncan-Peters customarily conducts talks like this at the beginning of her drug court sessions. She has found movies to be a useful tool in the treatment process. So I think thats kind of good, she later explained to me of the practice. It gets them thinking and discussing other things. Obviously they need to talk about their own problems and what leads to them, but I also think its good to have distractions in life. Ive found that if there are periods of your life when you are unhappy, sometimes going out to see an interesting movie or going out with a friend and talking about something else, or going to the gym to work out, these kinds of things can help you through a bad day. This judge, therefore, does not want to focus only on individual problems and strategies for solving them; in addition, she wants to give clients, through watching movies and other activities, the ability to see something else that might challenge their minds and distract them in a positive way from their problems. After discussing the movies, Judge Duncan-Peters then called up individual clients who were on the drug court calendar. One client summoned, a Mr. Taylor, was moving to a higher level in the treatment program that day. Drug court programs typically have several levels of treatment through which clients progress as they successfully comply with the treatment regimen. The following exchange transpired between Judge Duncan-Peters and this advancing client.
|DUNCAN-PETERS:||How are you doing today Mr. Taylor? |
|DUNCAN-PETERS:||And you are moving up to level three, having survived|
| ||level two. So, how are you feeling?|
|TAYLOR: ||Feeling good. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Feeling good? How come? |
|TAYLOR: ||Im moving. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Youre moving up. Moving up in the world. Moving up |
| ||and out of the program. Keep on going.And that |
| ||gives you a good feeling, right? Well, you got some |
| ||words of advice for these other folks that are trying to |
| ||move up to where you are? |
|TAYLOR: ||Stay focused. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Stay focused. Yep. How long have you had a problem |
| ||with drugs? |
|TAYLOR: ||Not long. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Not too long. Not too long. Think you are going to be |
| ||able to make it a permanent good-bye to these drugs? |
|TAYLOR: ||Yeah, as long as I got these court dates. [Laughter in |
| ||audience] |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Even if you dont have them, do you think you are going |
| ||to be able to stay off of them even if you dont have |
| ||the court building, and you dont have to come back |
| ||to court except for good reasons? |
|TAYLOR: ||I aint coming back. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||No way, huh. Well, here is your mug, and here is your |
| ||certificate. Congratulations. |
At this point everyone in the courtroom applauded. These kind of exchanges with clients are typical in Judge Duncan-Peterss drug court. Later in the session another client, a Mr. Stevens, was called forward and had the following discussion with the judge.
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Where is Mr. Stevens? Mr. Stevens is moving right along |
| ||too. Right? |
|STEVENS: ||Yep. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||How come? How come it is going so great? |
|STEVENS: ||I made a choice. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||You made a choice. Why did you do that? Why did you |
| ||make that choice? What helped you to make up your |
| ||mind to do it? |
|STEVENS: ||There had to be a better way than the way I was doing |
| ||it. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||What was wrong with the way you were living? What |
| ||didnt you like about it? |
|STEVENS: ||It was wild. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||It was wild, like too dangerous? Is that what you mean |
| ||by wild? |
|STEVENS: ||Dangerous. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Too dangerous, for you personally, like a bad roller |
| ||coaster ride. So, what do you think? Is this new life |
| ||boring? |
|STEVENS: ||No, not at all. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Not at all. What do you like about the new life? |
|STEVENS: ||I like it better than the old. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Even though the old one was wild, the wild was kind of |
| ||not a good wild. You like this way. |
|STEVENS: ||I love it. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||You love it. Well, were glad that you love it. Were very |
| ||proud of you. In addition to your certificate, youre |
| ||getting your pen which says, I made it to level four, |
| ||almost out the door. How about that? Anybody in |
| ||the program that you are helping out a little bit, do |
| ||you think? |
|STEVENS: ||Trying to help everybody if I can. |
|DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Trying to help everybody if you can. Well, hopefully you |
| ||are helping them, because I think that it is interesting for |
| || them to hear what you feel about having given up this old |
| ||style, and starting a new one. |
Mr. Stevens was also applauded by everyone in the crowded courtroom for his efforts. The judge proceeded through the court calendar and had similar exchanges with other clients. To those who were doing well and graduating to higher levels of treatment, she offered certificates, mugs, pens, and words of encouragement.
Judge Stanley Goldstein presided over the Miami, Florida, drug court from its inception in 1989 until his retirement in 1999. A crusty ex-prosecutor and street cop, Goldstein would mix tough talk with words of encouragement in discussions with his clients. Between exchanges, he offered commentary, even short sermons, about the harms of drug use, the efficacy and basic focus of the drug court program, and his personal concern for the clients success in drug court. During a January 1995 court session, for example, he explained: This is a two part program. First is to get you off drugs. Second is to teach you how to live in this world. The first lesson you learn is you follow the rules. Later during the same session he offered the following.
Let me tell you guys something. I told almost everyone of you when you came in here, there aint no other way. Any other way out of here and you lose. You stay being a junky: you lose, I win. You die: I win, you lose. You burn your brain out: you lose, I win. Forget about it. You hate me, want to get even with me? Quit using drugs, and get yourself a good job. Then you get even with me. I love you. I want everyone here to beat me into the ground with goodness.
A female defendant stood before Judge Goldstein. You looked in the mirror lately? he asked her. Yeah, the client responded with a smile.
Nice, huh? Goldstein continued. Again, the client smiled and answered, Yeah. Keep it up baby, Goldstein offered before calling up another client. To another participant who had not been doing so well he implored, When are you going to stop using cocaine? I cant stop it for you. Nobody can stop it for you. You have worked hard enough to get yourself into Phase III. Youre getting pretty close to graduation, and you got to go out and use cocaine. Are you a little baby? Do I have to treat you like a little baby. Huh? Say no more. I will see you back here in sixty days. To another who had also had a recent failure in the program, Goldstein exhorted, Any problem you got, you come to me. Im your Daddy Youre a little baby. Hey little baby boy. There is only one way to stop and that is to stop. And it is going to hurt. It is going to hurt a lot of ways. You got three options: You can die. You can go insane. You can quit. Knock it off. Knock it off. To a client holding a young child Goldstein instructed, Stop thinking about yourself all the time. Youre going to make that kid a junky by going out and having a good time for a couple hours. Youre dirty every day and youre killing your baby. Another client who stood before Goldstein was accompanied by her mother and asked the judge if she could graduate from the program early. Goldstein explained, The deal was one year. The statute says one year Okay? You look beautiful. You looked like hell when I first saw you. Your gorgeous. Then to the mother standing beside the client, What did I tell you? Didnt I tell you Id give you a new daughter? Right out of the factory. To another client who unexpectedly came into contact with drugs, Goldstein warned,
What do you do at a party and someone lights up? Get the hell out of there. If youre in a car and someone lights up? Get the hell out of there. During the court session Goldstein reflected on his experience in the drug court program and on his previous experience in a regular criminal court. I used to sit up here and try cases. And I had big jury trials, with murderers, and with robbers, and all of this crap. And I put people away for seventy years and seventy-five years. During those years in a regular criminal court, Goldstein explained, he found his work profoundly unsatisfying. It never made me feel like I did anything I was taking one jackass off the street, that was all. With the drug court, contrastingly, I walk out of this program almost everyday and feel like I have accomplished something. If I save one guy a day Im happy. It took me awhile to realize that you cant save everybody. Some of them just aint got it Some people I praise. Some people I try to insult. Some people, Ill try anything, anything that might work.
These examples provide just a glimpse into the unique character of the American drug court model. The chapters that follow consider in more detail the various qualities and consequences of this new form of criminal adjudication. Such an examination aims not only to explicate the defining features of the drug court movement and the reasons behind its widespread proliferation but to make sense of its effects, both practical and theoretical, on legal and public understandings of justice.
A Note on Method
The findings reported in this book are based upon ethnographic observation of drug courts throughout the United States. In the four-year period between August 1994 and August 1998, I visited twenty-one different drug courts in a total of eleven different states and the District of Colum-bia. The drug courts I visited varied by region. Seven were in the Northeast, six on the West Coast, five in the Mid Atlantic region (i.e., Mary-land, Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia), and three in the South. The courts also varied with respect to the size of the locations in which they were situated. Twelve of the courts were in large urban areas; five were in rural regions; three were in midsize cities of around 100,000 residents; and one was in an outlying suburban area of a Northeastern city. The courts also varied with respect to how long they had been in existence, varying from first generation drug courts to courts that were still in the planning stages. Eleven of the courts I visited had been in existence for more than one year; eight had been in existence for less than a year; and two were still in the planning stages.
At each of the drug courts, I conducted a face-to-face open-ended interview with the judge. I also had occasion to interview three other judges whose drug courts I did not visit. In all, I formally interviewed twenty-four different drug court judges. At the drug court locations, national drug court conferences, and mentoring court programs I attended, I also formally interviewed or had informal discussions with dozens of other drug court officials, including district attorneys, public defenders, treatment counselors, private attorneys, program coordinators, evaluators, and acupuncturists. I also, on occasion, had informal conversations with drug court clients. At each court I visited, in addition to interviewing the judge, I talked with other drug court officials, and if allowed, visited one of the outside-of-the-court treatment sites serving the drug court. The treatment modalities that I observed included acupuncture sessions, Alcoholics/Narcotics Anonymous meetings, group counseling sessions, and a probationary/ treatment introductory meeting. At five of the courts I was invited to sit in on the preliminary meetings preceding the drug court session. At these meetings the judge and other drug court officials discussed each of the clients who would be appearing in the drug court that day.
In addition to visiting individual courts I also attended three national drug court conferences; one in Portland, Oregon, in December 1995; one in Washington, D.C., in May 1996; and another in Washington, D.C., in June 1998.11 At the conferences, I attended lectures and panel discussions featuring key players in the drug court movement; I interviewed drug court officials; and collected valuable written materials from drug courts throughout the country. I also attended two training or mentoring court programs. Mentoring courts are drug courts that have been in operation for several years and have been designated as locations where emerging courts can visit and receive training in the operation of a drug court. I attended a training session in Louisville, Kentucky, in April 1996, and another in Rochester, New York, in June 1997. There were representatives from five courts at the Louisville program, and representatives from twelve courts at Rochester.
Finally I participated in the planning stages of a local drug court (near where I lived at the time) over a period of approximately four months. Officials had heard about my research from another court in the state and invited me to be on their planning board. We made a deal of sorts. They would allow me to sit in on their planning meetings, some of which I was allowed to tape-record, and they could draw upon the expertise I had acquired from having visited other courts around the country. My contribution was limited basically to a short presentation at one meeting, where I briefly described the features and structure of four other courts I had recently visited. On occasion they would ask me a question about how other courts operated, but for the most part I remained a very quiet observer.
With the exception of drug court client/defendants, all drug court offi-cials and drug court sites identified in the book are actual names and places. I provide pseudonyms for any drug court client whose behavior is discussed or whose words are quoted in this book, the only exception being names cited in already public sources (e.g., justice department reports or newspaper descriptions of individual drug courts).12 I should note that, by in large, I found the people in this movement to be courteous, welcoming, and accessible. I also found drug court movement activists to be earnest, committed, and sacrificially generous in the amount of time and energy they devoted to the drug courts. I imagine that some may be disappointed by what they find in this book. It is not a celebration of the movement, but neither is it a policy oriented debunking of the movement. Rather it seeks to place the phenomenon in a broader socio-historical context, and it attempts to bring to the surface what might be some of the unintended consequences of the drug court movement as it relates to practical and theoretical understandings of justice. In any respect, I am very grateful for the level of access I was afforded by a group of hardworking and dedicated people, and hope that, even if not satisfied with the sociological focus of the analysis, drug court officials will find my treatment of their words and of the broader movement to be fair and even handed.
Again, the book is not a policy statement, though it may have certain policy implications. Any program alternative to the drug court, however, is not given specific articulation. Furthermore, while the book touches upon issues of efficacy in certain contexts, the project is not an analysis of the utility of the drug courts, which has been the focus of most academic investigations of the drug court movement to date. A question about whether the drug courts work is certainly a valid question in its rightful place, but it is not the inquiry pursued here, nor is it, I would argue, the more important question to ask of the movement.
Rather, the book seeks to understand the movement against the backdrop of the history of the social control of drugs in the United States and to understand the consequences of this judicial innovation on the processes of criminal adjudication and on social and legal understandings of justice. Toward this end, chapter 1 begins with a review of the various legal responses to drug use during the twentieth century leading up to the years just prior to the drug court movement. Chapter 2 considers in some detail the initiation and expansion of the drug court movement by examining the structural and cultural causes of the movement, an analysis which reveals limitations in the conventional political categories typically used to make sense of phenomenon like the drug court. Chapter 3 investigates the unique features of the drug court theater, that is, the radically redefined roles of the various actors in the courtroom drama and the subsequent tensions sometimes created by these new roles.
The next three chapters consider some of the intended and unintended consequences of the drug court model. Chapter 4 evaluates the extent to which the drug court, particularly as it concerns the new role of the judge, departs from the American common law tradition. Chapter 5 analyzes the centrality of storytelling to the drug court drama and considers the extent to which the poignancy of a good story becomes an increasingly plausible criteria for evaluating the success of judicial programs. Chapter 6 assesses the manner in which a growing number of criminal behaviors (not just drug offenses) have, in the context of the drug court, been redefined in pathological terms, thus making increasingly obsoleteboth philosophically and practicallythe legal salience of guilt. Finally, the last two chapters specifically focus on the meaning of justice. Chapter 7 situates the drug court within a broader discussion of philosophical and cultural understandings of the goals of punishment, moving from the retributivist theories of Kant and Hegel in the early modern period to the rehabilitative ideal of the first part of the twentieth century. Chapter 8 investigates the manner in which the drug courts quintessential embodiment of therapeutic jurisprudence theory represents a significant break from previous understandings of the purposes of punishment and criminal adjudication. Taken together, the unique qualities and consequences of the drug court movement portend to redefine the very meaning of justice.
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|Regions with significant populations|
United States (Montana)
|Related ethnic groups|
|other Algonquian peoples|
The Blackfoot confederacy of Alberta in Canada and Montana in the United States was created from closely related, Algonkian-speaking tribes: the Piegan, the Kainai (Blood), and the Siksika (from which the word Blackfoot derived). They were a powerful nation that covered the Great Plains of the North American continent. They were accomplished hunters and traders with posts that extended to the east coast and Mexico.
The Blackfoot were renowned warriors and stood against white encroachment for a quarter of a century. At the end of the nineteenth century, they became nearly extinct due to disease and demise of the buffalo. The survivors were forced onto reservations. This nation once covered the vast region of central Canada and the United States uniting many tribes of people into a common bond. They lived for thousands of years in close relationship to the natural environment. In many ways, it can be said that they were masters of living with the creation. The near extinction of this nation after the arrival of European settlers and traders was a great loss to humanity and, as with all cases of genocide, there is need for restoration by acknowledgment and healing of the pain of this loss. It can only be hoped that in the future the Blackfeet will be able to bring great wisdom back to the center of humanity's treasures.
The Blackfoot Confederacy consists of the North Piegan (Aapatohsipiikanii), the South Piegan (Aamsskaapipiikanii), the Kainai Nation (Blood), and the Siksika Nation ("Blackfoot") or more correctly Siksikawa ("Blackfoot people"). The South Piegan are located in Montana, and the other three are located in Alberta. Together they call themselves the Niitsitapii (the "Real People"). These groups shared a common language and culture, had treaties of mutual defense, and freely intermarried.
It is also speculated that "Blackfoot Cherokee" refers to a band of Cherokee that had black ancestry, most likely from the adoption of escaped slaves into their society. This band of Cherokee, however, have no connection to the Blackfoot nations.
Archaeologists have identified evidence of early native ancestors who arrived after the Pleistocene Glacial period approximately 11,000 years ago. Some evidence of the presence of humans prior to this time has raised debate among some indigenous groups and scientists regarding the actual first ancestor of the Americas. Much evidence of permanent residents has been found that dates between 3,000 to 5,000 years ago. These natives spoke the Algonkian language. The Blackfoot Nation comprises the lineages from these early people.
The confederation in the United States and Canada was made up of three groups: The Northern Blackfoot or Siksika, the Kainai or Blood, and the Piegan. This structure was not an authoritative political system as such but brought the groups together for ceremonial gatherings and summer hunting. Buffalo were often hunted in drives that sent stampeding herds over steep cliffs killing them in large numbers.
The Blackfoot, like other Plains Indians of North America, lived without horses for thousands of years while still maintaining a hunter-gatherer way of life. Up until around 1730, the Blackfoot traveled by foot and used dogs to carry and pull some of their goods. They had not seen horses in their previous lands, but were introduced to them on the Plains, as other tribes, such as the Shoshone, had already adopted their use. They saw the advantages of horses and wanted some. The Blackfoot called the horses ponokamita (elk dogs). The horses could carry much more weight than dogs and moved at a greater speed. They could be ridden for hunting and travel.
Horses revolutionized life on the Great Plains and soon came to be regarded as a measure of wealth. Warriors regularly raided other tribes for their best horses. Horses were generally used as universal standards of barter. Shamans were paid for cures and healing with horses. Dreamers who designed shields or war bonnets were also paid in horses. The men gave horses to those who were owed gifts as well as to the needy. An individual’s wealth rose with the number of horses accumulated, but a man did not keep an abundance of them. The individual’s prestige and status was judged by the number of horses that he could give away. For the Indians who lived on the Plains, the principal value of property was to share it with others.
The first contact of the Blackfoot in Southern Alberta with white traders occurred in the late 1700s. Before this, other native groups brought trade items inland and also encroached on Blackfoot territory with the advantage of European rifles and technology. The first white people to attempt to make contact were Americans. They were strongly resisted. In 1831, a peace agreement was formed with an American fur trading company at Fort Piegan in Missouri. In the next few decades after this, American traders brought smallpox disease. In 1870, the Marias Massacre occurred. American troops killed 200 Piegan women, children, and elderly despite the fact that the camp was friendly. The Blackfoot population was reduced from around 11,000 to 6,000 people in a fifty year period.
"Treaty 7" was a peaceful treaty signed in 1877 between the Canadian government and the Blackfoot Confederacy including the Piegan, Blood, Sarcee, Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Wesley/Goodstoney. The impetus for the treaty was driven by the desire of the Canadian government to assure land rights before the construction of a transcontinental railway. The signing occurred at Blackfoot Crossing on the Siksika Reserve east of Calgary. A historical park has been constructed as a cultural museum in the same place as Chief Crowfoot signed the document.
In 1855, the Niitsitapi chief Lame Bull made a peace treaty with the United States government. The Lame Bull Treaty promised the Niitsitapi $20,000 annually in goods and services in exchange for their moving onto a reservation. When the Blackfeet Reservation was first established in 1855 by this treaty, it included the eastern area of the Glacier National Park up to the Continental Divide. To the Blackfeet, the mountains of this area, especially Chief Mountain and the region in the southeast at Two Medicine, were considered the "Backbone of the World" and were frequented during vision quests. In 1895, Chief White Calf of the Blackfeet authorized the sale of the mountain area, some 800,000 acres (3,200 km²), to the U.S. government for $1.5 million with the understanding that they would maintain usage rights to the land for hunting as long as the ceded stripe will be public land of the United States. This established the current boundary between Glacier National Park and the reservation.
The Blackfoot were fiercely independent and very successful warriors whose territory stretched from the North Saskatchewan River along what is now Edmonton, Alberta in Canada, to the Yellowstone River of Montana, and from the Rocky Mountains and along the Saskatchewan river past Regina.
The basic social unit of the Blackfoot, above the family, was the band, varying from about 10 to 30 lodges, about 80 to 240 people. This size of group was large enough to defend against attack and to undertake small communal hunts, but was also small enough for flexibility. Each band consisted of a respected leader, possibly his brothers and parents, and others who need not be related. Since the band was defined by place of residence, rather than by kinship, a person was free to leave one band and join another, which tended to ameliorate leadership disputes. As well, should a band fall upon hard times, its members could split up and join other bands. In practice, bands were constantly forming and breaking up. The system maximized flexibility and was an ideal organization for a hunting people on the Northwestern Plains.
Blackfoot people were nomadic, following the American buffalo herds. Survival required their being in the proper place at the proper time. For almost half the year in the long northern winter, the Blackfoot people lived in their winter camps along a wooded river valley perhaps a day's march apart, not moving camp unless food for the people and horses or firewood became depleted. Where there was adequate wood and game resources, some bands might camp together. During this part of the year, bison wintered in wooded areas where they were partially sheltered from storms and snow, which hampered their movements, making them easier prey. In spring the bison moved out onto the grasslands to forage on new spring growth. The Blackfoot did not follow immediately, for fear of late blizzards, but eventually resources such as dried food or game became depleted, and the bands would split up and begin to hunt the bison, also called the buffalo.
In mid-summer, when the Saskatoon berries ripened, the people regrouped for their major tribal ceremony, the Sun Dance. This was the only time of year when the entire tribe would assemble, and served the social purpose of reinforcing the bonds between the various groups, and re-identifying the individuals with the tribe. Communal buffalo hunts provided food and offerings of the bulls' tongues (a delicacy) for the ceremonies. After the Sun Dance, the people again separated to follow the buffalo.
In the fall, the people would gradually shift to their wintering areas and prepare the buffalo jumps and pounds. Several groups of people might join together at particularly good sites. As the buffalo were naturally driven into the area by the gradual late summer drying off of the open grasslands, the Blackfoot would carry out great communal buffalo kills, and prepare dry meat and pemmican to last them through winter, and other times when hunting was poor. At the end of the fall, the Blackfoot would move to their winter camps.
The Blackfoot maintained this traditional way of life based on hunting buffalo, until the near extinction of the great animal by 1881, an effect of the European colonization of the Americas, forced them to adapt their ways of life. In the United States, they were restricted to land assigned in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 and were later given a distinct reservation in the Sweetgrass Hills Treaty of 1887. In 1877, the Canadian Blackfoot signed Treaty 7, and settled on the reservation in southern Alberta.
This began a period of great struggle and economic hardship, as the Blackfoot had to try to adapt to a completely new way of life, as well as suffer exposure to many diseases their people had not previously encountered. Eventually, they established a viable economy based on farming, ranching, and light industry, and their population has increased to about 16,000 in Canada and 15,000 in the U.S. With their new economic stability, the Blackfoot have been free to adapt their culture and traditions to their new circumstances, renewing their connection to their ancient roots.
In Blackfoot religion, the Old Man (Na'pi) was the Creator (God) of the ancient Blackfoot tribes. The word correlates with the color white and to the light of early morning sunrise. The character of the Old Man was a constant theme of Blackfoot lore. He depicted a full spectrum of human attributes that included themes of strength, weakness, folly, malice, and so forth. It was said that he went away to the West (or East) over the mountains but told the people he would return some day. This has been interpreted by some tribal members as the return of the buffalo to the people.
The Sun replaced the Old Man in the Blackfoot religious system. The Moon was the Sun's wife. The character of the Sun was benevolent, wise, and generous. The tongue of the buffalo was sacred to the Sun as was the suffering of the Sun Dancers in the Medicine Lodge. There were a number of minor deities. Animals, birds, insects, and plants were important as guides and helpers.
There was a strong belief in the existence of spirits. The spirits of those that lived wicked lives were separated from good spirits and were thought to remain close to the place where they died. Sometimes these wicked spirits wished to do ill out of revenge or jealousy and could bother people. It was thought that spirits sometimes dwell in animals. Owls are thought to be inhabited by the spirits of medicine men.
In the the twenty-first century, the old traditions of religious practice are still alive. The Sun Dance is maintained, as are medicine bundles, sweat lodges, and guardian spirit traditions. There is an annual Medicine Lodge ceremony and Sun Dance in July.
Increased interest in the indigenous knowledge of some Native American societies emerged in the late 1900s and has brought together people from many professions, cultures, and religious belief systems. The Sun Dance ceremony, the mystery renewal of Turtle Island (the North American continent), and festivals celebrating wild things have brought together anthropologists, scientists, poets, writers, spiritual seekers, and more, resulting in an increase in books, music, art, and poetry about the ancient ways. One example of this is the book, Blackfoot Physics, based on the experiences of a theoretical physicist F. David Peat in the 1980s. He wrote, "within the Indigenous world the act of coming to know something involves a personal transformation. The knower and the known are indissolubly linked and changed in a fundamental way."
The importance of animals
- Buffalo (American bison)
The bison was highly revered and was often regarded as a Medicine (helper) Animal. Buffalo skulls were placed outside the sweat lodges of the Medicine Lodge. The buffalo tongue was the Sun's favorite food. The white buffalo was regarded as sacred.
Instead of collecting data on bison, Blackfoot performed as wolves. They tried to look like wolves and move like wolves. They became wolves in ceremonies at home camp, and in presence of bison herds … By becoming brothers to the wolf, Blackfoot could quickly discover effective means of manipulating the bison … through performances that could easily be mistaken for purely "cultural activities".ref>Russell Barsh, "Driving Bison and Blackfoot Science." Human Ecology 31 (2003).</ref>
Before the introduction of horses, the Blackfoot had a "Pedestrian Culture" economy. However, no European had met the Blackfoot before they had acquired horses, so earlier periods can only be understood through inference and anthropology. There were myths about how the horse came to the Blackfoot that were passed down through generations from elders. One such Piegan myth, for example, was titled, "How Morning Star Made the First Horse," which opens, "Until this time, the people had only dogs."
The historic period called the "Horse Culture Period" was from approximately 1540 - 1880. The last date corresponds roughly with the extermination of the buffalo in the Great Plains. Blackfoot social status respected the right of individual ownership. "A man owning 40 or more horses was considered to be wealthy"
The butterfly and moth were common figures in Blackfoot artwork, myths, and songs. It was believed that butterflies were carriers of dreams. It was a custom for mothers to embroider a butterfly on buckskin strips to place in their baby's hair. They would then sing a lullaby calling the butterfly to bring the child sleep.
Today, many of the Blackfoot live on reserves in Canada. In Canada, the Blackfoot Tribe has changed its name to Siksika Nation, and the Piegans are called both the Piegan Nation and Pikuni Nation. The Northern Piegan make clothing and moccasins, and the Kainai operate a shopping center and factory.
About 8,500 Blackfeet live on the Montana reservation of 1,500,000 acres (6,100 km²). Unemployment is a challenging problem on the Blackfoot Reservations. Many people work as farmers, but there are not enough other jobs nearby. To find work, many Blackfoot have relocated from the reservation to towns and cities. Some companies pay the Blackfoot for leasing use of oil, natural gas, and other resources on the land. They operate businesses such as the Blackfoot Writing Company, a pen and pencil factory, which opened in 1972, but it closed in the late 1990s.
In 1982, the tribe received a settlement of $29 million as compensation for mistakes in federal accounting practices. On March 15, 1999, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council approved the establishment of Siyeh Corporation in Browning, Montana. The corporation's purpose is to generate business development, create jobs, produce revenue, and advance the economic self-sufficiency of the Tribe by managing its tribal enterprises. Siyeh manages businesses including an Indian gaming casino, Glacier Peaks Casino in Browning, as well as the Blackfeet Heritage Center and Art Gallery.
The Blackfoot continue to make advancements in education. In 1974, they opened the Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana. The school also serves as tribal headquarters. As of 1979, the Montana state government requires all public school teachers on or near the reservation to have a background in American Indian studies. In 1989, the Siksika tribe in Canada completed a high school to go along with its elementary school. Language classes are in place to keep their language alive. In Canada, the Red Crow College offers courses on the Siksika Reserve. Blackfoot students increasingly finding new means of employment based on their cultural ties and educational opportunities.
Blackfoot Crossing Memorial Park
The Siksika nation has created a memorial park at the the site of the signing of Treaty No. 7 in Alberta, Canada. It is called the Blackfoot Crossing Memorial Park, and represents a revival of tribal pride in their history, culture, and language that has grown in strength into the twenty-first century. In the part, storytelling and oral tradition will be used to communicate the culture of the North Plains Indians to Siksika members and visitors. There will also be traditional dances, language classes, costumes, teepee circles, and ceremonial activities held there. The symbol of the buffalo was registered as the Siksika Coat of Arms with the Heraldic Authority of Canada in 1992 (the first such registry of a First Nation in Canada).
The Blackfoot continue many cultural traditions of the past and hope to extend their ancestors' traditions to their children. They want to teach their children the Pikuni language as well as other traditional knowledge. In the early twentieth century, a white woman named Frances Densmore helped the Blackfoot record their language. During the 1950s and 1960s, few Blackfoot spoke the Pikuni language. In order to save their language, the Blackfoot Council asked elders who still knew the language to teach it. The elders had agreed and succeeded in reviving the language, so today the children can learn Pikuni at school or at home. In 1994, the Blackfoot Council accepted Pikuni as the official language.
The people also revived the Black Lodge Society, responsible for protecting songs and dances of the Blackfoot. They continue to announce the coming of spring by opening five medicine bundles, one at every sound of thunder during the spring. The Sun Dance, which was illegal from the 1890s-1934, has been practiced again for years. Since 1934, the Blackfoot have practiced it every summer. The event lasts eight days—time filled with prayers, dancing, singing, and offerings to honor the Creator. It provides an opportunity for the Blackfoot to get together and share views and ideas with each other, while celebrating their culture's most sacred ceremonies.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Native History Indian Tribes of Alberta. (Calgary: Glenbow Museum, 1979). Retrieved March 23, 2007
- ↑ Marlene M. Martin, Society-BLACKFOOT. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ↑ George Bird Grinnell, "Early Blackfoot History," American Anthropologist 5(2) (Apr., 1892): 153-164.
- ↑ Stuart J. Baldwin, "Blackfoot Neologisms," International Journal of American Linguistics 60(1) (Jan., 1994): 69-72.
- ↑ David S. Murdoch, North American Indian (New York, NY: DK Publishing, 2005, ISBN 978-0132133616).
- ↑ Colin Taylor, What Do We Know About The Plains Indians? (New York, NY: Peter Bedrick Books, 1993, ISBN 978-0872262614).
- ↑ Royal B. Hassrick, The Colorful Story of North American Indians (New York, NY: Book Sales, Inc., 1975, ISBN 978-0706403602), 77.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Blackfoot Crossing, Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park (2005). Retrieved on March 20, 2007.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Karen Bush Gibson, The Blackfeet: People of the Dark Moccasins (Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0736848244).
- ↑ The Blackfeet Nation Manataka American Indian Council. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
- ↑ George Bird Grinnell, Blackfoot Lodge Tales: The Story Of A Prairie People (Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010, ISBN 978-1163786611).
- ↑ Mark David Spence, Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0195142433), 80.
- ↑ Blackfeet Religion.www.accessgeneology.com. Retrieved April 18, 2007.
- ↑ F. David Peat, Blackfoot Physics: A Journey into the Native American Universe (Fourth Estate Ltd., 1996, ISBN 1857024567) Chapter 1: Spirits of Renewal Retrieved February 29, 2008.
- ↑ John C. Ewers. The Horse in Blackfoot Culture. (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Library, 1955), 295.
- ↑ Ewers 1955, 240.
- ↑ Ron Cherry, Lepidoptera in the Mythology of Native Americans. www.insects.org. Retrieved on April 6, 2007.
- ↑ Barry Pritzker, A Native American Encyclopedia. (Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0195138975)
- Blackfoot Gallery Committee. The Story of the Blackfoot People: Nitsitapiisinni. Tonawanda, NY: Firefly Books, 2001. ISBN 1552975835
- Ewers, John C. The Horse in Blackfoot Culture: With Comparative Material from Other Western Tribes. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Library, 1955. ASIN B0030T1C7I
- Gibson, Karen Bush.The Blackfeet: People of the Dark Moccasins. Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0736848244
- Grinnell, George Bird. Blackfoot Lodge Tales: The Story Of A Prairie People. Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010 (original 1892). ISBN 978-1163786611
- Hassrick, Royal B. The Colorful Story of North American Indians. New York, NY: Book Sales, Inc., 1975. ISBN 978-0706403602
- Murdoch, David S. North American Indian. New York, NY: DK Publishing, 2005. ISBN 978-0132133616
- Peat, F. David. Blackfoot Physics: A Journey into the Native American Universe. London: Fourth Estate Ltd, 1996. ISBN 1857024567
- Pritzker, Barry. A Native American Encyclopedia. Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0195138771
- Spence, Mark David. Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0195142433
- Taylor, Colin. What Do We Know About The Plains Indians? New York, NY: Peter Bedrick Books, 1993. ISBN 978-0872262614
All links retrieved February 11, 2014.
- Blackfoot Nation
- Native Languages of the Americas: Blackfoot (Siksika, Peigan, Piegan, Kainai, Blackfeet)
- Blackfoot Digital Library
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In “Teaching Syntactic Maturity,” Hunt reports: “John Mellon conducted the first major experiment in teaching sentence-combining; his subjects were about 250 seventh graders. He divided his subjects into three groups. Two groups were control groups, one that proceeded without grammar instruction for the academic year; another, students who learned traditional parsing of the surface structure. The third group received the experimental treatment which consisted of teaching a skeletal grammar focused on those terms needed to explain in only semi-formal ways some of the more frequent sentence combining transformations. As the grammar lessons progressed, students were given sets of sentences with instructions telling which transformations to use combining them.”2
The control groups showed no significant difference, but the experimental group “showed two to three times as much gain in one year as either of the two control groups.”3 The length of the T-unit, an independent clause, was the major evaluative measure.
Other experiments have been conducted. Barbara Miller and James Ney, through oral activities with fourth grade students, show that “a facility in combining sentences can be taught as early as the middle elementary school.”4
Many of the textbooks written for college students are now employing sentence-combining activities along with traditional grammar exercises. There is a demonstrated need for alternatives to traditional grammar instruction. W.S. Palmer writes: “Several different reasons have been advanced for the teaching of traditional grammar, among them the notion that it is good for mental discipline and that a knowledge of it automatically improves a student’s ability to write. Research, however, does not support these assumptions.” As early as 1902, J.M. Rice determined that many students who had a sound understanding of English grammar produced compositions of inferior quality. In research conducted in 1917, Julius Borass ascertained that a higher correlation exists between grammar and arithmetic than grammar and composition. Nora Robinson tested a group of 145 students from four urban schools in 1960 on parts of speech, general ability, and sentence analysis. The students were then asked to write three essays. The coefficients of correlation between grammar tests and composition; grades were extremely low.5 Research on the teaching of traditional grammar indicates that students show no appreciable increase in writing facility as a result.
The students I teach in the seventh and eighth grade have been taught repeatedly the definition of the parts of speech. Most of them can recite these definitions from memory. The problems arise when actual writing occurs; there is little apparent transference of grammar instruction to the written sentence.
One reason for this failure may be that students’ oral language skills are more sophisticated than the grammar the middle school English teacher presents. It must be anticlimactic to speak in complex sentences all day and be instructed for six weeks in the parts of speech as they apply to simple sentences.
Students may also be turned off by traditional grammar instruction. Each year the language instruction begins at the same place—and proceeds through much that the student has already heard. How many deaf ears are turned to English teachers when a noun is mentioned? “Oh! Here we go again.” By the seventh grade, the immediacy of grammar instruction has been demolished. “Why should I pay attention, attempt to employ this knowledge,” the student may rightly ask, “when I know that next year we are going to do the same thing.” Students become immune to traditional instruction. James Squire in “Five Rules for Sequence” writes
The exploding world of early adolescence, characterized by the discovery of new ideas, almost inevitably leads to problems in expression....During these years, teachers might best plan a sequence of composition that nourishes and encourages the expansion of ideas, rather than one so demanding that it restricts the fluency of student thinking.6In late middle school and high school, students need a more packed language to express the complicated ideas that are to be discussed in literature and to express their feelings in general. Ideas become contingent upon one another, inter-related. Eileen J. McGuire notes that “a grammar geared to the development of the student’s ability to write good sentences is especially useful at this time, helping him to sort out the onrush of new ideas and at the same time to express his own ideas with some coherence.”7 To this end, the sentence-combining curriculum which follows is presented.
While I have never used sentence-combining in class other than in forming compound sentences, I’m looking forward to using it because the students, as well as I, will welcome the change. In sentence-combining, abstract labels are employed minimally and can be dispensed with in the actual practice. Models are employed which enable students to move at their own rates—-and further lessen the need for the teacher to serve as final arbiter of right and wrong. The program builds upon intuitive knowledge that the student already possesses. Sentence-combining is easier than traditional grammar for students to work with because they link already-presented sentences. To recognize an adjectival subordinate clause is, of course, more taxing than working with joining already-presented material. In addition, sentence- combining provides clues to indicate the correct embeddings. (Embedding is a sentence-combining term that will appear quite frequently in the literature; it indicates that portion of the sentence which will become a part of another in the final form.) Also, since the words are already there correctly spelled, the student need only be concerned with punctuation. Removing some of the frustration will, we hope engender a renewed desire to punctuate sentences correctly, to get everything correct.
The sentence-combining program, prepared in advance, offers a not insignificant advantage over traditional grammar instruction in that the student can begin the program at any point that does not frustrate him. The program can last a quarter, a semester, or a year, depending on the school calendar and the rate of your students’ progress.
Sentence-combining represents a boon to all teachers of English because it does not assume any prior knowledge of grammar. It can be used in conjunction with any language course; it can also supplement a traditional program of language instruction. Students will benefit, and they will enjoy themselves. William Strong in “Sentence-Combining: Back to Basics and Beyond” cites research done by Frank O’Hare: “The experimental group really liked the sentence-combining problems because of the intellectual challenges they presented. O’Hare’s sentence-combining practice apparently transferred to real writing, so that at the end of eight months the experimental group was writing composition of a significantly better quality than the control group—quality that went beyond mere technical correctness.”8
There are a variety of types of sentence-combining problems offered in journals and the emerging textbooks, but usually they fall into two general formats: open and signaled. In the open sequences Strong presents, several solutions are possible; no one right answer exists. The following exercise is from Strong’s Sentence-Combining: A Composing Book:
1. The patties are grayish pink.
2. They are grainy like oatmeal.
3. They have already been laid out.
4. They are on the griddle.
5. The griddle is black.
6. The griddle is old.
7. They begin to sizzle in a puddle.
8. The puddle is greasy.9
These exercises encourage flexibility.
The exercises of Mellon, O’Hare, and Cooper provide more direction and include grammatical nomenclature which is essentially optional. I will include it in my program because I feel more comfortable with the old terms, even though the students will not see the terms in the exercises. Having been taught using terms such as participial phrase and infinitives, these terms have meaning to me that they do not have for my students. Seeing the terms helps me to generate additional examples or to find like examples in traditional grammar books. The students need not see these labels because they will not help them with the exercises. Charles Cooper offers the following exercises in his “An Outline for Writing Sentence-Combining Problems:”
The canary flew out of the window.
The canary was yellow.
*The yellow canary flew out of the window.
He was a student.
The student was serious.
*He was a serious student.10
The underlining indicates with which elements the student should be concerned. I prefer the signaled method for these reasons: First, it can be used with grammatical names if the student or the school board wants them; second, the signaled choice leads to one correct answer; my students always seem to want one right answer. Third, the signaled method gives more support to the students because they know which item(s) in the sentence must be changed—and when they just add or delete items.
The sequence of sentence-combining problems that follows has been mapped by Charles Cooper in his “Outline for Sentence-Combining Problems.” Most of the major transformations that students should be familiar with are covered. The examples below are mine: they are easily generated, and the classroom teacher should endeavor to create examples which apply to his or her class, to personalize them.
One word of caution: sentence-combining is not an end in itself; rather it is a method to reach an end. No one class period should be devoted to it. William Strong maintains, and I agree, that “it can be a part of a well-articulated program, but common sense suggests that it can’t be the one and only instructional strategy. It would destroy the basic rationale and usefulness of the approach just as much as using the exercises for grammatical diagramming.”11 The problems are presented to help students write better—to express complicated ideas well in a larger writing arena, which the teacher must provide.
The instructor should come to using sentence-combining after having established a writing program. The program that I use involves reading literature and writing reactions and summaries. In my class, we also generate lots of creative writing: short stories, poems and one act plays. Each English teacher employs different methods to improve student facility in these areas—and sentence- combining can be integrated into any program.
As an example, in the literature that my students read are many fine sentences that they can appreciate. One method of integrating sentence-combining would be to have students take one sentence that they liked and break it into its kernel or component parts. Then they could exchange these parts with classmates and have them combine them, comparing results with the original.
Creative writing offers a particularly useful backdrop for sentence-combining activities. Students can find dramatic practice for their revisions in their own work while writing assignments. Second drafts provide fertile areas for more practice. What better time to instill in students the desire and necessity for combining sentences for a rich text? Students may also like to practice on papers of other students, to make suggestions that will aid their writing.
Cooper defines the first major sentence-combining area as noun modifiers. These are words that change the meanings of nouns. To say in one sentence what one would sometimes say in two is the goal. Simple adjective word embeddings are as follows:
Practice in each of these embeddings should be presented separately. The order of the presentation is of no consequence if labels such as subject or predicate nominative are not being used. Students should operate comfortably with one area before they move on to another.
- —before the subject
- The boy threw the frisbee.
- The boy is young.
- *The young boy threw the frisbee.
- —before the object
- I saw a movie.
- The movie was good.
- *I saw a good movie.
- —before predicate nominative
- He was a policeman’
- The policeman was cautious.
- *He was a cautious policeman.
- —before object of a preposition
- She was in the garden when it began to rain.
- The garden was sunny.
- *She was in the sunny garden when it began to rain.
Participle embeddings should be drafted as follows:
The exercises should be presented quickly, intensely, and enthusiastically. Many different methods may be used. I plan to use a combination of an overhead projector and worksheets. A few examples may be prepared in advance for an overhead, and students can generate further examples. Games may be employed. Students may divide sentences into their kernel parts at the board. They may also combine kernels that the teacher provides. Teams may be formed and races held. Fluency should be striven for in these exercises. Sentences may be searched for in literature books. Students may find sentences that appeal to them. These sentences can be the basis of an exchange of sentences either in their completed form or in kerne1 parts. When received by fellow-students, the sentences can be reconstructed or divided depending on their initial form. Students must practice in order to gain fluency. The main thing is to get students interested in the sentence to give them a chance to separate sentences and reconstruct them—to get them thinking. Once students show a fluency with single word embeddings, they should proceed to adjective phrase embeddings.
- Joe slapped the horse.
- The horse gallops.
- *Joe slapped the galloping horse.
- The street had potholes,
- The city repaired the patholes.
- *The street had repaired
- The next area to be explored should be compound adjectives.
- He wore a sweater.
- Moths had eaten the sweater.
- *He wore a moth-eaten sweater.
- Joe saw the plant.
- Bugs eat the plant.
- *Joe saw the bug-eaten plant.
- Embeddings should also give the student practice with adverbs.
- The woman is a lawyer.
- The woman is downstairs.
- *The woman downstairs is a lawyer.
The above combinations and embeddings will probably take students several weeks to become comfortable with. For all, it will be a new experience; let them enjoy themselves. Examples from students’ own writings should be added to teachers’ examples. The teachers even like to set up a small corner where students may put sentences that they encounter in their reading on index cards. Above all, any tedium should be disassociated from sentence- combining. These exercises should be fun. Once students have mastered the above material concerning nouns and their modifiers, they are ready to deal with words and phrases that substitute for nouns.
- —prepositional phrases
- The woman is my mother.
- The woman is in the library.
- *The woman in the library is my mother.
- —appositive phrases.
- My older brother is an electrician.
- My older brother is Nat.
- *My older brother Nat is an electrician.
- —participial phrases
- Betty stepped over the dog.
- The dog was carrying a stick.
- *Betty stepped over the dog carrying a stick.
- The exercises were hard.
- The exercises were assigned by the gym teacher.
- *The exercises assigned by the gym teacher were hard.
- —infinitive phrases
- I was given a bicycle for Christmas.
- The bicycle was to ride.
- *I was given a bicycle to ride for Christmas.
- —adjective clause embeddings involving who, when, which, that, when, or where.
- People drive large cars.
- People aren’t interested in conserving fuel. (who)
- *People who aren’t interested in conserving fuel drive large cars.
- Johnny likes comic books.
- The comic books present a continuing story. (which)
- *Johnny likes comic books which present a continuing story.
- I love some mornings.
- I am happy. (when)
- *I love some mornings when I’m happy.
- This is the class.
- I learn the most. (where)
- *This is the class where I learn the most.
- —multiple adjective embeddings
- The man was fat.
- The man was short.
- The man had a heart attack. (who)
- *The man who was short and fat had a heart attack.
Once students become accustomed to the signaled exercises, the instructor should see improvement in their writing. They may want to try some of the complicated open exercises presented in Strong’s Sentence-Combining: A Composing Book. These exercises do not have one correct answer; they are closer to the task a writer faces—that of making stylistic choices. An early problem may be:
- —noun substitutes
- —fact clauses
- SOMETHING made him sad.
- His father died, (the fact that)
- *The fact that his father died made him sad.
- SOMETHING made his parents very proud.
- Billy delivered the address at graduation. (that)
- *That Billy delivered the address at graduation made his parents very proud.
- —question clauses
- We wondered SOMETHING.
- Those new neighbors lived somewhere before. (where)
- *We wondered where those new neighbors lived before.
- The train dispatcher tried to tell us SOMETHING.
- The train had derailed somehow (how).
- *The train dispatcher tried to tell us how the train had derailed.
- My Spanish teacher did say SOMETHING
- Someone should practice his Spanish diction. (how often to)
- *My Spanish teacher did say how often someone should practice his Spanish diction.
- My father is not sure of SOMETHING.
- Someone calls someone if the electric garage door opener needs fixing.
- —noun phrases
- —gerund phrases
- SOMETHING was his favorite pastime.
- He swam in the Pacific Ocean. (swimming)
- *Swimming in the Pacific Ocean was his favorite pastime.
- He liked SOMETHING.
- He rode his bicycle in the hills. (riding)
- *He liked riding his bicycle in the hills.
- —infinitive phrases
- SOMETHING was her desire.
- She wanted to get an A in geometry. (to get)
- *To get an A in geometry was her desire.
- He tried SOMETHING
- He went to the midnight show. (to go)
- *He tried to go to the midnight show.
- —multiple embeddings
- SOMETHING bothered my sister.
- The college refused her request for a scholarship. (the fact that)
- The college was Dartmouth.
- My sister wrote a letter to Mr. Jones. (who)
- The letter was well-written
- The letter was angry.
- *The fact that Dartmouth college refused her request for a scholarship upset my sister, who wrote a well- written, angry letter to Mr. Jones.
Possible transformations include:
- 1. The cars come cruising up Broadway.
- 2. The cars are glittering.
- 3. The paint is harsh.
- 4. The paint is metallic.
- 5. The paint is highly waxed.
- 6. There is a rumble of exhaust.
- 7. The rumble is great.
- 8. Lights explode softly on the scene.
- 9. The lights are for the street.
- 10. The scene is primitive.
The glittering cars come cruising up Broadway. Their harsh paint is metallic and highly waxed. There is a great rumble of exhaust. The street light explodes softly off the primitive scene.Or-
The cars that glitter come cruising up Broadway. Their paint is harsh, metallic, and highly waxed. There is a great rumbling of exhaust. Street lights explode softly off the scene—which is primitive.12Either choice is acceptable. A much longer, more involved example is “A1cohol and Marijuana:” part of which appears below:
1. Drunkenness leads to 30 to 50 percent of all arrests made.
2. The arrests are on the average.
3. The average is national.
4. Cirrhosis ranks sixth.
5. The ranking is causes of death.
6. Cirrhosis is a disease.
7. The disease affects the liver.
8. Alcohol causes cirrhosis.13
The student has many options available for combining the above sentence.
The teacher will never lack for examples. Pick up any book, magazine, any printed matter whatsoever, and the source of sentence-combining material is available. Learning can be fun. A sentence from a short story a class is reading may be taken, separated, and students can put it together. The sentence then can be presented as it appears in the story—and results compared. Some students may have produced a sentence which pleases them more than the original. We are all sentence- combining geniuses}
2. grease pen
3. outline of simple embeddings before the subject
a. The boy threw the frisbee.
b. The boy is young.
a. The school is dirty.
b. The school is new.
a. The man is drowning.
b. The man is Caucasian.
a. The bikes needed fixing.
b. The bikes are red.
2. Using the overhead combine the first group of sentences for the students
3. Have the students combine the second group of sentences.
4. Go over the sentences and have the students do the remaining.
5. Provide the students with additional examples to explore at their seats.
6. Let the students exchange these examples and discuss possibilities.
b. box of the appropriate size
c. literature books
- a. Explain that the corner is for the students’ use at any time. It is a place for exploration.
- b. The students can place sentences on the top of large index cards in either the final form or in their component parts.
- c. The students are to place their names in the corner of the cards.
- d. Students may combine or break the sentences in the component parts and put their names next to their work.
- e. Periodically, students should check back on the work done on their cards.
- f. Discussion to ensue.
b. prepared dittoes
1. The cars come cruising up Broadway.
2. The cars are glittering.
3. The paint is harsh.
4. The paint is metallic.
5. The paint is highly waxed.
6. There is a rumble of exhaust.
7. The rumble is great.
8. Lights explode softly on the scene.
9. The lights are for the street.
10. The scene is primitive.
b. Have the students generate a combined sentence of the first group of sentences.
c. Students are to compare the results.
d. Using their own compositions, students are to revise a paragraph using sentence-combining.
e. Collect revisions and originals and comment.
___________. “Sentence-Combining Aids Reading Comprehension” Journal of Reading 21 (Oct. ‘77), pp. 12-24.
___________. “Sentence-Combining Practice: Do Gains in Judgments of Writing Quality Persist?” Journal of Educational Research 70 (Jul/Aug ‘77) pp 318-21.
___________. “Further Implications and Effects of Sentence- Combining Exercises for the Secondary Language Arts Curriculum,” Dissertation Abstracts International 36 (1975).
Cooper C.R. “Outline for Writing Sentence-Combining Problems,” English Journal 62 (Jan ‘73) pp 96-102.
Hunt, Kellogg. “How Little Sentences Grow into Big Ones,” New Directions in Elementary English. NCTE 1967.
___________.”Teaching Syntactic Maturity,” In Applications of Linguistics. Perren, G.E. & J.L.M. Trimm (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 1971.
McGuire, E.J. “Sentence Building and Transformational Grammar,” English Journal 56 (May ‘67), pp. 747- 50.
Mellon, J. Sentence-Combining: A Method of Enhancing the Development of Syntactic Fluency in English Composition. (Champlain: NCTE), 1969.
O’Hare, Frank. Sentence-Combining: Improving Student Writing Without Formal Grammar Instruction, (Champain: NCTE) 1973.
___________. Sentencecraft. (Lexington: Ginn & Co.), 1973.
Palmer, Wm. S. “Research on Grammar: A Review of Some Pertinent Investigations.” High School Journal, 58 (March 1975), pp. 252-258.
Strong, W. and R. J. Marzano, “Sentence-Combining: Pro and Con,” English Journal 65 (Fete ‘76), pp. 57-64.
Vitale, M.R. et al. “Effect of Sentence-Combining upon Several Restricted Writing Composition Tasks,” Journal of Educational Psychology 62 (Dee ‘71), pp 521-55.
Rippon Michelle and Walter E. Meyers. Combining Sentences. (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.), 1979.
Strong, William. Sentence-Combining: A Composing Book. (New York: Random House, Inc.) 1973.
Contents of 1979 Volume IV | Directory of Volumes | Index | Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute


This lesson has been designed to provide students with an understanding
of strategies used for effectively solving problems in various areas. Video,
hands-on activities and interaction among students show the need for forming
an hypothesis and to recognize correlation between an educated guess and
a solution. Video and simulated situations provide opportunities for students
to internalize recognition of the real problem and how to incorporate problem
solving strategies to solve it successfully.
Problem Solving: Identifying the Problem
Problem Solving: Simplifying the Problem
Problem Solving #112
Students will be able to:
- identify concrete and abstract patterns;
- discuss correlation between possible and actual outcomes;
- demonstrate logical reasoning in solving problems;
- incorporate probability reasoning and predictions to determine intended
- list ways and methods to solve problems;
- explain importance of recognizing the real problem;
- separate unnecessary parts of a problem from those parts needed to
reach a solution;
- demonstrate critical problem solving strategies.
(per group of 4)
- 1 chalkboard, chalk, eraser
- 1 chart tablet
- 1 black marking pen
- 1 overhead projector
- 1 sheet notebook paper
- 1 pencil
- 2 grocery items or their containers/wrappers
- 1 calculator
- 1 Activity Sheet
- 1 sealable plastic bag containing 15 Red beans, 15 Lima beans and
- 1 paper plate
- 2 sheets notebook paper
- 1 pencil
Say, "Today we are going to focus on how to solve a problem."
Engage students in discussion pointing out: often a problem can be solved
in more than one way; and the method of solution may not be obvious or readily
identifiable when someone says they don't get it or they don't understand.
Divide the class into groups of four students each. Distribute a sheet of
notebook paper and a pencil to each group; instruct them to select a recorder
from within the group. Say, "Brainstorm within your group and decide
on strategies that can be employed to figure out a problem you don't understand."
Emphasize there are several things a good mathematician can do to solve
a difficult problem. Say, "As your group agrees on a strategy that
can be used to solve a problem, it should be written down by the recorder."
Instruct students to begin the task; allow a reasonable period of time for
the task to be accomplished.
Allow groups to interact as they share strategies decided upon. List strategies
on chalkboard as they are suggested by individual groups, then direct discussion
toward combining strategies which are similar but stated differently. Guide
discussion to a logical sequencing of problem solving strategies as you
ultimately conclude and record the sequenced strategies on a chart tablet
as: Understand the problem. (What is being asked? What are the facts? Which
infor-mation is important to solving the problem? Which is not?) Plan a
solution. (What options do I have for solving the problem? Which can help?
(e.g.) Draw a picture; construct a model; guess and check; work backwards;
make a graph or table; or use a computation skill of addition, subtraction,
multiplication or division.) Solve the problem. Check your work. After completion
of the strategies list, distribute a sheet of notebook paper and a pencil
to each student. Say, "Use the chart tablet list and record the strategies
for your own personal use and referral as you decide how to solve various
Ask, "Why do you suppose understanding the problem is sequenced
first on the list?" Allow students to tell it is necessary to know
what a problem is before you can solve it. Say, "You are going to see
a video about two girls attempting to figure out how much money is needed
to buy their grandmother a jewelry box. The problem may appear simple to
you, however, to a younger person it would not be easy." To give students
a specific responsibility while viewing say, "As you watch the video,
refer to your list of problem solving strategies and decide if and how the
first strategy is employed by the girls, then be prepared to defend what
Problem Solving: Identifying the Problem #102
BEGIN tape immediately following opening credits. PAUSE tape
on visual of narrator; audio is, "...some step to take when you're
sure the clues are there but you just can't find them." Allow students
to tell and defend their belief about whether the girls properly implemented
the first strategy. If the following wasn't included in students' rationale,
ask: "What was the mistake in computation made by the girls? What gave
the mistake away?" (needed to raise more money than the jewelry box
cost) Emphasize the need to always use common sense when problem solving.
Write the term on chalkboard as you encourage students to share their perception
of common sense and as you reinforce the need to apply logic. Say, "Refer
to the list of strategies and decide which ones weren't employed by the
girls." Lead discussion to conclusion that the girls didn't understand
the problem (strategy #1) and they didn't check their work (strategy #4).
Say, "Had the girls understood the problem and had they checked their
work, what should be done would have been clear to them."
Ask, "Do you think either girl recognizes their mistake?" Allow
for response. To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say,
"Watch the next video and be prepared to tell what information is needed
to solve the problem and which information isn't needed." RESUME
tape. PAUSE tape on visual of narrator and girls; audio is, "Well,
it looks like Jenny and Arlene are going to be able to buy their granny
that beautiful jewelry box." Allow students to tell which information
they believe is needed and which they believe isn't. To give students a
specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch as I freeze frame
the video on a list of things we know about the jewelry box, then decide
if your belief about needed information is correct." RESUME
tape. FREEZE frame on graphic list of things known about the problem.
Allow students to identify correct information as $40.00 and $19.20 difference.
Say, "Always disregard any information that isn't needed to solve a
problem so it won't interfere or be confused with information you do need."
To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "In the
next video, see if you can identify which is needed information and which
is not needed as the narrator states the problem to be solved." RESUME
tape. PAUSE tape on graphic list of what is known and what needs
to be known about the problem; audio is, "What would you do with this
information?" Allow students to internalize separating needed from
un-needed information as you ask, "If a farm is 120 km from where they
started and the occupants of an automobile have already traveled 70 km,
how many more km must they travel to reach the farm?" Allow students
to discuss and answer 50 km. Ask, "How did removing unnecessary information
make the problem easier to solve?" Allow students to share opinions.
To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch
the next video to test the accuracy of your opinion." RESUME
tape. PAUSE tape on visual of the information blinking on the screen;
audio is, "...and bingo, that solves the problem." Allow time
for students to tell whether their opinions were valid.
Say, "At times, a problem can appear confusing because you aren't familiar
with its setting. If so and the setting can be changed to one you're more
familiar with, it should be easier for you to understand." To give
students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch the next
video which shows a problem and be prepared to tell how substituting a familiar
situation for one that was unfamiliar helped." RESUME tape;
PAUSE tape with audio, "...that the situation you create is
parallel with the problem." Allow students to describe how bicycles
were substituted for chickens, thus, eliminating an unfamiliar farm setting
for city children and providing a setting they could relate to with the
Identify a city very different from the area or city your students have
grown up in and are familiar with. (e.g.) New York vs Nashville. Have students
contrast how the two would differ in: recreational opportunities, housing,
means of trans-portation, etc. Encourage them to consider why a youngster
from Nashville might have difficulty relating to a problem about subway
schedules but not the youngster from NYC; and why the youngster from NYC
might have trouble relating to rabbits or squirrels playing on your lawn
but not someone from Nashville. Use the discussion to reinforce the desirability
of substitute situations to help solve problems.
Say, "We have discussed two important elements to help you understand
problems, what are they?" List on chalkboard as students tell: eliminate
unnecessary information and change an unfamiliar setting to a familiar one.
Say, "A third key element to help you understand a problem is to look
for a relationship between two things." To give students a specific
responsibility while viewing say, "As you watch the next video, see
if you can figure out which is the better buy as two children look for a
contrast in price between different packages of hot dogs." RESUME
tape; PAUSE tape with audio of girl, "...so two of the six packs
of hot dogs would be a better buy than the package of ten." Allow for
student response. Ask, "Who solved the problem but in a different way?"
Discuss various methods that might have been used for solving the problem.
Add number three to the list of elements to help you understand (solve)
a problem on the chalkboard: find the relationship between two things.
Ask, "In what ways do many supermarkets try to help with problem solving
for shoppers?" (calculators on carts to help you find better buys;
items are marked with price and unit price; store brand products priced
lower than a similar product with a national brand name.) Ask, "How
many keys to help with better understanding a problem do you remember?"
Allow students to respond. To give students a specific responsibility while
viewing say, "As you watch the next video, check to see if you remembered
all the keys to understanding a problem." RESUME tape. STOP
tape after narrator has restated all methods. Engage students in discussion
as they tell: 1. What do I know? 2. What do I need to know? 3. Change the
setting. 4. Find the re-lationship by restating the problem in your own
Distribute to each group of four students a calculator and a set of two
competing grocery items which are priced differently and are of different
sizes. Suggested items are:
Explain the items are to be used for solving a problem. (Distribute additional
notebook paper as needed) Say, "Use the items distributed to your group
and determine which is the better buy." Review the problem solving
strategies previously presented, then instruct students to begin the task.
Upon completion, allow each group to present and defend its findings as
other groups use calculators to check the presenting group for accuracy.
- 2 unlike multi-packs of bath soap
- 2 unlike sized boxes of cereal
- 6 cans of soft drink and 1 two liter bottle
- 2 unlike dish washing detergents
- 1 bottle and 1 box laundry detergent
- 1 half gallon and 1 gallon milk
- 2 varieties of cookies
- 2 rolls unlike paper towels
- 2 unlike toothpastes, etc.
Say, "Simplifying a problem will at times allow you to understand it
more easily. In the next video two students use this strategy to determine
how much candy they will have to sell in order to purchase a trampoline."
To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch
and be prepared to tell how they simplified their problem."
Problem Solving: Simplifying the problem #107
BEGIN tape with visual of scene inside a gym; audio is, "Very
nice." PAUSE tape with visual of scene inside an office; audio
is, "... and that's how it's done." Allow students to tell how
the video problem was simplified. Ask, "Did you find it easier to decide
what to do with smaller numbers? How was it made easier? (easier to see
relationships between smaller numbers) What are examples of situations when
this might be a desirable strategy to employ?" Reinforce that an understanding
of any problem can very well be the most critical of all steps in problem
Say, "Just as mathematicians, scientists must also determine the problem
before they can begin to solve it. Breaking a problem down to make it more
specific will often create a clearer picture of exactly what the problem
is." Explain; in the next video there is a very frustrated student
attempting to prepare a science report. To give students a specific responsibility
while viewing say, "Watch to learn why he is having difficulty developing
the report and decide what he could do to make the task more manageable
before the teacher shows him." RESUME tape on visual of the
science topic poster; audio is, "Any problem is easier to solve if
you think about a way to simplify it." STOP tape on visual of
narrator; audio is, "It's a perfect way to simplify any problem."
Ask, "Why was the boy having problems developing his report?"
(His topic was too broad.) Ask, "When accepting a topic for research
and development, why is it wise to be very specific when choosing your topic?"
Accept responses. Emphasize the need to select a specific part of a topic
as it permits a more in depth research strategy which will always result
in a more comprehensive and thorough report. Encourage students to interact
as they identify specific topics that could be selected as opposed to the
following, (e.g.): Salt Water Animals; Western Ski Resorts; Balancing the
National Budget; Kings and Queens of England; and The Life and Times of
Reinforce a need to be specific as you use Galileo's theory of gravity as
a specific topic that might be developed, segueing into the definition and
a discussion on theory. Encourage students to share their knowledge of theory,
leading to conclusion that a theory is a "best guess" based on
a study of all available information about something or how something occurred.
Allow students to have fun as they respond to "What is your theory
about which came first, the chicken or the egg?" After students have
had a moment of being frivolous, bring the responses to closure. Write the
name Alfred Wagner on the chalkboard. Ask, "What famous theory is Alfred
Wagner credited with developing?" Accept all responses. To give students
a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch the next video
and find out what Wagner's theory was?"
Problem Solving #112
BEGIN tape with visual of the world map; audio is, "Let's compare
shapes. Back in 1913..." STOP tape at end of video before closing
credits. Ask, "What was Alfred Wagner's theory?" (Continental
Drift) Ask, "Would you have been able to solve the problem Wagner theorized?"
Allow students to respond. Ask, "What in-formation and clues were available
for Wagner to study and base his hypothesis and theory on?" (Land formations
on different continents that matched at the shorelines.) "Do patterns
sometimes provide clues in other areas of problem solving?" Encourage
students to interact and share their ideas. "What did Wagner name the
super-continent?" (Pangea) Ask, "In what ways did patterning help
Wagner solve the problem and develop his theory?" Guide discussion
to realization that understanding the problem and his forming an hypothesis
about known patterns between the continents were critically important to
the development of his theory.
Distribute to each group of four students: 1 copy of the Activity
Sheet; 1 sealable plastic bag containing 15 red beans, 15 lima beans and
15 peas; and 1 paper plate. Give all students in each group a piece of notebook
paper and a pencil. Use an overhead projector to show the beans and a clean
sheet on the chart tablet to record results and strategies which are used
by students to solve the problems.
Say, "You are now going to solve problems in a hands-on process using
the materials that were distributed to your group. Remember to follow the
sequence of strategies discussed today in solving the problems." Explain
a person familiar to the group has written a Bean Cook Book, however, the
eight recipes on the Activity Sheet were returned by the publisher because
some of the ingredients and amounts were not included. Say, "It is
now your responsibility to solve the problems so the cookbook can be published.
Each recipe must contain all three types of beans."
Instruct students to begin with problem number one and use their bag of
beans to solve the problem in a hands-on manner. Say, "Then, show your
calculations on notebook paper." Allow time for groups to complete
the task. Select a volunteer to explain how her/his group solved the problem,
then have them use the overhead projector to show all beans that were used.
Next, select another volunteer from the group to demonstrate their cal-culations
on the chalkboard. If other groups incorporated strategies that differed
from the presenting group, have them share the strategy they used. (Ans:
2 Lima beans; 4 Red beans; 4 Peas) Record the answer on the chart tablet.
Say, "Some problems can have more than a single solution; others will
have just one." Instruct students to continue and solve problem number
two. Repeat the previous process as another group is selected to present.
(Ans: 4 Red beans; 2 Peas; 4 Lima beans) Record results on the chart tablet.
Instruct groups to proceed with problem three. Use the established pattern
for student presentation as other groups validate correctness of the presenting
group's work. (Ans: 2 Red beans; 4 Lima beans; 2 Peas)
Direct groups to continue with problem number four. Again, use the previous
process of presenting as another group explains and visually demonstrates
their work using the overhead projector. (Ans: 5 Red beans; 5 Lima beans;
8 Peas) After presentation, validation and up-dating of the chart are completed
for this problem, engage students in discussion related to examples of when
concrete methods and abstract methods of problem solving have thus far been
Instruct students to continue with problem number five. Follow the procedure
as a different group is appointed presenter. (Ans: 6 Red beans; 3 Lima beans;
Have students continue with problem number six. After groups have completed
the task, point out that possible solutions can be endless as the recipe
stated "at least 12 beans." Any answer is correct that contains
no less than a total of 12 beans and follows the other two criteria.
Direct students to compute problem number seven. (Ans: 1 Pea; 3 Red beans;
4 Lima beans)
Have students solve problem number eight. Upon completion, inform students
there are several solutions to this problem. Each that does not exceed a
total of 20 beans is correct.
Conduct a brief review of strategies to be used in problem solving. Have
students consider the desirability for creating a mental picture to be used
in visualizing important information and determining possible strategies
they might use to solve a problem.
Plan a field trip and visit the Meteorology Department of a
local television station. Prepare students to look for methods of problem
solving used to forecast weather. As a forecast is prepared, have students
look for activities which reveal problem solving procedures. They should
be able to identify and describe how each is used. Invite a law enforcement
officer to visit the classroom and discuss how problem solving is an on-going
responsibility in her/his profession. Ask them to include how knowledge
of patterns is an integral part of identifying suspects. Use the information
to create a list of situations in which students solve "cases"
where patterns link a suspect(s) to a crime or to one another.
Have an interested group of students write a short drama about preventing
poachers from destroying animals in a wildlife preserve in Kenya.
Use the creative writing drama and plan a performance. Appoint students
with special interests or skills to compose or select appropriate music,
design a set and costumes, serve as prop and stage hands and serve as performers.
Encourage them to utilize problem solving strategies from inception and
planning throughout the actual time of performance.
Select an inventor, a doctor who discovered a cure for a disease, a great
artist or performer, etc., and research their life to learn how they became
successful. Apply how they succeeded to strategies for solving problems,
then share findings by preparing a report to be presented to the class.
Master Teachers: James Parsons and Sharon Braden
Lesson Plan Database
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