The buffalo was a giver of life to the Ute people. It is a sacred animal and part of the circle of life. Every part of the buffalo was used; nothing was wasted. For example, the hides were used for blankets and for covering the teepee and sweat lodge. The hooves were used for making utensils. When the Utes first encountered African Americans, they referred to them as "buffalo people,: because their curly hair resembled the curly hair on the mane of the buffalo. According to Ute tradition, Coyote stories should only be told during the winter time. This Ute (Uintah/Ouray) booklet is part of the Native American Indian Literacy Project storybook series for the six main Utah Tribal Nations. The project was led by Shirlee A. Silversmith, American Indian education specialist for the Utah State Office of Education. There are five stories per Tribe, with a total of 30 booklets, plus an ABC book. The set of Indian Tribal stories may be utilized by elementary classroom teachers to (1) develop an understanding and appreciation of Native American culture and societal contributions (2) provide a genre of text for the application of reading strategies, and (3) facilitate the mastery of various Utah Core Content Curriculum objectives. The Native American Indian Literacy Project was made possible by funds from the Utah State Office of Education (USOE). It is a joint effort of the USOE and San Juan School District Media Center.
The original set has 30 booklets, measuring 5.5” x 8.5” each, and illustrated by tribal members. The booklets were formatted to be printed and assembled. This version of the book has been updated to accommodate using a projector or smart board with pages appearing in order.

Students explore the menu genre by analyzing existing menus from local restaurants. They review adjectives and descriptive writing and then work in groups to create their own custom menus.

Students will eat up this lesson about oranges as they practice the skills that help them investigate and make detailed observations for descriptive purposes.

Students will use what they have learned about descriptive writing--show don’t tell, vivid verbs and adjectives, sensory details, and figurative language--to write a snapshot detailed description of a picture they find or create.  Students select a picture of their choice and then write an extended paragraph. 

Students write descriptions of 100th day bottles they create at home, write clues about their bottles for a guessing game, practice descriptive writing, and create a class book.

Using The Giver, students discuss the importance recorded history. This provides context for descriptive writing of students own history in a lesson that integrates personal writing, research, and literary response.

This lesson teaches students how to use old verbs in a new way, thus creating new and fresh descriptive phrases.

Working in small groups, students compose found and parallel poems based on a descriptive passage they have chosen from a piece of literature they are reading.

Students create their own monster trading cards using "powerful," vivid language to describe their creatures.