One of Guilderland's priorities is to move students beyond New York State's standards, preparing them not just for the tests they will take in school but also for the real "tests" of life. Here is an example of how the district is accomplishing this priority:

Bringing history to life
Building an Iroquois village

For Lynnwood Elementary School fourth grader Clare Ladd, helping her classmates to build an Iroquois longhouse is something she will always remember. "It was very exciting, because I had never built anything like that before," she said. "It made me feel like I was really an Iroquois."

Planning a lesson for a lifetime

For the past five years, the entire fourth grade class from Lynnwood has worked together with teachers and parents on what has quickly become an exciting fall tradition: building a replica Iroquois village on the grounds of the school.

The annual weeklong project began in 1999, developed by fourth grade teachers Liz Augstell, Corrine Falope and John Miller as a summer curriculum project. The teachers’ goal was to create an interesting, hands-on learning experience for students that not only focuses on the historical facts of Iroquois life, but also encourages teamwork, communication and a host of other skills not found in the pages of a textbook.

"We had heard about a similar project taking place at another local school district and decided that it would be a great opportunity for our students," said Augstell. "Studying the Native Americans of New York State is a part of the fourth grade social studies curriculum, but by actually building their own Iroquois village, the students are getting a unique perspective on how life really was several hundred years ago. They are living history."

Lynnwood Principal Jim Dillon agrees. "Building a longhouse is a very clear example of how history can be incredibly exciting," he said. "And when students are emotionally invested in a project, say by being very enthusiastic to try something new, brain research shows that those students will learn and retain more information in the long run."

Taking a walk back in time

The fourth graders at Lynnwood spend several weeks studying and researching the Iroquois in the classroom, reading legends and learning about their culture, before construction of their village begins. The students also visit the New York State Museum Longhouse in Albany and participate in a program presented by the Scotia Glenville Traveling Museum on Iroquois life, to help them prepare for their upcoming project.

After discussing the role of leadership in Native American tribes, female students choose a male chief from each class, modeling the Iroquois’ matriarchal society. The children are then broken down into seven clans, and the building of the village begins.

Students, teachers and parent volunteers work together to gather and transport building materials such as branches, small saplings, large logs, and stones to the building site, which is located just alongside the elementary school building. Nearly all of the materials used in the construction process are found naturally, in the woods surrounding the school, as students try to make their village as authentic as possible.

"We used things from nature that the Iroquois used in everyday life," said student Clare Ladd. "We learned how to make things by hand that we actually make with machines today."

When visitors enter the completed Iroquois replica village for the first time during an opening ceremony, they are greeted with numerous vivid reminders of a culture from long ago: fish and hide drying racks; a corn garden with a scarecrow platform; fire circles; and of course, in the center of it all, an eight foot tall longhouse.

Later in the week, the fourth grade "Iroquois clan members" offer informational tours of their grounds to other students and parents, explaining in detail the various elements of the village and discussing why each is important in Iroquois life. They also display several smaller projects, such clan necklaces, cornhusk dolls, pottery, wampum, and maps, which they have been working on during their research and study of the culture.

"I was kind of nervous talking in front of the group at first, because I wasn’t sure that I could answer all of their questions," said village tour guide and fourth grader Anna Van Patten. But by the end of her first presentation, Anna was excited to share her knowledge of Iroquois life again. "I was definitely more confident," she said.

The weeklong project concludes with a closing ceremony, led by the "Iroquois chiefs," who are "unexpectedly" interrupted by "European" visitors. The "Europeans," played by Principal Jim Dillon, teachers Simon Levy and Dan Cordell, and school secretary Lea Byrne, approach the Iroquois with cloth, beads and mirrors, stating that they are interested in purchasing their land. The students then discuss the possible positive and negative impact of the Native Americans accepting the Europeans’ proposition, which leads directly into the students’ next unit of classroom study.

The site is then completely deconstructed that afternoon, leaving no traces of a bustling Iroquois village and providing a clean slate for next year’s incoming fourth grade class.

Carrying on a tradition

Building an Iroquois village is something all Lynnwood fourth grade classes look forward to doing year after year. It is always a successful project, with students, teachers and parents alike excited about this unconventional learning experience.

Teacher Liz Augstell believes that one of the reasons this lesson continues to be so popular year after year is that it lends itself to many different learning styles. "Some children are better at reading books and researching, while other students’ strengths lie in building and creating with their hands. Still other children learn more easily by visiting museums and seeing artifacts up close. This project creates opportunities for learning in all of these various methods," she said.

"By giving students opportunities to use their specific skills, no mater what they are, in an academic setting, they are more likely to pursue learning," said Dillon. "A project like replicating the Iroquois village gives children many avenues to use alternative strengths, and actually gives them the confidence to work on their weaknesses, as well."

The project also teaches students the benefit of working together as a team to accomplish a common goal, as everyone needs to work side by side to ensure that the village is constructed on time and in the most authentic way possible.

"By working together on the village in the fall, students from all of our fourth grade classrooms are able to share a common experience that they can carry with them throughout the rest of the school year," Augstell said.

Student Tyler Cullen was surprised by how willing his classmates were to lend a helping hand. "Everyone helped each other, even if they didn’t know one another," he said.

"We all worked together as a team," said "Iroquois chief" and fourth grader Kyle Dow. "And I even made a new friend that I didn’t have before."

But perhaps the most important lesson that the students learn while working on the Iroquois village, and one of the reasons why the project is brought back year after year, is that it inspires children to be excited by learning.

Fourth grader Anna Van Patten never expected that social studies class would be quite like this. "Usually you just learn about things in the classroom," she said. "It was a good experience to go out of the classroom and to just ‘do things.’"

"Students can pass a test, but if they do not leave our schools with a curious mind, if they do not know the enjoyment you can get from visiting a museum or from learning something new, then we have not done our jobs," said Dillon.