In 5th grade, our intention is to become critical thinkers, readers, and scholars. We are currently in our Native American unit, and we’ve pondered many different things. For example, would it be best to call them, Indigenous people, refer to specific tribes to demonstrate that they are not a monolith, or what are the ramification of calling them “Indians” as some text reference them as? We are having a deep study of regions and how environment impacted culture. Scholars can learn about the various ways of life and the ingenuity necessary for those tribes to sustain themselves and thrive. Students reflect, “we’re learning about Native Americans, I like learning about them. You learn how differently each tribe lived and how they lived. You learn about the lifestyles and the states the tribes were in, and how they survived hard conditions.” This foundational learning of indigenous culture is vital to understanding the impacts of the meeting between European explorers and Natives. This will give context to students about the history and loss indigenous people experienced as a consequence of “exploration”.