Virginia SOL VS.2.b
The Standard
describing Virginia’s three most prominent Indigenous language groups (i.e., the Algonquian, the Siouan, and the Iroquoian)
Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students name the Algonquian, Siouan, and Iroquoian language groups and explain that each included distinct Indigenous nations. They connect each group to its main Virginia region.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students correctly place Algonquian in Tidewater, Siouan in the Piedmont, and Iroquoian in southwestern and southern Virginia. They do not treat language groups as single tribes.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may mistake each language group for one tribe. They often swap the Siouan and Iroquoian regions or place Algonquian across all of Virginia. Some assume Indigenous languages and communities exist only in the past.
How to Assess It
- Give students a blank Virginia regions map. Ask them to label each language group, shade its main region, and explain what a language group means.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a Virginia map, three language cards, and region labels, then have them place each card and explain each choice.
Ask students to write: How can several distinct nations belong to one language group without being the same nation?
Label three room corners Tidewater, Piedmont, and Southwest/South, then call a language group and have students move to its region.
Use official Pamunkey, Monacan, and Nottoway websites to identify each nation's home region and language family.
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Printable VS.2.b Worksheet
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Related Standards
- VS.2
The student will apply history and social science skills to describe the Indigenous nations of Virginia past and present by
- VS.2.c
describing the diversity among the Indigenous nations
- VS.2.e
describing the lives and cultures of Virginia’s Indigenous People leading to the present day.
- VS.2.d
describing the relationships and interactions of Virginia’s Indigenous People and their environment, circa 1600; and
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