Divide the class into five cooperative groups. Assign each group one Native American culture about which they will become experts. Lessons 2 and 3 in Chapter 4 of your Houghton Mifflin Social Studies text have information on the Makah, Creek, Mississippian, Anasazi, and Iroquois. Since the information on the Mississippian culture is rather brief, I have sometimes substituted the Sioux culture and had that group gather information from other sources. Have each student fold a plain piece of copier paper into six sections.
Students then work with their groups to take notes from the book in the appropriate box.
Model this on the board. For example, if the book says that the men from a certain culture hunted for deer, discuss how that might be listed under work, clothing, and food. They will eventually need pictures and information about each of the six areas for the poster. Discuss layout of the poster. The second year you do this activity, this will be easier, because you will have saved some examples of good posters.