Before embarking on any Mohawk longhouse project teachers or parents should list concrete learning goals for the children. The primary goals of a longhouse project should focus on the structure itself. Kids should understand what the word longhouse means, what the structure looks like and why the Mohawks built them. Include culture-based objectives such as exploring the Mohawk people's history, daily life and rituals. If you are creating a scale model or having the kids draw a blueprint of a longhouse, add in architectural and/or mathematics objectives. These may include using appropriate architectural or engineering vocabulary, understanding how ratios help architects create scale models or making measurements with a ruler.
Before you can build any architectural structure, you need to have some sort of plan. Although the American Indians of the past may not have drawn up architectural blueprints, kids can create their own designs to help them better understand the intricacies of the building process. Start with a discussion about the Mohawk longhouse. Discuss what the structure looks like, building materials necessary and how the longhouse is used. Look at pictures or photos for reference. Provide the child with drawing paper, a blue pencil, a ruler, a protractor, a compass and an eraser. Ask the child to draw several different views from the front, sides, back, bird's eye and cross section. Older kids can use their math skills to create a scale drawing of an actual longhouse.
Kids can create a three-dimensional Mohawk longhouse model using arts and crafts materials. These American Indian structures are long, thatched, rectangular buildings with a curved or domed roof. The basic construction includes a frame or grid work with a covering of tree bark. Build the rectangle bottom structure by cutting two long rectangles and two shorter ones from tag or poster board. Tape or glue the sides together to form an upright rectangle. As an easy alternative, use the bottom of a shoe box instead. Bend a piece of poster board or construction paper and tape into place to form a dome roof. Create a bark-covering effect by adding glued raffia or strips of brown crepe paper.
Complete a unit or theme on the Mohawk people by doing a longhouse report. Help young students research the longhouse by reading nonfiction books from the local library or visit a website such as Native Net. Depending on the child's age, have him write either a few sentences or several paragraphs on the longhouse. Points to include are longhouse uses, longhouse history and building structure. Have the child add pictures of a longhouse from the Web or draw his own version.