This fall I taught the mystery "What was life like for the Wampanoag before the arrival of Europeans?" that I developed using the History's Mysteries framework. This lesson was part of a 6-week unit. The objectives of the unit were for students to be able to explain the diversity of native tribes in and around Massachusetts, how the geography of the land affected peoples' lives, and to be able to identify contributions of a tribal group from the local area. In this lesson, students observed various artifacts, guessed what the artifacts were and how they were used and made claims using evidence from the photos and from what they have read about Wampanoag life before the arrival of Europeans. We started the unit by creating a "thinking map" (using post-it notes) where students first wrote out questions. Each day after reading, students would revisit the thinking map to see if they could answer any of the questions or make claims based on what they read or saw in the lessons. The History's Mysteries lesson resulted in many new claims and answers to many of their questions. At the end of the unit, students chose a final project to demonstrate their understanding of Wampanoag life before the arrival or Europeans, how Wampanoag life was influenced by their geography, and how the Wampanoag culture contributes to contemporary life. Adding in the History's Mysteries framework and lesson really helped me to deepen my teaching practice and helped students to think more like historians. I think that this lesson shifted our focus from just doing research to being problem solvers and truly thinking like historians.
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Wonderful inquiry approach to the topic - a real thinking routine for students which incorporated their ideas. Thanks for sharing your process 
Angela Regan
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I love the idea of using a "thinking map" during a unit and revisiting it after each lesson. That sounds like a great way to have students reflect on their learning, make claims, and also perhaps address any misconceptions they had at the outset of the unit. Thanks for sharing!
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