Objectives

• Analyse how Kimmerer uses the grammar of animacy — specifically the pronoun 'ki' and the Potawatomi verb-centred language — to argue that language shapes ecological relationship.
• Explain how the Skywoman and Nanabozho origin stories in Chapter 1 function as structural counterweights to Western scientific creation narratives.
• Trace how Kimmerer's personal memory — including scenes with her father and daughters — constructs an argument about intergenerational reciprocity and belonging.
• Write an evidenced analytical paragraph that embeds and interprets at least two quotations from the text to support a stated argument about one of the text's central tensions.
• Evaluate how Kimmerer positions the Windigo figure in Chapter 5 as a critique of consumer capitalism, using close reading of figurative language.
• Construct a full analytical essay arguing how Kimmerer uses one literary technique across at least two chapters to develop a named theme.

The sequence

1. Lesson 1: Skywoman Falling: Origin Stories and the Grammar of Animacy

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   To call something 'alive' means it has the ability to grow, reproduce, and respond to its environment. In English, the word 'it' can be ambiguous; when referring to a tree, it doesn't clearly indicate whether the tree is alive or not. Personally, I feel that using 'it' for a tree tends to strip away its vitality, making it seem more like an object than a living being.

   Teacher input

   Model close reading on the passage in Chapter 1 where Kimmerer introduces the word 'ki' as a pronoun for a living being that is neither he nor she nor the objectifying 'it' (the paragraph starting with 'In the grammar of animacy…'). Think through how the introduction of a new pronoun serves as an argument in itself: Kimmerer isn't just describing a relationship with the natural world; she’s actively creating one in the way she constructs her sentences. Demonstrate to students how to annotate for diction (consider the connotations of 'animacy' versus 'nature'), syntax (note the confident assertion in 'Aster is ki'), and rhetorical purpose (explore why it matters that a botanist, rather than just a storyteller, makes this statement).

   Independent task

   Students will read the Skywoman passage in Chapter 1 — from 'In the beginning there was the Skyworld' to the moment Skywoman lands on Turtle's back — and write a single PEEL paragraph (Point, Evidence, Explain, Link) addressing the question: How does Kimmerer use the Skywoman narrative to depict the natural world as a community of givers instead of merely a collection of resources? Students should include at least one quotation and analyze the effect of one specific word or phrase. This paragraph is to be submitted at the end of the lesson.

   Exit ticket

   Write one sentence that names the grammatical feature Kimmerer introduces in Chapter 1 and one sentence that explains what argument that feature is making about the relationship between language and the natural world.

2. Lesson 2: Reciprocity and the Honourable Harvest: What Tending and Picking Demand

   60 min · ch. 2, 3

   Do now

   Open Chapter 2 to the passage where Kimmerer shares her father's morning ritual of greeting the land at their cabin in the Adirondacks. Read it quietly. Then write one sentence explaining what her father does, and one sentence proposing why Kimmerer includes this memory in an essay focused on botany instead of in a personal memoir.

   Teacher input

   Model annotation on the 'Honourable Harvest' list in Chapter 3 — the numbered guidelines beginning with 'Know the ways of the ones who take care of you'. Highlight the transition from imperative verbs ('Ask permission', 'Take only what you need', 'Give thanks') to the concluding conditional clause about the consequences of refusing the gift. Illustrate to students how this shift in mood (from imperative to conditional) underscores the ethical argument: the harvest represents a conversation rather than a transaction. Annotate for form (the list as a genre suggesting equality among items) and for the underlying contrast with Western property law.

   Independent task

   Students will compare two brief passages: the part in Chapter 3 where Kimmerer describes her daughters learning to pick sweetgrass (starting with 'My daughters were beside me…') and the moment in Chapter 2 when she talks about the near-extinction of sweetgrass along a tourist road. They will write two connected PEEL paragraphs—one for each passage—arguing how Kimmerer highlights the contrast between these scenes to develop her theme of reciprocity. Each paragraph should include at least one integrated quotation and identify a specific technique, such as juxtaposition, imperative mood, or sensory imagery. Both paragraphs will be submitted together.

   Exit ticket

   In no more than three sentences, explain what the 'Honourable Harvest' is and identify one grammatical or structural feature of the list in Chapter 3 that reinforces Kimmerer's argument about the relationship between humans and plants.

3. Lesson 3: The Grammar of Belonging: Language, Identity, and the Potawatomi Elders

   60 min · ch. 4

   Do now

   Read the short passage in Chapter 4 where Kimmerer talks about her time sitting with Potawatomi Elders and the moment she realizes she can’t speak her ancestral language. Without peeking ahead, write two sentences: what do you think she will argue is lost when a language disappears, and what evidence from Chapters 1–3 supports that idea?

   Teacher input

   Model a close reading of the passage in Chapter 4 where Kimmerer encounters the student John, who questions why Potawatomi lacks a word for 'wilderness' (the paragraph starting with 'John was a young man…'). Guide students to interpret the anecdote as a philosophical argument: the missing word signifies a statement rather than a deficiency. Highlight Kimmerer's use of free indirect discourse (we perceive John's confusion through her narration), the structural irony that a question from a Western student reveals an Indigenous insight, and how this anecdote serves as a bridge between personal memoir and linguistic argument.

   Independent task

   Students will write an analytical paragraph addressing this question: How does Kimmerer use the character of John and the idea of 'wilderness' in Chapter 4 to argue that language doesn't just describe reality but actually shapes it? In their responses, students should include at least two quotations from Chapter 4, identify the narrative technique Kimmerer employs to convey John's viewpoint, and conclude their paragraph with a sentence that connects this argument to the grammar of animacy discussed in Chapter 1. The completed paragraph is due at the end of the lesson.

   Exit ticket

   Write one sentence explaining what free indirect discourse is, and one sentence identifying where Kimmerer uses it in the John passage in Chapter 4 and what effect it creates for the reader.

4. Lesson 4: The Windigo and the World It Made: Capitalism, Consumption, and Ecological Grief

   60 min · ch. 5

   Do now

   Without opening the book, define a monster — what characteristics make something monstrous? Then read the first two paragraphs of Chapter 5 where Kimmerer introduces the Windigo figure. Write one sentence discussing whether her definition of the Windigo aligns with your own.

   Teacher input

   Model a close reading of the passage in Chapter 5 where Kimmerer connects the Windigo to consumer capitalism — starting with the paragraph that says, "The Windigo is the name for that within us which…". Pay attention to her extended metaphor: the Windigo represents not just greed but a living concept that Indigenous communities recognized long before industrial capitalism emerged. Make notes on her rhetorical strategy of using a pre-colonial narrative to critique a post-colonial economic framework, examine the use of the second-person pronoun 'us' (who is included and who is left out), and analyze how the paragraph concludes with a conditional statement that suggests agency and, ultimately, hope.

   Independent task

   Students are tasked with writing two connected paragraphs that address the following questions: How does Kimmerer use the Windigo figure in Chapter 5 to critique consumer capitalism, and how does the motif of controlled burning in that chapter propose a way forward from this critique? Each student must include at least one quotation from the Windigo section and one from the controlled burning part of Chapter 5, identify the figurative technique used in each, and conclude with a final sentence that assesses which of the two passages is more rhetorically effective and why. Both paragraphs should be submitted together.

   Exit ticket

   In two or three sentences, explain why Kimmerer chooses to end Braiding Sweetgrass with the image of burning rather than the image of planting, and what that structural choice argues about the possibility of ecological restoration.

5. Lesson 5: Braiding It Together: Writing the Full Analytical Essay

   60 min · ch. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

   Do now

   Reflect on the exit tickets you filled out for Lessons 1–4. Pick the technique you believe you explained the best. Write one sentence naming that technique and another sentence describing, in your own words, the argument Kimmerer uses it to convey.

   Teacher input

   Model the construction of an essay introduction using the following question—one that students will also answer today: "How does Kimmerer use figurative language throughout Braiding Sweetgrass to argue that Indigenous ways of knowing are not alternatives to science but essential to its completeness?" Demonstrate on the board how to craft a thesis sentence that identifies a technique, highlights a theme, and articulates a claim about the argument's direction. For example: "Through the extended metaphor of braiding, the animacy of the pronoun ki, and the Windigo as a diagnostic figure, Kimmerer argues that Western science's tendency to categorize the world as object is not a neutral act but one of dispossession." Annotate this sentence to help students pinpoint where the technique, theme, and claim are located.

   Independent task

   Students are tasked with writing a comprehensive analytical essay of about 600–800 words in response to the question: 'How does Kimmerer use figurative language throughout Braiding Sweetgrass to argue that Indigenous ways of knowing are not just alternatives to science but are essential to completing it?' The essay should include an introduction that presents a clear thesis statement; at least three body paragraphs, each focusing on a different chapter (students must reference at least two of Chapters 1, 3, and 5, and they may include Chapter 2 or 4 as a third); a minimum of five embedded quotations throughout the essay, each followed by an analysis of a specific word, phrase, or structural feature; and a conclusion that assesses which single passage in the text conveys Kimmerer's argument most effectively and explains why. Students will write in silence and submit their complete essays at the end of the class period.

   Exit ticket

   Read back your thesis sentence and write one honest sentence answering this question: does your essay's conclusion actually prove the claim your thesis makes, or does it drift into a different argument — and if it drifts, what one sentence would you add to pull it back?

Activities

Assessment

• Lesson 1 exit ticket checks whether students can name the grammatical feature (animacy / the pronoun 'ki') and articulate the argument it makes — not merely describe it.
• Lesson 1 PEEL paragraph is scanned for whether students have embedded a quotation (not block-quoted) and explained the effect of a specific word rather than paraphrasing content.
• Lesson 2 exit ticket checks whether students can identify a formal feature of the Honourable Harvest list (imperative mood, list structure, conditional clause) and connect it to Kimmerer's ethical argument.
• Lesson 3 paragraph is checked for whether students have named free indirect discourse correctly and linked the John passage back to the grammar of animacy — the cross-chapter connection is the key marker of analytical depth.
• Lesson 4 exit ticket checks whether students can explain a structural choice (ending with burning rather than planting) as an argument, not merely as a plot summary.

Standards covered

Common Core 11 12

• RL.11-12.1 — Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• RL.11-12.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyse the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
• RL.11-12.5 — Analyse how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text contribute to its overall structure and meaning.
• RL.11-12.6 — Analyse a case in which grasping a point of view or cultural experience requires distinguishing what is directly stated from what is really meant.
• W.11-12.1 — Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

AP Literature

• Literary Argumentation (LAN-1) — Develop a thesis that makes a defensible claim about the literary text and supports it with evidence.
• Figurative Language (FIG-1) — Identify and analyse the effects of figurative language, including metaphor and extended metaphor, on meaning.
• Narrator and Speaker (NAR-1) — Analyse how an author's narrative choices — including perspective, voice, and free indirect discourse — shape meaning.
• Structure (STR-1) — Explain how an author's structural choices, including the ordering and juxtaposition of sections, contribute to the text's meaning.
• Cultural and Historical Context (CHR-1) — Analyse how cultural context — here Indigenous Potawatomi knowledge systems — shapes the text's argument and literary choices.

AQA

• AO1 — Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression.
• AO2 — Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts, with reference to language, form, and structure.
• AO3 — Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received — specifically the Potawatomi cultural and ecological context of Braiding Sweetgrass.
• AO5 — Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations — including ecocritical and postcolonial readings of Kimmerer's work.

Edexcel

• AO1 — Develop an informed response to texts, using literary concepts and terminology accurately and coherently.
• AO2 — Analyse and evaluate how writers use language, form, and structure to create meanings and effects.
• AO3 — Explore connections and comparisons between texts, informed by interpretations of other readers — applicable when students compare Kimmerer's epistemological argument to other non-fiction or nature writing.
• AO4 — Demonstrate understanding of the contexts of the texts and ways in which contexts influence the production and reception of literary texts.

IB Lit

• Criterion A — Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the text, including its cultural and contextual dimensions.
• Criterion B — Analyse the effects of literary features — including diction, metaphor, structure, and narrative voice — on meaning.
• Criterion C — Develop a focused line of argument supported by relevant textual evidence.
• Criterion D — Use language accurately and effectively in written analytical response.