Prior to implementing the Cheyenne Odyssey Lesson Plan and Game, it is important to build students’ background knowledge about the Cheyenne and Plains Indians.

We recommend familiarizing yourself with the Educator’s Primer on the Historical Period so that you are prepared to address students’ questions and help them think critically about the content they’ll discover during the course of the lesson. The Pre-Game Activity provides a graphic organizer to help students describe the advantages and disadvantages of a possible treaty in order to develop a pro- or anti- stance on cooperation. This activity can be used to sensitize your students to the advantages and disadvantages of cooperation between two very different societies, as well as define key concepts and vocabulary (negotiation, treaty, cooperation, resistance, reservation) related to the encounter between the United States and the Plains Indians.