After reading the book, students tea-stained t-shirts and painted Native American symbols on them with paints made of organic materials.

Pam Cole is one of the first grade teachers at North Ridge. She said that the students read the book and learned several different things that they can apply to their lives today.

“The book is about the Plains Indians, but we adapted it to fit the Native Americans of the pilgrim time period – the Wampanoag tribe,” Cole said. “The children learned that it was okay to be different than others, and they learned to follow their dreams.”

Cole said that last week the students tea-stained their t-shirts to prepare them to be painted this week.

“The tea-dying was fun,” Cole said. “They could not believe we were going to put our shirts in the tea bucket!”

Cole explained that in the book, the boy becomes the painter of his tribe. She said the boy uses natural elements to paint the colors of the sky during the evening sunset.

“We used turmeric for yellow, all spice for brown, spinach for green, carrots for orange, and the purples, reds and blues were strawberries, blueberries, and beets,” Cole said.

Cole said that the students will wear their shirts on Friday to celebrate Thanksgiving.