Indigenous Peoples of Brazil - Libras

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⚠️ This material is an adapted History activity in Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), designed to explore the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil through a bilingual approach that combines Libras, written Portuguese, contextualized images, and objective instructions.

Number of questions in the activity:

6 adapted questions + complete answer key, distributed across 4 activity pages.

The material explores the cultural and linguistic diversity of Indigenous peoples, the Tupi and Macro-Jê linguistic branches, the role of the pajé (Indigenous spiritual leader/healer), different activities carried out within communities, the consequences of the arrival of Europeans, and ritual anthropophagy among some Tupi peoples.

Target audience:

Students in Middle School and, depending on their curricular adaptation needs, also High School, especially deaf students who use Libras and require greater linguistic accessibility to follow the content taught in class.

The material may also benefit students with Intellectual Disabilities associated with deafness, ASD associated with deafness, learning difficulties in History, and students developing historical literacy, particularly when they need information broken into smaller sections, visual support, and reduced demands for extensive written responses.

Format:

PDF designed for color printing, containing:

🔹 6 adapted questions;
🔹 instructions, texts, and answer choices in Libras and written Portuguese;
🔹 highlighted signs related to historical vocabulary;
🔹 contextualized images and a map;
🔹 objective multiple-choice questions;
🔹 standard writing version;
🔹 UPPERCASE version;
🔹 BNCC-related skills and learning objectives;
🔹 complete visual answer key.

Content covered:

The activity addresses the diversity of Indigenous peoples before 1500; cultural and linguistic diversity; Tupi and Macro-Jê; the role of the pajé; activities carried out by different members of Indigenous communities; hunting and the making of canoes and weapons; the arrival of Europeans; diseases brought by Europeans; cultural practices of some Tupi peoples; and the meaning of anthropophagy within certain warfare rituals.

Important for the teacher:

One of the main goals of this adaptation is to increase linguistic accessibility to History content. Instructions, short texts, and answer choices are accompanied by representations in Libras while also maintaining the information in written Portuguese. This allows students to access the content through different modes of communication.

In addition to the translated questions, the material highlights signs directly related to the content, such as PEOPLE, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, and RITUAL, allowing students to establish connections between Libras sign → written word → image → historical concept.

The questions also follow a progressive sequence. Students begin by recognizing that before 1500 there were many different Indigenous peoples, with distinct cultures and languages, then identify Tupi and Macro-Jê, understand the role of the pajé, and later progress to aspects of social organization, the consequences of contact with Europeans, and cultural practices.

Key Features:

✅ Presents Libras and written Portuguese simultaneously, increasing accessibility to historical content.

✅ Supports bilingual education, allowing students to connect Libras signs with their corresponding words and expressions in written Portuguese.

✅ Uses signs contextualized within the historical content, such as PEOPLE, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, and RITUAL, helping expand both linguistic and historical vocabulary.

✅ Combines Libras + Portuguese + contextualized images, providing different ways to understand and retrieve information.

✅ Focuses on one central historical concept per question, reducing information overload and supporting a more organized learning progression.

✅ Uses images of communities, everyday activities, a map, and collective practices to support the understanding of historical concepts.

✅ Contextualizes anthropophagy among some Tupi peoples as a practice that could be part of warfare rituals, relating it to the symbolic incorporation of the enemy’s courage and virtues.

✅ Includes a standard version, an UPPERCASE version, and a complete answer key.

✅ Saves approximately 5 hours and 58 minutes of teacher planning time.