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Some 1,000 years ago, the Iroquois formed a confederacy to establish peace. The historic moment was recorded in wampum belts.

Fast-forward to 2006.

Fourteen-year-old Heather Nunez, an eighth-grader at Daggett Middle School, and her classmates wear beaded wampum bracelets, using different-colored beads to help them remember key moments in U.S. history

“It’s easier than just looking for notes,” said Nunez, whose favorite is a lone pendants turquoise bead that represents the Cherokees’ Trail of Tears and the forced migration of American Indians.

But when Nunez takes the social studies portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills this week, she won’t be able to wear the bracelet.

The Texas Education Agency doesn’t allow “instructional tools” in the classroom while students are taking the tests.

The eighth-grade social studies exams cover material from America’s Colonial days to post-Civil War Reconstruction.

Testing on other portions of the exam begins today for most grade levels and continues throughout the week.

TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said that in the past, a group money clips of high school students used beaded bracelets to transmit answers to each other.

“They worked out a system whereby they were pointing to colors to indicate answers to questions,” Culbertson said.

Cellphones are also not allowed.

“It’s a state rule you can’t have cellphones in the room because of text messaging,” she said.

The Daggett students don’t seem to mind that the bracelets will be banned during testing; they’ve already served their purpose by helping them learn about history.

“I try to figure out ways students can remember information,” said Daggett social studies teacher Georgia Harding, who created the lesson plan.

The students made the bracelets and were expected to bring them to class for review, Harding said.

She said it is one way she tries to make history fun for students.

“It makes it more interesting to me when the students are interested in the information,” she said. “They get the point more easily.”

Mike Tarbell, an Iroquois educator in New York and member of the Mohawk Nation Turtle Clan, said the Fort Worth students are being exposed to a rich history. The belts, made of clam shells, were like a Library of Congress for the Mohawk — one of five nations under the Iroquois Confederacy. In early Colonial times, the Dutch and French used wampum as money.

“There is a lot involved in that little piece of wampum,” Tarbell said. “Even news was transmitted by runners from one village to the next carrying wampum.”

Jerald Williams, 13, and Linda Thun, 14, said the bracelets tiffany and co won’t be a fashion trend, but they made history more interesting.

“It really does help,” Thun said.

IN THE KNOW

TAKS

The Social Studies Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills is one portion of the state’s achievement exams. Upcoming tests:

Tuesday

Math: Grades 3, 4, 6, 7,

8 and 10

Wednesday

Reading: Grades 4, 6, 7 and 8

Exit-level math: Grade 11

Thursday

Science: Grades 5, 8 and 10

Math: Grade 9

Exit-level science: Grade 11

Friday

Social Studies: Grades 8

and 10

Exit-level social studies:

Grade 11

SOURCE: Texas Education Agency