Unit Title ‖ Lesson Title: Starting a Colony Simulation
Goals & Objectives
Lesson Goals: Students will understand the challenges the Jamestown colonists faced, and what it took to survive in the New World.
Lesson Objectives: Students will evaluate the people and events at Jamestown, and simulate the creation of their own Colony.
California State Content Standards
11.1 Students analyze the significant events in the founding of the nation and its attempts to realize the philosophy of government described in the Declaration of Independence.
Common Core Literacy Standards
- Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
- Determine the central ideas of information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationship among the key details and ideas.
- Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
Driving Historical Question
What were the challenges faced by the settlers at Jamestown in forming a colony in the New World?
Lesson Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Hook/Accessing Prior Knowledge) ‖ Time: 15 minutes
The lesson introduction will utilize the Packing for Jamestown handout, as well as the Life at Jamestown essay. The lesson will begin with the teacher setting the stage for the simulation. The teacher will direct students to close their eyes and imagine they are living in England, and then they board a ship to come to the New World. The teacher will describe the conditions on the ship, and the travel conditions across the Atlantic. The teacher will then ask students how they would feel given those circumstances, and what would be the first thing they did once they landed. As the students share their responses, the teacher or the co-teacher, will begin passing out the documents to each student. This will take 5 minutes.
The teacher will then ask the students to fill out the Packing for Jamestown handout. The students will be asked to individually list the things they would bring with them from England, and list things they could possibly trade with Natives. The lists would be written on the handout in the appropriate box. The students will spend the next 10 minutes filling out the handout. The handout will be turned in at the end of the lesson.
The lesson introduction is designed to assess the student’s prior knowledge, and reflect on their perspective of colonial America. The student’s prior knowledge will be assessed through the Packing for Jamestown handout, as well as the discussion on the landing in the new world. The student’s prior knowledge of Jamestown and they challenges they faced will influence their responses to the questions posed on the handout and during the discussion.
Vocabulary (Content Language Development)
Colony/Colonists
Joint-Stock Company
Powhatan
The vocabulary will be infused throughout the lesson. The vocabulary words are in the various text resources, and at defined within the individual essays. Students will be required to use the vocabulary terms in their final group project.
Content Delivery (Method of Instruction) ‖ Time: Day 1 - 40 minutes /Day 2 -49 minutes
The students will each be given documents to use as resources. They will each be given a copy of the Biography of John Smith, and a copy of the Tobacco and Labor essay. The students will then split up into 7 groups of 5 students each. The teacher will establish the groups the night before. Each group will be given a Life at Jamestown essay to share and use as a resource for the presentation. The teacher will then explain the assignment to the whole class. The students will be directed that they settlers arriving in the New World from England. They each must develop a character for themselves, with a focus on the job/ skills their characters have. The students develop their characters, and then, as a group, must develop a plan for building a colony. They must name their colony, and will be asked to answer 5 basic questions, which are as follows:
What will you do for food & water?
What will you do for protection?
What will you do for government?
What will be your relationship with the Natives? How will you deal with the Natives?
What are your Colony’s potential problems? How will you address these problems?
The questions will be written on the board for the whole class to use as a resource. The groups will be given 40 minutes to get into their groups, develop their characters, and answer those 5 questions. They will be directed that the following day they must present their plan for developing the colony, and each student must introduce their character. The groups will answer those 5 questions in writing, and turn them in after they present. The presentations will 7 minutes each.. Each individual student will have to write a 1 page biography of their character for homework, and turn in the biography the following day, after their group presents. While the groups are working, the teacher will patrol the classroom, sitting in on group discussions, and progress monitoring student development.
Day 2
The student groups will present on Day 2. Each student group will be given 7 minutes to present. Ideally the student presentations would break down as follow
- Students introduce their colony, revealing the name they choose
- Each of the five students individually introduces their character
- The 5 basic questions are answered, with the teacher asking follow up questions which would require the students to elaborate further on their plan for developing a colony
- The students then reveal the problems their colony may face and address how they would deal with each problem. The teacher would again ask follow up questions, requiring students to elaborate on their answers.
The teacher will give oral feedback after each presentation is complete. Feedback will also be given in writing on the Colony development plan, where students answer the 5 questions in writing. They will be given a group grade of Check Minus, Check or Check plus, based on the knowledge demonstrated and the depth of the development plan.
Each student will receive an individual, written grade, on their character biography. The biography will be worth 25 points, and students will be graded on their character development and its connection to the subject matter.
Student Engagement (Critical Thinking & Student Activities)
Students will be required to use the tobacco and labor essay, the John Smith essay, and the Life at Jamestown essay, and think critically about those sources to develop a period appropriate character, but also a character who would be useful, and aid in the survivability of their colony. They must then use those same sources and once again think critically about those sources, to develop a plan for building a successful colony. The students must understand the challenges of building a colony in the new world, as well as the individual roles needed for the colony to survive.
Students will be active throughout the lesson. First they must be creative and develop a character using the resources. They must then work with their peers to develop a plan for building a successful colony. The must be engaged in the group work, and discussion.
Finally the students much present their work. Each student will be required to participate in the presentation to ensure that one student does not do all the talking, allowing the others to hide in the background. Each student must be engaged with the development of the colony, in order to develop a character that fits the needs of their colony. Each student must present their character, ensuring all students are active participants in the presentation.
Lesson Closure ‖ Time: 6 minutes
The lesson closure strategy that will be used is the quick doodle. On the Packing for Jamestown handout there are three boxes, two of the boxes will have been filled on during the lesson introduction. The third box is a space left for the lesson closure, and in that box students will spend 6 minutes drawing a quick doddle, depicting 1 thing they believe would be the biggest challenge for building a new colony. The students can draw anything from food shortages, water shortages, native relations, weather, disease, etc. The students will turn in their Packing for Jamestown handout as they leave class. The quick doodle will allow the students to be creative with the assessment, while allowing the teacher to assess the student’s comprehension of colonizing America.
Assessments (Formative & Summative)
The Formative assessment will take place as the teacher sits down with each group during day 1. The groups are given 40 minutes to work on their characters and development plan, and the teacher will go to each group, and sit in on their discussions, assessing their comprehension and use of resources. The formative assessment will be informal, and students will receive oral feedback from the teacher as the teacher sits in on the discussion. Since the groups are given 40 minutes, the teacher will sit with each group twice, assessing students comprehension and working with students to address any needs they have the first time, and then assessing the students comprehension and progress towards completing the assignment during the second sit-in.
The individual biography and the group colony development plan will be summative assessments. The students will have had to take everything they know about colonization, everything they learned from the resources and use that knowledge to develop a character and a colony. The summative assessments will receive written, graded feedback from the teacher. The group colony development plan will receive a grade of check minus, check or check plus, while the individual biographies will receive a score out of 25 points. These summative assessments allow the teacher to assess students knowledge of colonization, and of the challenges faced in building a colony.
Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with Special Needs
English Learners will be accommodated by first being put into groups with students who can support their individual language needs. Ideally each EL would be paired in groups with a student who speaks their native language, but is also proficient in English. If the student really struggles with English, versions of the resources can be found in other languages, enabling students to use resources in their native language.
Striving readers will be given an annotated version of the documents, annotated by the teacher. The teacher will breakdown complex ideas and vocabulary, as well as summarize what the text is saying. The teacher will make copies of the annotated versions of the text and give to striving readers to aid in their comprehension.
Students with special needs will be accommodated based on their individual special need. If a student is academically proficient, they will be the group leader, and be responsible for facilitating group discussions. If a student is shy about presenting, the teacher will allow the student to practice his presentation with the teacher prior to presenting in front of the class.
Resources (Books, Websites, Handouts, Materials)
Packing for Jamestown handout
Tobacco and Labor at Jamestown Essay
Life at Jamestown Essay
John Smith Biography
John Smith Biography
Tobacco and Labor Essay
Life at Jamestown Essay
Packing for Jamestown Handout