Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Why Vote?

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students design a ballot slip for student voting. They create a slogan and political brochure.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Disney's Pocahontas: Fact or Fiction?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Did you know that Pocahontas was 12 when Jamestown was established? Did you know that she later married John Rolfe? Did you know that she lived in London for two years? Did you know that she died of small pox? Class members study the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kill the Indian, Save the Man!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate primary sources from Carlisle Indian School including letters and photographs.  In this investigative lesson students answer questions about their research.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Happy Endings: The Final Battle

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore all the myths of the battle of Yorktown. A variety of primary documents are viewed and analyzed for discussion. They become aware that what one sees and hears is not always as it seems in reality. Each group...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students write from an animal's perspective. In this writing lesson students explore the landscape of San Francisco prior to the arrival of the explorers. Students research animals indigenous to the area.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Cultural Study of Arkansas and Saline County for Eleventh Grade Non-College American Literature

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders divide into research groups and select a topic to pursue from a list that ranged from historical sites to local ghost stories to the nearby aluminum plant.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Faces: Understanding Artifacts Through Design Elements

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Pupils examine and discuss drinking container artifacts from Jamestown. They view images of the artifacts, discuss their purposes, draw an original facial expression for a brown paper jug, and write a description of the facial expression.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cotton Production and Milling

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students examine cotton production and milling. They compete in a hand-ginning contest to realize how difficult it was to separate the seeds from the fibers of cotton. They discuss why Eli Whitney's cotton gin was an important invention.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rice Around the World

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders draw pictures to show the life of early colonists and how they set the standard for rice farming. In this rice farming lesson plan, 3rd graders read about how and when Americans set the standards for growing and producing...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Article Review

For Teachers 5th - 7th
In this article review activity, students are given a passage they must correct for errors. Students correct mistakes in the articles usage in the passage provided.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Trading Post with the Most: Colonial Dorchester's Settlement and Economy

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders explore the Dorchester settlement, For this American colonial history lesson, 8th graders examine primary resources and maps from the Dorchester trading post in order to learn about its contributions to the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Colonial Research Fun

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students review the characteristics of the thirteen colonies. In groups, they use the internet to research one of the colonies more in depth and answer questions about it. They develop a newspaper or travel brochure to share the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Whole New World

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine a timeline of a sequence of events displaying how the colonies were founded. They analyze Jamestown and Plymouth recruitment posters, write journal entries, and play a Jeopardy game with questions about the colonies.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Federal Period 1780 - 1820

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Within this unit, students evaluate the prosperity of a New England town during the Federal Period. Throughout the unit, students are looking for evidence of prosperity by examining artifacts such as inventories, tax lists, and photos to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Home of the Brave

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students use various types of people and the special places they each call home. They discover houses, like the world, are always changing. Students start out by brainstorming what was the one thing that made a house a home. They were...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Coming to America: A Look at Colonization in the 1600s

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils analyze the European colonization of America. In this colonial America lesson, students use provided Internet resources to research colonization and representative government. Pupils use their finding to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sense Of Place

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students study ecology, listen to speakers and research conservation topics.  In this investigative lesson plan students discuss wilderness resources, learn about Native Americans and participate in activities that help them to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"You Shall Do Your Best Endeavor" - Working With Primary Documents

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students read and interpret primary source documents regarding historic Jamestown. In small groups, they read the primary documents, answer questions, and view online maps of Jamestown Island and Virginia.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Castolon Historic District

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students complete a variety of activities that go along with the study of and possible fieldtrip to the Castolon Historic District in Big Bend National Park, TX.
Article
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

History Is Fun: Cultures at Jamestown [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
A six-page discussion of the mix of cultures that converged in the colony of Jamestown and the challenges this presented. These cultures were the English settlers, the indigenous Powhatan people, and the African slaves. Despite many...
Article
A&E Television

History.com: Why the Wampanoag Signed a Peace Treaty With the Mayflower Pilgrims

For Students 9th - 10th
The peace accord, which would be honored on both sides for the next half-century, was the first official treaty between English settlers and Native Americans, and a rare example of cooperation between the two groups. On the orders of...
Handout
National Women’s History Museum

National Women's History Museum: Pocahontas

For Students 9th - 10th
Among the most famous women in early American history, Pocahontas is credited with helping the struggling English settlers survive.
Article
Henry J. Sage

Sage American History: Introduction to American Colonial History

For Students 9th - 10th
Introductory article on American Colonial History in which the author takes a look at the first European settlers who made the voyage to America and addresses the essential question of who they were as people and hence, why they made...
Activity
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The Colonial Period of American History

For Students 9th - 10th
Comprehensive information about the colonial period of American History. Includes information about New England, colonies, government, people, The French and Indian War, and the Salem Witch Trials.