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

How To Think Like An Archaeologist

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students take a field trip to historical Jamestown. Using artifacts given to them, they must identify them and discover who would have used them and for what purpose. They create a database to organize the information and share it with...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Africans and Women in Jamestown

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the first settlement at Jamestown and its citizens. Using the internet, they discover the role of women and Africans in Jamestown. They role play what the settlement was like before and after women and Africans coming...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Virginia Studies

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students describe life in the Virginia colony. They explain how geography influenced the relocation of Virginia's capital from Jamestown to Williamsburg, to Richmond. Students compare/contrast life in Jamestown and Williamsburg.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Virginia Studies

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students describe life in the Virginia colony. They explain how geography influenced the relocation of Virginia's capital from Jamestown to Williamsburg, to Richmond. Students compare/contrast life in Jamestown and Williamsburg.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Guide to Writing Your Letter Back to England

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders write a letter back to England from Jamestown. They describe their trip and how they are fairing in the New World. They also discuss how they feel about John Smith.
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

"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

"What Do You Mean?" How Language Changes Over Time

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars examine words used at Jamestown in 1607. They predict what the words meant in 1607, write sentences using three of them, then analyze the sentences after they have read the actual definitions of the words.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Henry Spelman: The Powhatan Indians' English Boy

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders read and analyze narrative writing by and about Henry Spelman, a boy-laborer who helped settle Jamestown. They read biographical information, discuss the harsh conditions, and write a narrative piece on Henry's experiences.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"it's All in the Cellar"

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders examine the process of constructing a site plan map at archaeological sites. They discuss the process of mapping techniques and calculation of percentages, create a plan site map of a cellar at Jamestown, and calculate...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Demise of Copper's Trading Power

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders evaluate statistical equations. They examine data from archaeologists at Jamestown, complete statistical equations using the sets of data, and graph the results.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Lies Beneath

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students conduct Internet research on the history and archaeological excavations at historical Jamestown. They explore various websites, and develop a Powerpoint presentation to present to the class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Art or Artifact?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze and discuss illustrations of the New World by John White. They examine the images, answer questions about each one, and write an essay.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Networking at Early James Fort

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars examine the impact of global trade on regional civilizations of the world after 1500. They research and analyze images of pottery excavated at Jamestown, and create a poster that presents information about world trade...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Life in Jamestown Settlement

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students research a historic timeline and other texts to explore life in the colonies and the Jamestown settlement. Students investigate what the settlers ate while in the colony. Students prepare foods similar to colonists' foods.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

State of Affairs Between the Native Americans and the European Settlers

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students examine relationship and contact between Native Americans and European Settlers, using primary sources.
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The First Europeans

For Students 9th - 10th
The first Europeans to arrive in North America -- at least the first for whom there is solid evidence -- were Norse, traveling west from Greenland, where Erik the Red had founded a settlement around the year 985. In 1001 his son Leif is...
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Early Settlements

For Students 9th - 10th
The early 1600s saw the beginning of a great tide of emigration from Europe to North America. Spanning more than three centuries, this movement grew from a trickle of a few hundred English colonists to a flood of millions of newcomers....
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Jamestown

For Students 9th - 10th
The first of the British colonies to take hold in North America was Jamestown. On the basis of a charter which King James I granted to the Virginia (or London) company, a group of about 100 men set out for the Chesapeake Bay in 1607....
PPT
Virginia History Series

Virginia History Series: English Settlements in Virginia (1584 1699) [Pdf]

For Students 6th - 8th
Take a historical walk through the colony of Jamestown. Learn about the main people who influenced the development of this colony, read a list of names of the original settlers, read about the struggles of the first settlers, explore...
Website
Other

Virtual Jamestown: Jamestown Teaching Material

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A collection of links to resources for teaching about Jamestown.
Article
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

History Is Fun: Powhatan's Challenge and Opechancanough's Action [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the interactions between the Powhatan and the English, the different leadership styles of the brothers Wahunsonacock and Opechancanough, and the events leading up to the Powhatan War and Opechancanough's defeat.
Handout
Other

Virginia Foundation for the Humanities: Virginia Indian Heritage Trail [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
This 92-page guide has accurate information on tribes and sites in Virginia. It has tribal histories, biographies of well-known historical figures, photographs, and suggested readings.