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Starvation, Agriculture, and Native Americans |
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Starvation, Agriculture, and Native Americans |
Objectives:
Students will:
1. Read three scenarios of Jamestown and identify two or three obstacles faced by early Jamestown colonists, write one of these obstacles on the board.
2. Investigate and label examples of one specific problem from the three scenarios. .
3. Analysis problem and present possible solutions to the class as a group.
Relevance:
Studying struggles and turmoil of early settlers in Jamestown will help students personalize and imagine in detail the conditions of colonies in America. It will also allow them to understand the cycle of failure of companies such as the Virginia and the London companies, the need for propaganda to encourage immigration, the importance of tobacco and Native American tensions. Reading primary source documents will make the material more realistic and interesting to the students.
Involving Learners:
Have students imagine the Jamestown colony in their minds. What does it look like? Who lives there? What crops are growing? Are people happy? Would you like to live there?
1. Pass out worksheet to the class and ask them to read it quietly to themselves.
2. Once they are finished ask them if there are any terms that they are not familiar with. Explain that some of the words are spelled differently because of the changes in the English language since early 17th century and clarify any words they did not understand.
3. Have them break up into small groups of 3 or 4 and discuss any problems colonists faced which were described in the scenarios. As they are discussing these problems move around the room and observe conversation.
4. After each group has identified 2 or 3 major obstacles which settlers encountered in Jamestown, have a representative come and write one problem they noticed onto the board. Then place these ideas within three major categories, Starvation, Agriculture, and Native American tensions which are the three major problems found in Jamestown. Most other obstacles that students recognize will fit within these major categories. At this point explain any category that the students missed and fill in any additional information in a lecture/discussion format deemed necessary. Refer to Key points for background information.
5. Then ask each group to pick one of the problems to investigate further. Try to have different groups chose different problems. Once they have returned to the small groups with their chosen topic, ask the students to reread the scenarios and answer the following questions depending on the category chosen. Have the groups discuss the questions orally while one person records their answers.
Starvation:
1. What conditions lead to starvation and what characteristics of colonists contributed to this problem?
2. How did the colonists combat starvation?
Agriculture:
1. Why were the settlers unable or unwilling to plant crops?
2. Without successful crops how did the colonists survive?
3. What other problems did crop failure contribute to?
Native American Relations:
1. Initially why did the colonists need the Native Americans?
2. What resource did the colonists desire from the Native Americans, and how was this problem seen in future relations between
settlers and Native Americans.
6. Once each group has finished, have them move into one large group. Ask each individual group to present to the class their problem and the answers to their questions. Have students concentrate on the connections between different struggles. Did one contribute or affect another? If so, in what ways? When every group has finished presenting, allow for studentís questions.
1. Ask the class to reflect and answer on a sheet of paper the following questions. What were the three major struggles that early colonists of Jamestown encountered? What caused these problems? What are examples of each problem? What were the colonists' and Englandís responses to these problems? What would you have done had you faced similar obstacles?
Assignment:
Have students write a one page progress report from an English banker,who has settled in Jamestown, to his boss in England. Describe all aspects of life in Jamestown, including any problems that the settlement is facing or that he has personally encountered. Have him explain how life in different in America and whether or not he is happy that he has left England.
Materials:
Worksheet of "Three Scenes from Jamestown"
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