Text Sets allow teachers to break free of the text book and really bring history alive for students

Let's start with some standards:

This text set will aim to introduce and teach 5th grade students a foundation to standards 5.3 and 5.4. I have crossed out the substrands that will not be addressed by this text set. This text set will not completely teach every part of the standards, but will aim to provide a jumping off point. Students will understand the differences between a primary and secondary source. They will begin to look at sources with a critical eye. For example, near the end of the lesson they will watch a portion of Disney's Pocahontas. They will note historical discrepancies that stand out and make inferences about why they may be present. Students will also analyze various images and observe how Native Americans and colonists were portrayed by Europeans. The goal of this text set is to show students that Native Americans had a developed society when the colonists arrived to create Jamestown. That the colonists would not have survived without the help of the Native Americans, and give students an understanding of European political, religious, social, and economic institutions and attitudes that they brought with them to the "new world". These attitudes would ultimately influence the making of a new nation, and determine the treatment of Native Americans in the future.


Common Core Standards for 5th Grade:
Content Strand: United States History and Geography: Making a New Nation
Substrand: 5.3 
Goal for Substrand:
Students describe the cooperation and conflict that existed among the American Indians and between the Indian nations and the new settlers.

5.3.1 Describe the competition among the English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Indian nations for control of North America.

5.3.2 Describe the cooperation that existed between the colonists and Indians during the 1600s and 1700s (e.g., in agriculture, the fur trade, military alliances, treaties, cultural interchanges).

5.3.3 Examine the conflicts before the Revolutionary War (e.g., the Pequot and King Philip’s Wars in New England, the Powhatan Wars in Virginia, the French and Indian War).

5.3.4 Discuss the role of broken treaties and massacres and the factors that led to the Indians’ defeat, including the resistance of Indian nations to encroachments and assimilation (e.g., the story of the Trail of Tears).

5.3.5 Describe the internecine Indian conflicts, including the competing claims for control of lands (e.g., actions of the Iroquois, Huron, Lakota [Sioux]).

5.3.6 Explain the influence and achievements of significant leaders of the time (e.g., John Marshall, Andrew Jackson, Chief Tecumseh, Chief Logan, Chief John Ross, Sequoyah).

Content Strand: United States History and Geography: Making a New Nation
Substrand: 5.4 
Goal for Substrand:
Students understand the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that evolved in the colonial era.

5.4.1 Understand the influence of location and physical setting on the founding of the original 13 colonies, and identify on a map the locations of the colonies and of the American Indian nations already inhabiting these areas.

5.4.2 Identify the major individuals and groups responsible for the founding of the various colonies and the reasons for their founding (e.g., John Smith, Virginia; Roger Williams, Rhode Island; William Penn, Pennsylvania; Lord Baltimore, Maryland; William Bradford, Plymouth; John Winthrop, Massachusetts).

5.4.3 Describe the religious aspects of the earliest colonies (e.g., Puritanism in Massachusetts, Anglicanism in Virginia, Catholicism in Maryland, Quakerism in Pennsylvania).

5.4.4 Identify the significance and leaders of the First Great Awakening, which marked a shift in religious ideas, practices, and allegiances in the colonial period, the growth of religious toleration, and free exercise of religion.

5.4.5 Understand how the British colonial period created the basis for the development of political self-government and a free-market economic system and the differences between the British, Spanish, and French colonial systems.

5.4.6 Describe the introduction of slavery into America, the responses of slave families to their condition, the ongoing struggle between proponents and opponents of slavery, and the gradual institutionalization of slavery in the South.

5.4.7 Explain the early democratic ideas and practices that emerged during the colonial period, including the significance of representative assemblies and town meetings.

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• Age Range: 10 and up 
• Grade Level: 4 and up
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Puffin; Reprint edition (September 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142409324

Keeping these standards in mind this text set will provide anchors to craft my instruction. I will begin with the book Blood On The River by Lisa Carbone.  This historical fiction draws information from various sources and relates them in a way that will keep students on the edge of their seats. It starts with the departure from England and describes the journey by ship ultimately to Jamestown. This book will be used as a read aloud, where students will also follow along in their copy of the book. It will provide an informed basis to highlight the attitudes of Europeans toward Native Americans, as well as provide descriptions of what travel was like in the 1600s (Standards 5.4). The start of each chapter has a quote from primary sources, like a journal kept by someone that was on the journey. Having students write what they think the quote is saying will begin to develop inference abilities in students, as well as introduce them to different types of writing in history. This text will also direct discussion about what direction it seems that government is taking, who gets to have a say in how things are done and what impact this may have in the future colonies structure of laws, as well as financial impact. The notion of self-government and a free-market system will be discussed, as well as a brief introduction to the various kinds of monarchies that existed during the beginning of this voyage (absolute monarchy in France vs. England's Monarchy and parliamentary system).   

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After students are a few chapters into Blood On The River I will introduce the next text in this set. The first ship's manifest that sailed to Jamestown. Students will discuss what people they would want to bring on a journey to a new place. They will then compare who they chose with the ship's manifest. This process will highlight the differences between the gentlemen and the workers that were on the journey. I can introduce the concept of social status driven by customs and money (Standard 5.4.1). As appropriate with the development with the story, the second and third ships' manifests can be introduced to analyse what changes were made in who was chosen to come to the settlement. The shift from gentlemen in the first voyages to the last, when indentured servants and other skilled workers can be discussed as a class. This will serve as the discussion starter to why slavery was introduced to America (Standard 5.4.6). The links to the ships' manifests are below.

Ships' Manifests:

1st Manifest

2nd Manifest

3rd Manifest 

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This Interactive Jamestown Game will provide students the opportunity to think about the kinds of choices that the early settlers had to make. Some choices are where to put resources, like manpower. Do they search for gold or do they plant food? This game will really get students invested in the idea of creating a settlement and discussing its impact on the surrounding environment. They will also be asked to consider relationships with Native American people and how those relationships will be affected by their choices in the game.

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This engraving by John C. McRae circa 1900 of the marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe will give students the chance to first make observations. They could write three things they see that seem important. Then, as a class or in small groups, students could discuss how Native Americans and Europeans are depicted. They could also note how the artist uses light to emphasize approval from a higher power and how religion impacted this depiction. Students will also discuss what impact the creation of this text in the 1900s would have compared to one that might have been made first hand based on the actual events witnessed by the artist. Then students will compare what they saw in this image with another depiction of the wedding (The wedding of Pocahontas with John Rolfe lithograph, Philadelphia : Published by Joseph Hoover, 719 Samson St., c1867.Library of Congress, LC-DIG-pga-03343). A discussion about what parts of the images are most likely realistic, and which ones seem staged will allow students to think about how history is written. Images can be created during the time period (while events are happening), or much later in the case of the John C. McRae image that was created long after the events occurred. .

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The next direction will be to look at John Smith's journals as a Primary source and background information. Students can read some excerpts from John Smith's journals and talk about point of view, and the importance of primary sources in history. This will be helpful in bringing history alive for students. They will see John Smith as a man that lived, instead of as a distant historical figure. When students watch the Disney movie Pocahontas, they can draw information from this book to compare the Disney depiction. The Journals of Captain John Smith: A Jamestown Biography by John Thompson will provide primary sources and an experts guide to interpreting some antiquated language and historical background. 

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This engraving by De Bry will allow students to see how the Native Americans were viewed by the Europeans as competent fishermen. The Native Americans helped the colonists to survive not only by providing food for them at times, but also by teaching them how to fish and survive off the abundant natural resources. At this point, we could also discuss how the types of food that the colonists would have been introduced to would be different from those they might have encountered in England. This engraving shows the outlook that the waters were full of potential food.

De Bry's Engraving

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The following text would be available for free reading time or pair reading time. Students will be entranced by the gritty details of life during this time period. I would like to have a bulletin board where students can add gross details (on a post-it) that they have learned about life at this time. They can also note what technology they are grateful to have now, that would not have existed in the 1600s. This visual display of facts chosen by students will allow them to take control of what they learn and find important. It will also create a classroom community that is immersed in an academic investigation of this time period (1600s). You Wouldn't Want To Sail On The Mayflower! is 40 pages long, but written for students in grades 3-6. The images are interesting and will get students attention, showing the challenges passengers on the mayflower would have faced. One student's favorite picture was the diagram of the ship, with additional maps to place the journey in context (Amazon.com). The Dreadful, Smelly Colonies is written for children 8-10 years old (3rd-4th grade) and has 32 pages. This will be a nice addition for reluctant readers, or students that are not quite at grade level reading. They can feel confident with this book and with such an interesting topic they will have a hard time putting it down. English Language Learners (our bilingual students) will also enjoy these books because they have lots of pictures and will be able to talk to their classmates about academic topics. You Wouldn't Want to Sail With Christopher Columbus! is a 32 pages of gross details about life at sea that would also be a great choice for students that typically are not thrilled about reading time.

by Peter Cook

by Elizabeth Raum

by Fiona MacDonald

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The following website will allow student to take a close look at another engraving that shows the process of negotiating peace.This Interactive image of Negotiating Peace with Native Americans will give students a chance to zoom in on different parts of this image. They can take a close look at the ships in the harbor and note what they see. A rich discussion of the types of clothing that are shown, and the the images that were chosen to be in this image can show what the engraver felt was important.

Original Author: Theodor de Bry; Matthäus Merian, engraver

Created: 1634

Medium: Engraving

Courtesy of the Virginia Historical Society 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The following texts will be distributed to desk groups and they will as a team take notes about The Powhatan. They will make a presentation to the class to share what they learned about this diverse group of Native Americans that the colonists of Jamestown would have had interactions with. Each student will be responsible for taking notes, individually from the presentations and their group work so that they will have an understanding of The Powhatan confederacy of multiple Native American tribes. The Powhatan by Tracey Boraas was written for grades 4 and up. It "Provides an overview of the past and present lives of the Powhatan people tracing their customs, family life, history, culture, and relations with the United States government" (according to Amazon.com ).

The next text that I have chosen is called The Powhatan and Their History is written for grades 3-6 by Tracey Boraas and in 48 pages it highlights leaders in history from the Powhatan confederacy and will give students a snapshow of their culture and history ( Amazon.com ). The third book on this topic is The Powhatan: First Americans by David C. King, it is for ages 7 and up  and has 48 pages. This book is very straight forward and will be accessible for students of varying reading levels. It has a nicly organized glossary and timeline that could be a great tool for projects that studnets may participate in ( Amazon.com ). These three books will provide excellent information about the structures of Powhatan society. Students will gain an understanding about Native American beliefs and social structures. After this process of reading and presenting to the class students will understand what value land had for the Native Americans and see the impact that the settlers would have on their society(Standard 5.3)

The Powhatan:

 A Confederacy of Native American Tribes 

(American Indian Nations)

 Library Binding – January 1, 2003

by Tracey Boraas  (Author)

The Powhatan and Their History 

(Native Nations of North America)

November 15, 2004 by Rebecca Sjonger and Bobbie Kalman

The Powhatan 
(First Americans) 
Library Binding – September 1, 2007
by David C. King

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Students will end this lesson by watching a portion of Disney's Pocahontas. They will watch it critically and draw conclusions about how history is told either authentically or inauthentically and the importance of checking sources. They will note the mistakes that Disney made in Pocahontas's age, her relationship with John Smith, how John Smith is depicted (age and relationship with Gentlemen), as well as how the Native American communities were shown in the movie. Did the movie match what we have learned? Students will take notes and write a short opinion piece about the discrepancies between what we have learned and the movie's representation of historical figures. Based on the text that students have read about the Powhatan confederacy they will also comment on discrepancies. 

Disney's Pocahontas Movie

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A text to consider after finishing this unit and starting to focus on colonial life would be:

George vs. George: The American Revolution As Seen from Both Sides, January 9, 2007 by Rosalyn Schanzer 

This book and concept would make a great bulletin board or graphic organizer to compare the English and the American point of views. The book compares King George of England and George Washington. There are some similarities as well as differences that will really bring these men to life in the classroom. After completing the lessons that I have outlined above students will move forward to begin to investigate how the 13 colonies developed and the tensions between the old and new world.