Grade Level:
4-5
Subjects: Career Education, Social Studies, Language, Computer Literacy
Learner
Outcomes:
The student will:
1. be able to list common
colonial occupations.
2. recognize and name
goods and services related to various colonial occupations.
3. define terms and phrases
associated with colonial tradesmen.
4. examine research materials
and Internet sites pertaining tocraftsmanship
during
colonial times.
5. choose a colonial occupation
and pretend to be that tradesman.
6. write a scene in which
they will role-play either a business transaction of
that
tradesman or demonstrate how he makes his product.
7. present their scenarios
to the class.
Time Frame: three 45-minute class periods
Materials: reference materials, digital camera
Technology Tools/Courseware: Internet, World Book 2000 or a World Book Online subscription CD-ROM, Microsoft Word, digital camera
Teacher
Notes:
Many communities have
people who can demonstrate skills in craftsmanship such as quilting, spinning,
candle making, blacksmithing, and basket making. The teacher could canvas
the community and faculty to get a list of these sources and contact them
about visiting the class. This would have to be scheduled and planned
well in advance of the lesson.
Only students who have
signed the acceptable use policy will be allowed to search the Internet.
Others will use CD-ROM encyclopedias and other reference materials.
Procedures:
1. To introduce this lesson,
ask the class if anyone knows what a cooper, a smith, a baxter,
and a bannister do for a living. Explain that these do sound
like surnames (last names of people they know) but they were originally
occupations. Ask them to pretend that they live in a period of history
when there were no factories or places where products were mass produced.
If someone wanted to buy a barrel, he would go to a cooper. If a
young man needed a piece of jewelry for his sweetheart, he would go to
a silversmith. Bread was baked by a baxter. If a new basket
was needed to gather eggs or carry necessities, the bannister probably
made it. In this discussion, have the class think of some things
that we need that might have been individually made
during the colonial period.
2. Distribute a list of
terms and phrases that pertain to goods, services, and
occupations of the colonists. Allow students to work in groups of
2 or 3. Groups
should reflect multiple
intelligences. Tell them to use the school library's online catalog,
if one is available, the Internet, reference books, magazines, CD-ROM encyclopedias,
and any source of information to find out as much as possible about this
aspect of colonial life.
3. Provide a list of
Internet sites to search. Students will need practice and
assistance in typing the URL's correctly, since 4th-graders have not had
enough experience to be accurate URL typists.
4. After students have
discovered the nature of these jobs, ask them to think about which one
they would like to have been. Tell them that they are to pretend
to be that tradesman. Using the information they found in their research,
they are to write a one page scene depicting their chosen tradesman making
a business transaction or teaching his trade to a younger family member
or apprentice. In order to expose the class to a broad range of occupations,
be sure to intervene if too many students want the same occupation.
5. Allow time for students
to write these scenes either by using a word processing
program on the computer or writing them by hand, and choose classmates
to participate. Obviously, each student will
need to have a "customer" or relative or apprentice. They will also
need time to rehearse.
6. Set dates for their
presentations.
7. The culmination of
this study is the role-play day. Each tradesman should give a brief
introduction prior to his performance. Students will then present
the colonial occupation they have researched.
Modifications:
Enrichment
Activities:
Some
students may wish to experiment with a video camera prior to the presentations.
Some or all of the scenes can be videotaped and played for other classes,
parents, or "posterity."
Evaluation/Assessment:
IGO'S AND OTHER STANDARDS:
Language Arts Reading
4.32, 4.46
Writing 4.50
Language 4.79, 4.78, 4.92, 4.81
Computer Technology 4.95, 4.98
Social Studies
Geography 4.26
History 4.31
West Virginia Instructional and Objectives
References:
Colonial Crafts
by Bobbie Kalman
Story Starters on Colonial
and Revolutionary America, A Creative Writing Program by Steve and
Jean Henrich
Colonial America Cooperative
Learning Activities by Mary Strohl and Susan Schneck
Cobblestone,
The History Magazine for Young People, Colonial Craftsmen,
June 1990, The People of Williamsburg, February 1990
The
History Channel
Early
America
History
Buff
Colonial
Lexington
Welcome
to Colonial Williamsburg
United
States--History--1600-1775
Colonial
Period
K12
Resources
Created
By:
Deborah
Thomas
Deborah
Lamp
Blennerhassett Elementary
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