Lesson Idea – Native American and European Settlers Make Contact

Standard Alignment:

This lesson addresses the following seventh grade Mississippi Social Studies Framework competency and objectives:

7C.6 Differentiate major aspects of the development of the United States from Exploration to 1754.

4. Examine the diversity that emerged with the establishment of colonial America.
5. Describe the relationships between the various Native American and colonial groups.

Objectives:

• Students will compare the relationships that French, Dutch, Spanish, and English colonizers had with Native Americans.
• Students will identify the author, context, and purpose of The Generall Historie of Virginia, by John Smith.
• Students will analyze the excerpts from chapters 4 and 9 to determine meaning and intent.
• Students will corroborate the information from the primary sources with the Bill of Rights Institute’s video “The Colonization of America” as well as excerpts from the textbook America: History of our Nation (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007).

Grade Level(s): 7-8

Content and Primary Source Background:

Students will have learned about major explorers during the Age of Exploration, including tracing their routes to the New World and identifying the areas they explored. Students will also have described the Columbian Exchange and the Triangular Trade routes, giving examples of the items involved in that trade and its intersection with the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Students will have learned to distinguish between primary and secondary resources, comparing points of information in various sources for corroboration.

Main Instructional Strategies: K-W-L, Circle of Viewpoints

Lesson Introduction (teacher and student procedures):

Day 1:

• Begin by having students complete the Know and Wonder columns of a K-W-L chart on the topic of “Native American and European Settler Relationships.” Review this with students, especially focusing on the connections learned in the study of the Columbian Exchange and the Age of Exploration. Tell students that we’ll be digging deeper into how colonists from different countries interacted with different Native American people groups.
• Students will view the Bill of Rights Institute’s video “The Colonization of America” and complete the Colonization of America fill-in-the-blank worksheet (see below), familiarizing themselves with the four European colonizing powers and their attributes. Check answers with the class.
• Using the timeline “Exploring the Americas” (page 58 of the textbook America: History of our Nation) and maps of exploration routes and destinations (pages 54, 67, and 91), students will work collaboratively to create maps of European territories and settlements in North and Central America.
  • Distribute a copy of the blank map below for each student.
  • Have students use four colored pencils or markers to create a color code, using one color for each European power (English, Spanish, Dutch, and French).
  • From page 54’s map, shade the areas in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, modern-day Canada, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi River valley in the color designated for France, identifying Louisiana (area west of MS River).
  • Use this map from the National Park Service to locate the New Netherland colony and New Amsterdam, shading this area in the color for Holland and identifying New Amsterdam.
  • From page 67’s map, shade the area of English settlement along the Atlantic coast in the color for Britain, identifying Roanoke, Plymouth, and Jamestown.
  • From page 91’s map, shade the areas of the southwest, Florida, and Central America in the color for Spain, identifying St. Augustine, San Francisco, etc.
• Independent Work/Homework: Students read the article “Overview of Native American and Colonial Relations,” on Newsela.com, annotating the article and complete the Reading Comprehension Quiz. (Due Day 2)

Main Lesson Learning Activity or Activities:

Day 2

• Students (possibly in mixed-ability groups) will add to the Learned column of the K-W-L begun the previous day, drawing on the map activity, “The Colonization of America” worksheet, and “Overview of Native American and Colonial Relations” article.
• On butcher paper, the teacher will use student input (with students referring to the article) to begin a four-circle Venn diagram to compare and contrast each European power’s relationship with Native Americans. As a class, come to a conclusion as to what to put in the center of these overlapping circles – what do they all have in common?
• Divide students into four groups. Have each group read a textbook section to do with one European power’s exploration and colonization, collecting information about the relationship with different Native American groups (noting the names of these groups). One student from each group adds this to the four-circle Venn diagram.
• I’d like to find a drawing/painting of a meeting between Europeans and Native Americans for each group and have an act-it-out activity accompany this, but I haven’t found good images for this yet. In lieu of that, I would have each group report to the class on their findings and prepare a tableau scene illustrating the overall relationship between their country’s settlers and Native Americans.
• As a class, we would add to the four-circle Venn diagram to find the overlapping areas between European powers.
• Independent Work/Homework: Jamestown, Part 1 on Brainpop.com (Students will learn about the geographic and social factors surrounding the relationship between Europeans and Native Americans at one settlement: Jamestown. (Due Day 3)

Lesson Conclusion:

Day 3

• Students will read this excerpt (pages 152-154) from The Generall Historie of Virginia, by John Smith. After reading Smith’s account of arriving in Virginia, dealing with the Powhatan, and establishing the industry of the colony, have students generate the names of people and groups with different viewpoints on these events. Using those viewpoints, students would explore the thoughts and feelings of different people and groups surrounding the arrival of Smith at Jamestown.
• Students will add to the Learned column of the K-W-L begun on Day 1, drawing on the BrainPop activity and the reading.

Assessment:

• Formative: Colonization of America worksheet
• Formative: “Overview of Native American and Colonial Relations” annotation and reading comprehension quiz
• Formative: As an anchor chart, the teacher will use student input to create a four-circle Venn diagram to compare and contrast each European power’s relationship with Native Americans.
• Formative: Jamestown Part 1 exercises on Brainpop.com
• Summative: Have students write a narrative in the viewpoint of one person or group from the Circle of Viewpoints activity, quoting and analyzing 1-2 passages from the reading.

Primary Sources Pedagogy:

• Identify who created the primary source, when, and for what purpose
• Examine primary sources closely to form conjectures about their meaning and intent
• Corroborate information using additional primary and/or secondary sources to form and test hypotheses