THE RAID ON DEERFIELD
1704
• AN ARTIST’S
DEPICTION OF SCENE
IN DEERFIELD
2/29/1704
This is a mini-unit plan
composed of three
separate lessons. These
lessons are based largely
on the resources
available to educators at
the Memorial Hall
Museum of Deerfield’s
website at
www.memorialhall.mass.
edu
DEERFIELD RAID UNIT PLAN
THREE
LESSON PLANS
INTRODUCTION
AND
OVERVIEW
RESEARCH IN
SMALL
GROUPS
LARGE GROUP
DISCUSSION
AND DEBATE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Students will understand that history can be interpreted
from more than one perspective by examining the Raid
on Deerfield in 1704 from five different viewpoints.
• Students will recognize the importance of determining
the authorship of both primary and secondary sources,
acknowledging the subjective nature of historical writing.
• Students will focus on the women’s experience in each
of the five groups, pointing out the presence of women in
history.
• Students will sharpen their research skills.
• Students will practice working cooperatively in small
groups.
MOTIVATION AND STRATEGY
By focusing on the Raid of Deerfield from
five different perspectives, students will
form their own opinions about the value of
examining history from more than one
viewpoint. Working in small groups,
students will use primary and secondary
sources to make base their inquiries upon,
and will be actively engaged in learning
and in teaching each other.
LESSON PLAN #1
What happened in Deerfield?
AGENDA:
• Students will view the introductory video available on the Memorial Hall
website (5 minutes). Students will consider the statement presented on the
following slide, and will be asked to put this idea in their own words (orally).
• Teacher will present pertinent background information, placing the event on
a classroom timeline, and within a context of other events going on at the
same time in other parts of the world. Students will take notes.
• Teacher will identify each of the five major participants in this event in
relation to the night of February 29, 1704: English, French, Kanienkehaka
(Mohawk), Wendat (Huron), and Wobanaki.
• Students will be split into five groups (predetermined by the teacher), and
will be assigned one of these five major groups.
• In response to a guide provided by teacher (attached), small groups will use
the Memorial Hall website to begin exploring their assigned perspective.
Each group will have one person who records the ideas learned. This is the
first stage of a research project that will conclude on the following day with a
trip to the library.
Who Own’s History
•
The end to be sought is not to get
something ‘absolutely right,’ but to
make it come alive in all of its
uncertainties. The more we can
multiply perspectives from many
different kinds of people, the
better able we are to ask useful
and specific questions out of
which can come the fullest sense
of both what did happen in the
past and how we might
understand and judge it. It is our
task, as students and teachers,
writers and citizens, to bring
everyone and everything out of
the mist so that we might hear
their voices, follow their actions,
and respect each person, past
and present, as a maker, as well
as a subject, of history.
Barry O’Connell
Prof. of American Literature and
American Studies
Amherst College
Amherst, MA
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES
• INTERNET ACCESS/ MEMORIAL HALL
WEBSITE/LAPTOPS (FIVE)
• POWERPOINT PROJECTOR
• TIMELINE (noted in Lesson Plan #4)
• CLASSROOM WALL MAP
• 5 RESEARCH JOURNALS
• ARTS AND CRAFT SUPPLY CHEST
(contents noted in Lesson Plan #4)
LESSON PLAN #2
Who Owns History?
• Teacher (or a student) will read aloud Barry O’Connell’s
essay, “Who Owns History?” (Introduced in Lesson #1).
• Through a brief class discussion, students will consider
how this idea relates to the research they are
conducting, and to our interpretation of the Raid on
Deerfield.
• Students will continue, and conclude, their research with
a trip to the school library. Here students will be
responsible for reconvening in their small groups,
finishing their guided response worksheets, and finding
any additional resources that the library might offer on
their topic.
LESSON PLAN #3
What Really Happened in
Deerfield?
• Students will begin class by gathering in their groups.
They will have five minutes to review the information
they have compiled from the previous two days.
• The teacher will address questions to each group
regarding their unique perspective on the Raid on
Deerfield.
• Representatives for each group will answer the
questions, in turn. Each member of the group should
have at least one turn to represent their group.
EXTENSION
Students will have one week to submit a two page written
response to the following question:
Why were the English colonists attacked at Deerfield
Massachusetts on February 29, 1704?
They will be expected to support their conclusions with
evidence derived from both their own group research,
and from research presented to them in class. Students
will be required to use the Memorial Hall Website and
one additional source they found in the library.
ASSESSMENT
FORMAL ASSESSMENT:
Students will be assessed formally
based on their Group Research
Journals, and on their two page
essays.
Although good writing skills will be
important, students will be
primarily evaluated according to
their use of the evidence they
have been researching in writing a
clear and persuasive response.
Students will be given a rubric
outlining these specific
expectations for writing an essay
at the beginning of the semester,
and will be able to use this
guideline over and over again.
Sample rubrics are included in
Lesson Plan #4.
INFORMAL ASSESSMENT:
Students will be assessed informally
in a number of ways:
*On their willingness to participate in
large group discussion.
*On their ability to work productively
within a small group setting.
*On their use of both class and library
time.
MASSACHUSETTS
CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK
CONNECTIONS
It is very difficult to work Colonial American History
into the Mass. Curriculum Frameworks for
grades 9-12. In direct correspondence to the
frameworks, the most obvious place to use this
unit would be in World History 1:
The Origins of European Western Expansion
WHI.12 Explain why European Nations sent
explorers westward, and how overseas
expansion led to the growth of commerce and
development of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
A MORE PRACTICAL
CONNECTION:
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•
•
•
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Since the Raid on Deerfield of 1704 is seemingly invisible in the Massachusetts
Curriculum Frameworks (the study of US History I begins with the Revolutionary
War), a more practical and useful connection for this unit presents itself in the
Concepts and Skills section (grades 8-12). In this light, the unit is very, very relevant
in teaching the following general skills:
Interpret and construct timelines that show how events and eras in various parts of
the world relate to one another.
Explain how a cause and effect relationship is different from a sequence or
correlation of events.
Show connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and
ideas and larger social, economic and political trends and developments.
Interpret the past within its own historical context rather than in terms of present day
norms and values.
Distinguish intended from unintended consequences.
Distinguish historical fact from opinion (this is my personal favorite, because historical
fact is opinion-this will be discovered profoundly through this unit plan!)
GUIDED READING WORKSHEET
STUDENTS WILL USE THE FOLLOWING GUIDE TO COMPLETE THEIR GROUP RESEARCH JOURNALS:
*What is the history of your subject in 1704?
*Where do they live?
*Describe some basic elements of their culture:
-foodways
-clothing
-community
-family structure and family life
-origins and religion
-gender stratification
-economic stratification
-customs
-warfare
-structure of society/government
*Why did they participate in the Deerfield Raid of 1704?
*What do the artifacts say about these people (at least one example)?
*What primary sources can you find regarding your group’s experience?
*What secondary sources can you find regarding your group’s experience, and what do they say? How do they
develop their opinion?
*How would someone from your group explain the reason for the Deerfield Raid?
*How would they explain the events of this historic action?
*How would they interpret the results?
*How might a woman’s experience within your group have differed from that of the men? How might a woman’s
experience have been similar or the same?