Donna Bernens-Kinkead
Grade 5
University Elementary School
Spring, 2010
Introductory Lesson for a three-week literature unit
Focusing In on a Topic: (skill) How do historians think?
5.1.18 Read fiction and non-fiction stories about conflicts among and between groups of
people at different stages in the formation of the United States; give examples of how
these conflicts were resolved and analyze the accuracy of the stories’ historical details
and sequences of events (Individuals, Society and Culture)
 Students will read a variety of literature, fiction and non-fiction to address this
standard. Ensuing discussions and observation of archaeological digs will
support/negate what is read.
5.1.21 Formulate historical questions from primary sources and identify and describe the
contribution of important early American artists and writers and traditional arts and crafts
to the new nation’s cultural landscape. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
 Students will view an archaeologist evaluating discoveries and using primary
sources to make inferences about what has occurred.
5.1.6
Identify and discuss instances of both cooperation and conflict between Native
American Indians and European settlers, such as agriculture, trade, cultural exchanges
and military alliances, as well as later broken treaties, massacres and conflicts over
control of the land. (Individual, Society and Culture)
 Evidence of conflict and support among settlers and natives will be addressed in
literature, film and use of primary sources
Objectives:



Students will evaluate what they read in a literature book in light of primary
source evidence.
Students will revise their ideas of what they read just as historians revise ideas,
based upon new evidence discovered.
Students will understand that historians revise ideas as new evidence becomes
known.
Time: First lesson 45 minutes – literature groups will meet over a three-week period reading
and discussing the stories. During the last meeting the class will then regroup and return to a
discussion of the historical evidence during and after completion of books.
Hook:
Scientific America’s Dead Men’s Tales –Investigators look at excavations at Jamestown
Students will watch this 18 minute clip of how one man began excavations at Jamestown, and
what he found. Focuses on discovery of remains of wounded white settler found buried and
evaluating who/what was discovered about his death during the first season of excavations. The
clip suggests that some of the ideas historians once believed about Jamestown have been
changed by new discoveries. One important idea is that using forensics historians have changed
their ideas about what really happened.
Focus in on the Essential Questions:
1. How can we use archaeology, written and drawn primary sources and secondary sources
to recreate a moment in history?
2. How do historians and writers use their imaginations to fill in the missing parts?
3. How can we evaluate what we read about history?
Donna Bernens-Kinkead
Grade 5
University Elementary School
Spring, 2010
Engage Student Interest (Lesson for Day #1)
After watching the archaeological clip:
 Students in groups of 4-5 will formulate ideas about what they expect to read/be included
in the books chosen/assigned suggested by archaeological finds in the movie
 Students will write their big ideas on sentence strips and post them on bulletin board.
 As the reading progresses, students and teacher will return to the sentence strips to see
what has proved true or what has not been mentioned.
 Students and teachers will evaluate some primary archaeological sources as books
progress and end.
Over a three week period:
1. Students will post page numbers and quotes from the books they are reading to support
or refute the big ideas on sentence strips.
2. At the end of the book the class will revisit bulletin board and ideas.
3. We will evaluate primary sources in archaeology to see what the authors used or did
not seem to know about. (view the National Geographic DVD)
4. We will discuss the essential questions in whole class meetings and individual stories in
small group meetings.
5. Following completion of books, students will evaluate author’s knowledge and use of
primary source material for what was read. Students will answer the essential questions
restated for their writing responses (Attachment #1)
Resources and Materials:
Video Clip accessible from Internet:
Scientific America’s Dead Men’s Tales (18 minutes 45 sec)
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1203/video/watchonline.htm
Package of sentence strips or large post-it notes for writing ideas
Copies for the class – divided into leveled and choice reading groups
*Bruchac, Joseph. Pocahontas. Scholastic, 2003 (Lexile 970)
*Carbone, Elisa. Blood on the River. Scholastic, 2006. (Lexile 820)
*Hermes, Patricia. Our Strange New Land (Lexile 350)
Karwoski, Gail. Surviving Jamestown (Lexile 820)
Lang, Karen. 1607: A New Look at Jamestown. National Geographic Children's Books, 2007.
(No Lexile Found)
Sakurai, Gail. The Jamestown Colony. Children’s Press, nd (Lexile 890)
* Currently have class sets of 6-12 books each; others single or less than three copies
Extension Activity
Watch, discuss, and apply new understandings to the books we read by evaluating how they fit
with more recent excavations information discovered:
National Geographic (DVD) Nightmare in Jamestown, 2006.
Donna Bernens-Kinkead
Grade 5
University Elementary School
Spring, 2010
Reviews of Children’s Literature:
Bruchac, Joseph. Pocahontas
“This vivid, detailed historical novel chronicles the relationship between Virginia colonists and the
Powhatans as seen through the perspectives of Captain John Smith and 11-year-old Pocahontas,
daughter of the Powhatan chief. As in Sacajawea (2002), Bruchac successfully uses alternating
chapters in which different characters--in this case, Pocahontas and Smith--describe the same
situations. This technique enables readers to see the distinctly divergent worldviews. Smith's
perspectives are prefaced with excerpts from the captain's own writings or from other sources of
the period. Heading Pocahontas' accounts are stories told in the tradition of the Powhatans'
Algonquin-rooted culture. In an afterword, Bruchac explains what eventually became of his
narrators. The author goes to great lengths to present a historically accurate depiction (which
may account for the nonfiction cataloging, 975.5), and he succeeds admirably, exposing the
many myths and misconceptions made popular by Disney and others. Glossaries of terms used
in the novel, source notes, and a bibliography are appended.” -Booklist
Carbone, Elisa. Blood on the River: Jamestown 1607
"Good use is made of eyewitness accounts in a telling that far transcends the usual dry textbook
summaries of the period. While learning much history, readers will find characters real enough to
care about. Lively historical fiction at its best." ~ Kirkus, STARRED review
Hermes, Patricia. Our Strange New Land, Scholastic, 2002 Grade 3-5 Resembling the "Dear
America" books (Scholastic), these titles are aimed at a slightly younger audience. In the first
book, nine-year-old Elizabeth records her experiences as she, her family, and other colonists
adjust to the harsh weather conditions, illness, endless hard work, and nascent social strata in the
new land. In the course of three months, Elizabeth meets Captain John Smith, Pocahontas,
Gabriel Archer, and George Percy. This is a quick, easy read. Hermes has created a sensitive
main character and readers will empathize with her fears and emotions as she adjusts to her new
life.
Karwoski, Gail. Surviving Jamestown. Peachtree Publications, 2001. Gr 5-7-Sam Collier, 12,
thinks he "is the luckiest boy in all of England!" He is about to sail onboard the Susan Constant
for the New World and will be Captain John Smith's page and apprentice for the next few years.
The new colony in Virginia is a struggle to maintain-the colonists are unprepared for the hard
physical labor, the unfriendly natives, the lack of food, and the harsh climate. Disease rapidly
diminishes the population. Smith is a strong leader, but many of the colonists do not trust him. He
is not a "highborn Englishman," and he was never cleared of an earlier charge of mutiny. When
he is named to the ruling council, there is outrage, and the tone is set for the remainder of the
book. The story takes place between 1606, when the ship sets sail, and 1609, when Smith
returns to England. It is told primarily in the third person with occasional intrusions of Sam's
thoughts as he questions a situation in which he has been placed or a decision Smith has made.
This technique adds depth to the portrayal of the page's character, enhancing the fact-filled text.
The story flows well and is a good fictional introduction to Jamestown. Casale's full-page pencil
drawings nicely supplement the text. Maps aid in locating travel routes and Virginia sites
mentioned, and an "Author's Note" helps to separate fact from fiction.
Lang, Karen. 1607-A New Look At Jamestown.
Just in time for the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement, this well-illustrated volume
presents information based on recent archaeology at the site of the original fort. Lange clearly
describes conditions in early Jamestown and tells how the recent excavations and other research
have shifted historians' perceptions of the colony. She also discusses the Indians who lived in the
area before the English settlement began and shows how their views of the settlers changed over
the years. The excellent color photos feature interpreters dressed as colonists and Indians in
reconstructions of their communities as well as artifacts found at the site of the fort. In conclusion,
Lange tackles some controversy, noting "the story of Jamestown is not a comforting one: Indians
Donna Bernens-Kinkead
Grade 5
University Elementary School
Spring, 2010
see nothing to celebrate in the 400th year commemoration." Jamestown has long been
overshadowed by Plymouth in America's mythology, but this forthright narrative is a very good
place to start learning its significant story. A chronology, source notes, and lists of books and
Web sites are appended. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Sakurai, Gail. The Jamestown Colony
An account of the first permanent English settlement in North America, with all its tragedies and
disasters, established in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia.