MODULE 08 COLONIAL LIFE AND CULTURE SOCIAL STUDIES

Content Standards and Objectives

Learning Targets

SS.4.13

Demonstrate an understanding of the various factors that influenced the founding of the original colonies (e.g., economic, political, cultural, etc.).

• Analyze the southern, middle and northern colonies (e.g., origins, early government, resources, religious and cultural diversity, etc.).

• Compare and contrast community life, family roles and social classes in colonial America (e.g., indentured servants, slaves, colonists, etc.).

Compare and contrast backgrounds, motivations and occupational skills among English, French and Spanish settlers (e.g., economics, culture, trade, new agricultural products, etc.).

Examine the stories, languages, ways of life, religion, cooking, and music of different colonial groups

Compare and contrast stories, languages, ways of life, religion, cooking, and music of different colonial groups

Introduction: Provide guidance to the teacher as to how this information might be introduced to students.

Students will listen to an audio excerpt from Rip Van Winkle by American author Washington Irving. In the legend, Irving creates the character Rip Van Winkle whose wife wouldn’t stop pestering him.  He falls asleep before the Revolutionary War and wakes after Independence from England   (The text readability is late middle school, but the listening comprehension will be appropriate for fourth grade.)

Set the purposes for listening to the excerpt.  Students will be listening for the content of the message and to evaluate the message. Prior to the formal listening, prep students by giving them the story line—“Irving creates the character Rip Van Winkle whose wife wouldn’t stop pestering him.  He falls asleep before the Revolutionary War and wakes after Independence from England.”

Introduce the Collaborative Listening Guide to students by discussing the document and the directions for listening to the excerpt from Rip Van Winkle.  Students will take notes individually;  pair with a partner to compare notes; and then discuss student notes.

The excerpt is found at:   http://www.archive.org/details/Rip_VW 
One must go the section entitled, “No Longer a Subject of George III.”  Click on the link and listen. 

NOTE:  It is important to run a test in advance to make sure your computer has the correct software to play the audio file.

Guide discussion of whole group after partners have collaborated making sure to ellicit responses about the following: 

How did the world change while Van Winkle was asleep?

What major colonial events transpired that changed the course of “America”?

Manage the Process:

Introduction:  Complete the introductory activity described above with the Rip Van Winkle  story found at Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/details/Rip_VW .  Be sure to guide instruction and prepare students for activities that follow discussing different cultures present during the colonial period of the New World.

Stage1  
Identify nine students to perform the Readers’ Theater play,  Colonial Cultures Clash, which can be located at http://parks.sandi.net/Pages/Williamsburg/Site%202/Teacher_files/Colonial%20Cultures%20Clash.pdf  

The characters in the readers’ theater include a Colonist, a Native American and seven narrators. Select students to participate in the readers’ theater who are willing to practice their parts and “perform” for the whole class.  An additional student might serve as the director of the production.

Encourage students in the production to come up with a costume and props as they reenact their parts, especially if there are plans to share with other grade level classrooms and/or parents.

While viewing the readers’ theater, students who are in the audience are to complete a Colonial Cultures Clash Listening T-Chart .

Follow theater and completion of t-chart with discussion of what students saw and heard about the culture of the two groups represented and the clashes that arose as a result of their different cultures. 

Stage 2  
The focus of this module now shifts to examining culture through stories and sayings.

Divide students into partner or triad groups.  Give each partner/triad group a story or sayings from different colonial cultures.  Included in this module are three Native American stories and three stories/pieces of literature that colonists could have read. Links to these resources are included in the Electronic Resources section of the module.

Have students create a retelling of their particular piece using “Storybird,” a collaborative story telling website found at:  http://storybird.com/  On this website they will need to gather images from the site (or you can give them images to use)  to create a product.  Additionally, they add their own text to retell their particular piece of literature. 

Following creation of their “Storybird” retelling, each group will share their storybook with the class.  Have students pay close attention to each story.  Discuss at length the similairities and differences between each story and from which culture each story is taken. 

Have each student create a Venn diagram, depicting similarities and differences between two given stories and cultures depicted by those stories.

Stage 3   
Present PowerPoint entitled:  Early American Music found among the attachments.  Discuss material when talking about the slides.  Elicit student responses and guide discussions.  If possible, locate and play examples of the types of music and instruments.  Some students with a strong interest in music might enjoy doing this research and sharing with the class.

At the conclusion of the presentation, summarize using a summary ball activity.  A summary ball is merely a beachball or other harmless ball that can be tossed about the classroom with relative safety. After the teacher has presented a sufficient amount of information, or after students have read a chapter in their text, this activity can be used as a review.  Students stand around the classroom and the teacher tosses the ball to the first student, who must catch the ball and in 5 seconds state any idea, fact or concept from the lessons.  He/she then tosses the ball to another student who has not yet spoken.  The second student must add something that has not been mentioned. If a student can’t add anything from the lesson, he/she still tosses the ball, but must sit down.  Play continues until only one student is left standing. A variation of the activity would be to have the students keep standing until they add information.  (One could modify rules to keep all engaged in game.  Keep points instead of sit down.)

Acquisition of Background Knowledge

Enter each resource separately

Suggestion for Utilization of Resource Cited

Add additional rows by clicking the Tab Key while the curser is in the last box.

Internet Archive  http://www.archive.org/details/Rip_VW
“No Longer a Subject of George III”

This is used during the introduction of the module.  It is an audio of Rip Van Winkle.  Refer to only the section entitled, “No Longer a Subject of George III” for listening because the complete audio is quite lengthy.   If you do not have an audio player installed on your computer it is necessary to download one.

Readers Theater Script: “Cultures Clash” 
http://parks.sandi.net/Pages/Williamsburg/Site%202/Teacher_files/Colonial%20Cultures%20Clash.pdf

Cultures Clash Readers’ Theater Script

Mr. Donn
http://nativeamericans.mrdonn.org/stories/wiseowl.html 
“Wise Owl”—PowerPoint format—an Iroquois story

A PowerPoint link to “Wise Owl”, an Iroquois story

Mr. Donn
http://presentations.pppst.com/invisiblewarrior.ppt 
“The Invisible Warrior”—PowerPoint format—an Ojibwa story

A PowerPoint link to “The Invisible Warrior”, an Ojibwa story

Mr. Donn
http://nativeamericans.mrdonn.org/stories/mythcherokee.html
 “Ye ho waah”  a Cherokee story

A Cherokee story

The Cinder Maid(a Cinderella story)

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/maid.html

This is a version of a story brought to the colonies from Europe.

Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm178.html
“Read and be Wise”

A history of the hornbook used during colonial times for some colonial children—Many times the “Lord’s Prayer” was on the hornbook

The Lord’s Prayer
http://www.lords-prayer-words.com/king_james_version_kjv.html
“The Lord’s Prayer

Many different versions of the Lord’s Prayer are offered including traditional forms of various denominations that immigrated to the New World.  I have included this passage because it was learned by almost all colonial children and was found on their hornbooks. 

http://storybird.com/

A collaborative storytelling site that is free—just sign up

Expansion of Knowledge

Enter each resource separately

Suggestion for Utilization of Resource Cited

Add additional rows by clicking the Tab Key while the curser is in the last box.

Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government for Kids
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/yankee.html
“Songs and Oaths”

This site gives the lyrics and history about the song, “Yankee Doodle”.  This is a great time period extension.

Products, Investigations, and/or Assessments

Venn diagram reflecting similarites and differences
product assessment
Readers’ Theater performance assessment