Name:  Jennifer Davis           Date:  11/20/01                   Age/Grade:  10/11, Fifth

    Subject:  Social Studies      # Students:  25                    # IEP Students:  3

    Major Content: Colonial Culture                                        Title: Colonial Homes

Objectives:

After reading an excerpt from …If You Lived in Colonial Times and illustrating a layout of an imaginary   colonial home

• The student will be able to accurately describe the home of a colonist
• The student will be able to compare and contrast the differences and similarities in the homes of Americans today and the homes of the American colonist

Kentucky Learner Goal #1, Academic Expectation 1.13 apply to this lesson because the fifth grade students will have the opportunity to communicate their ideas on colonial homes by creating an aerial view of a colonial home and explaining their illustration to the class.  Core Content for Reading Assessment RD-M-x.0.1, RD-M-x.0.3, and RD-M-x.0.10 apply to this lesson because the students will be able to identify the author is writing to inform about colonial homes and will be asked to listen for words that are unfamiliar to them to be discussed in class.  According to the Program of Study at the conclusion of this lesson the student will be able to apply basic listening and speaking skills to respond to an authentic task.

Kentucky Learner Goal #2, Academic Expectation 2.20 apply to this lesson because the fifth grade students will understand and analyze colonial life to develop their historic perspective in social studies.  Core Content for Social Studies Assessment SS-E-5.2.3 and   SS-E-5.2.4 are addressed because the students will learn to categorize American history into historical periods while studying the differences in homes of the colonial Americans and Americans today.  According to the Program of Study at the conclusion of this lesson the student will have developed his or her historical perspective of colonial life by examining the culture of the colonial Americans.

The National Council for Social Studies Curriculum Standards is addressed in this lesson through the thematic strand of individual development and identity.  At the conclusion of this lesson on the homes of colonial people the student will be able to describe the way the institution of family contributes to a person’s identity and how the culture of the New World effected the colonial individuals’ daily life.

Real Life Application:

Children need to understand the differences in lifestyles of the colonial Americans and Americans today because understanding the development of America helps children appreciate the country they live in today.  By evaluating the colonists’ home life  the student has the opportunity to look at the role technology has played on American society.

Context:

The children have been engaged in a month long study of exploration and have most recently focused on culture in the first American colonies.  To begin the classroom discussion on culture they first looked at the homes of the colonist and the homes and modern conveniences used today.  To better understand the home life they will simulate a home by standing inside a taped version of the home and then later illustrating a colonial home.

Throughout the study of colonization, the classroom atmosphere has been enhanced by classroom centers and bulletin boards to aid in the learning process.  A KWL chart was displayed on a bulletin board at the beginning of the study of colonial life.  When students find answers to questions or find new information they want to share with the entire class the child may add an ear of corn with the new information to the ‘learned category’ of the KWL chart.  Corn was an important part of colonial life and to help students understand how often corn is used in our daily life different products will be displayed in the science center for individual investigation.  The children will be asked to figure out if the product has some form of corn in it e.g. corn meal, paint, and non-corn products too.  In the writing center, prompts of colonial children writing in daily journals and sending letters back to Europe will be used to enhance writing skills.  In the class library, books about exploration and colonization will be displayed in a trunk or suitcase so children have easy access to books pertaining to the unit.  All art projects pertaining to colonization will be displayed on bulletin boards and around the classroom.

Modifications made:

•  All students will be paired together allowing different learning abilities to mentor to each other
• IEP students will be given a grid with some of the requirements already placed on the grid so they may have an example of how to fill in the grid blocks.

•  If you lived in Colonial Times by Ann McGovern
•  Overhead
•  Transparency Paper
•  Overhead markers
•  22 copies of grid paper
•  3 copies of partially filled in grid paper
•  25 copies of ‘Colonial Floor Plan’ handout
•  Masking tape
•  Book box (small trunk)
• Quill pen
• Lincoln Logs
• Wooden Pegs
• Straw

Initiation –

• Welcome students to class
• Explain focus of lesson is to understand the difference between colonial homes and the homes of today.
• Tell students we will simulate what it felt like to live inside a colonial home
• Tell students that we will sketch a layout of their own colonial home

•  Show book trunk (book box) and explain to students that all the things in the trunk relate to an excerpt from a book we are about to read.
• Show all items and encourage students to make predictions about how the items relate to the book
• Read pages 42 – 47 in …If You Lived in Colonial Days
• Ask basic knowledge questions about the text:
•     Do we still have a ‘keeping room’?
•     What would be our closest thing to the ‘keeping room’ today
•     What is the closest thing to a ‘settle’ we have today?
• Guide students in describing different homes people live in today while writing answers on the overhead
•     Apartment
•     Duplexes
•     Hotels
•     Suites
•     Small Homes
•     Large Homes
• Ask children to simulate the tight quarters of colonial homes by asking for volunteers to step inside the masking taped ‘home.’
• Ask thought questions…
•     Why were homes small?
•     How were the homes furnished?
•     Why did they have little furniture?
•     How did the environment impact what materials were used to build their homes?
• Next, ask students what conveniences we have today that they did not have then?
•     Microwave
•     Television
•     VCR
•     DVD
•     Play Station
•     Oven
•     Toilet
•     Sink
•     Refrigerator
•     Lamps/light bulbs
•     Etc.

• Explain to students how to complete the floor plan from an aerial view.
• Explain the guidelines of the completing the layout:
•     Each adult must have one seat
•     Must have something on which to eat
•     Must have at least one chest and two barrels
•     Must have a sleeping place for everyone
•     Items should be used for more than one purpose when possible
• Explain how to draw on grid paper and how to use circles and rectangles to represent the furniture, but that they must be drawn to scale
• Begin a floor plan on the overhead so the children can see an aerial view, how to make it to scale, and how to create the furniture
• The children work on colonial floor plan

• Have students present floor plan to the class
• Mount floor plans on construction paper and display in the hall
• Ask questions:
•     Why do you think that we looked at the colonial people’s homes?
•     How do their homes compare to our homes?

The tool used to complete the objective is the floor plan of a colonial home.

The criterion for assessment is the checklist attached.

Bibliography:

McGovern, A. (1964). … If you lived in colonial times. New York: Scholastic

Rybak, B. (1994). Life as a colonist. Torrance, CA: Frank Schaffer Publications, Inc.
 

                                           Day #2: Churning Butter

    Name:  Jennifer Davis      Date: 11/20/01     Age/Grade: 10/11, Fifth

    Subject:  Social Studies  # Students: 25      # IEP Students: 3

    Major Content: Colonial Culture                      Title: Hard working colonial children

Objectives:

After reading an excerpt from …If You Lived in Colonial Times  and churning butter
 

• The student will be able to explain how the life of a colonial child is different from their life today
• The student will be able to write a letter explaining why they are thankful they do not have to make their own butter today

Kentucky Learner Goal #1, Academic Expectation 1.11 applies to this lesson because the fifth grade students will write a transactive piece to communicate their ideas to a specific audience.  Core Content for Writing Assessment WR-M- 1.4 is addressed because the students are learning to present their ideas for an authentic audience for a specific purpose.  According to the Program of Study at the conclusion of this lesson the student will be able to write a transactive piece of writing.

Kentucky Learner Goal #2, Academic Expectation 2.20 applies to this lesson because the fifth grade students will understand and analyze colonial life to develop their historic perspective in social studies.  Core Content for Social Studies Assessment SS-E 5.1.2, SS-E-5.2.3, and SS-E-5.2.4 are addressed because the students are learning to categorize American history into historical periods while studying the differences in lifestyles of the colonial Americans and Americans today as they gain a greater knowledge of the primary artifacts used during the colonial times.  According to the Program of Study at the conclusion of this lesson the student will have developed his or her historical perspective of colonial life by examining the culture of the colonial Americans.

This lesson on butter churning relates to the thematic strand of culture from the National Council of Social Studies Curriculum Standards.  The experience of churning butter in class gave the fifth grade students the opportunity to compare the way colonial children lived in comparison with the way they live today.

Real Life Application:

The children need to understand the struggles and conflicts that arose during the colonist’s first years in the New World because they set the standard for America today.  To better understand the way the nation has developed into a technologically advanced society students need to have an understanding of the hard labor the colonist faced when they arrived in the New World.  To help the children understand how important and difficult the labor of a colonial child was the class will be guided in a discussion about the labor they do today.
 

Context:

The students have been studying colonization and yesterday looked at colonial homes and how they differed from the homes of today.  Today the focus switches to the study of the hard labor the colonists endured during their first few years in America.  The children will make butter to enhance their understanding of how much work was required of children their age during the colonial days.

The classroom atmosphere has been enhanced for the study of colonization through classroom centers and bulletin boards to aid in the learning process.  A KWL chart was displayed on a bulletin board at the beginning of the study of colonial life.  When students find answers to questions or find new information they want to share with the class the child may add an ear of corn with the new information to the ‘learned’ column of the KWL chart.  Corn was an important part of colonial life and to help students understand how often corn is used in our daily life today different products will be displayed in the science center for individual investigation.  In the writing center, prompts of colonial children writing in daily journals and sending letters to Europe will be used to enhance writing skills.  In the class library, books about exploration and colonization will be displayed in a trunk or suitcase so children have easy access to books about the unit.  All art projects pertaining to colonization will be displayed on bulletin boards and around the classroom.

Modifications made:
 

• All students will be paired together allowing different learning abilities to mentor to each other
• IEP students will be given a checklist to aid in the success of writing the letter
• Gifted and Talented Students will be given the opportunity to email their letter to the butter company so that a real life application can be made.

• If you lived in Colonial Times by Ann McGovern
• Baby Food Jars
• Napkins
• Access to a Refrigerator
• 32oz. Carton of heavy whipping cream
• Bread
• Overhead
• Formal business letter transparency
• Checklist for formal letter transparency
• 3 copies of the checklist for a formal letter
• Poster with butter rhyme
• Tape of ‘shake’ music
• Tape player
• Article from Life as a Colonist about butter churning

 Initiation –
 

• Welcome students to class
• Explain focus of lesson is to understand the difference between colonist children their age and themselves
• Tell students we will make butter
• Tell students we will write a letter to a butter company describing our experience with butter

• Ask questions about what their daily life is like…
•     Do you do chores at home?
•     How important are those chores to your family life?
•     Do you have classroom assignments?
•     How important are those assignments to how our class runs?
• Read pages 48 – 51 from …if you lived in Colonial Times by Ann McGovern
• Ask basic knowledge questions about text…
•     What did the book say about…?
•     How do we make butter today?
•     What do we eat with/on butter today?
•     What is a butter churn, what does a butter churn look like?
• Explain that now we are going to make our own butter
• Pass out baby food jars, one per two students (cream already in jar with lid on tightly)
• Teach butter churning song
• Demonstrate butter churning song with one or two children
• Children begin to shake jar, play ‘shake’ music
• While students shake ask questions …
•     How does it feel to shake jar for so long?
•     How long do you think it took the children to churn back then?
•     Imagine a large bucket full of milk…
•     Where did they get the milk to go in the bucket?
•     Did they have refrigeration for their butter?
• Read article about how children churned butter
• Children have the opportunity to taste the butter on a slice of bread.
• Next, they can taste real butter
• Ask questions…
•     Does the butter taste the same?
•     How do we make butter today?
•     Do you think that butter is made of only cream, or do we put in additives?
• Explain that we are going to write a formal letter to Land O’ Lakes Inc. with our experiences with making butter
• Review parts of a formal letter and display on overhead
• Review formal language for a formal letter
• Verbally give examples and non examples of formal letter language
• Take suggestions about what can go in letter

• Children begin to write letter to Land O’ Lakes
• Put checklist on overhead to help children remember what needs to go in the letter

• Review how churning butter was important to the daily life of the colonist
• Ask children questions…
•     Would you like to have to churn butter everyday for your whole family?
•     How would your life be different if you had to help out with such big chores?
•     Why is important for us to know how they churned butter?

The tool used to complete the objective is a letter to Land O’ Lakes butter company.

The criterion for assessment is the checklist attached.

Bibliography:

 McGovern, A. (1964). … If you lived in colonial times. New York: Scholastic

Rybak, B. (1994). Life as a colonist. Torrance, CA: Frank Schaffer Publications, Inc.
 

                                                Day #3: Colonial Jobs

        Name: Jennifer Davis          Date: 11/20/01                             Age/Grade: 10/11, Fifth

        Subject: Social Studies        # Students: 25                             # IEP Students:  3

        Major Content: Colonial Culture                                                 Title:  Colonial Jobs

Objectives:

After reading an excerpt from … If You Lived in Colonial Times and completing a handout on colonial jobs
 

• The student will be able to create a newspaper advertisement, encouraging colonist to become involved in his or her assigned profession.
• The student will be able to identify characteristics of at least one colonial profession.

Kentucky Learner Goal #1, Academic Expectation 1.11 apply to this lesson because the children will be able to use basic communication skills to communicate different ideas to an audience for a specific purpose.  Core Content for Writing Assessment WR-E-1.4 is covered in this lesson because the children have the opportunity to write an advertisement engaging an identified audience and explaining their purpose with well-organized ideas.  According to the Program of Study at the conclusion of this lesson the student will be able to apply characteristics of effective writing in his or her own work and recognize them in other’s work.

Kentucky Learner Goal #2, Academic Expectation 2.18 apply to this lesson because the students develop an understanding of economic principles.  Core Content for Social Studies Assessment SS-E-3.4.1 and SS-E-3.4.3 apply because the role of occupations in colonial society and how producers create specialized goods and services will be examined by the stduents.  According to the Program of Study at the conclusion of the lesson the student will be able to recognize the impact of economic factors on colonial America.

The thematic strand of production, distribution, and consumption addresses the National Standard for Social Studies Curriculum Standards in this lesson.  The performance expectation covered in the lesson is how the role of specialization in goods and services is important to the economic system.

Real Life Application:

It is important for the students to study colonial occupations and how they specialized their career because those occupations lay the framework for the careers still found in society today.

Context:

The students have had the opportunity to study the homes of the colonist and the labor that occurred in the colonies.  Not long after the colonist arrived did people begin to emerge that had greater skill in one specific colonial area and soon specialized professions were found throughout the colonies.  This lesson will help the students develop an understanding of the colonial professions and how they enhanced the colonies.

Throughout the study of colonization, the classroom atmosphere has been enhanced by classroom centers and bulletin boards to aid in the learning process.  A KWL chart was displayed on a bulletin board at the beginning of the study of colonial life.  When students find answers to questions or find new information they want to share with the entire class the child may add an ear of corn with the new information to the ‘learned category’ of the KWL chart.  Corn was an important part of colonial life and to help students understand how often corn is used in our daily life different products will be displayed in the science center for individual investigation.  The children will be asked to figure out if the product has some form of corn in it e.g. corn meal, paint, and non-corn products too.  In the writing center, prompts of colonial children writing in daily journals and sending letters back to Europe will be used to enhance writing skills.  In the class library, books about exploration and colonization will be displayed in a trunk or suitcase so children have easy access to books pertaining to the unit.  All art projects pertaining to colonization will be displayed on bulletin boards and around the classroom.

Modifications made:
 

• All students will be paired together allowing different learning abilities to mentor to each other
• IEP students will complete the advertisement on a modified scoring guide

•  …If You Lived in Colonial Times by Ann Mc Govern
•  Overhead
• Transparency
• Transparency Paper
• Overhead Markers
• 25 copies of ‘Colonial Jobs’ handout
• slips of paper with profession name on it
• 25 pieces of 12x18 butcher paper
• Transparency of sample advertisement

 Initiation-

• Welcome students to class
• Remind students the previous lesson covered hard labor in the colonies.
• Explain focus of lesson is to understand the colonial jobs that emerged during the colonial days.
• Explain that the lesson will also focus on the need for specialized goods and services

• Read pages 67-77 in …If You Lived in Colonial Times
• Ask students to list some of the jobs that emerged in the colonial villages and write them on the overhead as they answer.
• Next, have children draw a profession from a hat
• Reread the text while children listen for information about their profession.
• Have children take notes while reading aloud
• Next, explain that products are goods that people want and need; have children list some products that the colonists would have needed or wanted.
• Now, explain that services are helpful activities provided by one person or business to another; have children list some services that the colonists would have needed.
• Now write a S for service or a P for product with the guidance of the class beside the professions that were previously listed on the overhead.

• Now pass out ‘Colonial Jobs’ handout and have children work together to complete the sheet.  Do one example with the children.
• Go over answers with the children

• Give each child a 12x18 piece of butcher paper and ask each child to create an advertisement for the good or service their profession provides as homework.
• Remind children that additional resources may be used and identify their social studies book, the Internet, and other examples.
• Remind students of previous lesson on propaganda and briefly describe how it is used in advertisements.
• Place a sample advertisement on the overhead to aid students in creation.

• Ask children…
•     Why is it important to have a specialized good or service?
•     Do we have these professions in our society today?

The tool used to complete the objective is the advertisement.

The criterion for assessment is the scoring guide attached.

Bibliography:

 American History – Lesson 15 – The Thirteen Colonies. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2001 from http://www.cstone.net/~bcp/3/3Dhistory.htm

 McGovern, A. (1964). … If you lived in colonial times. New York: Scholastic

                                           SCORING GUIDE

Excellent – 4

Advertisement is focused on a specialized good or service.
Advertisement uses one form of propaganda to increase interest in the good or service.
All written information is accurate, logical, and well supported.
All written information uses proper grammar and correct spelling.
A neat, well-colored illustration is included that adds to the text.
Extra effort is shown

Great – 3

Advertisement is on one good or service, but lacks focus
Advertisement attempts to use propaganda
Written information is somewhat accurate, logical, and well supported.
Most written information uses proper grammar and correct spelling.
Illustration included with some color attempting to add to the text
Some effort shown

Okay – 2

Advertisement is not focused on one good or service
No propaganda is attempted
No written information is included
No illustration included
Little or no effort shown

                                                                                                        NAME ___________________

                                                     COLONIAL JOBS
Directions:
Please write your name on your paper.  Write the letter of the description of the job next to the job name.  Also circle a S for service or a P for product to identify whether the job provides a service or a product.

S P BAKER                  ____  a. stonecutter

S P BUTCHER             ____  b. ground wheat into flour

S P MASON               ____  c. fabric maker

S  P ROPER                ____  d. made hats

S P SADDLER            ____  e. made iron tools/utensils

S P TAILOR               ____  f. made buckets and barrels

S P BLACKSMITH      ____  g. prepared and sold meat

S P WEAVER              ____  h. rope maker

S P COOPER               ____  i. saddle maker

S P MILLER                ____  j. maker of finer clothing

S P HATTER               ____  k. bread maker

Application:
On the back of the handout write three services you have used in the last week and three products you have used in the last week.

                           MODIFIED SCORING GUIDE

Excellent – 4

Advertisement is focused on a specialized good or service.
Most written information is accurate, logical, and well supported.
Most written information uses proper grammar and correct spelling.
A neat, well-colored illustration is included that adds to the text.
Extra effort is shown

Great – 3

Advertisement is on one good or service, but lacks focus
Written information is somewhat accurate, logical, and well supported.
Some written information uses proper grammar and correct spelling.
Illustration included with some color.
Some effort shown

Okay – 2

Advertisement is not focused on one good or service
No written information included
No illustration included
Little or no effort shown

                                      Day# 4: Bartering in the Colonies

        Name: Jennifer Davis              Date: 11/20/01            Age/Grade: 10/11, Fifth

        Subject: Social Studies           # Students: 25            # IEP Students: 3

        Major Content: Colonial Culture                                    Title: Bartering in the Colonies

Objectives:

After reading Three Young Pilgrims and discussing the system of bartering
 

• The students will be able to write a letter from the point of view of a colonist describing for a friend 'back home in England’ how trading is handled in the colonies.

Kentucky Learner Goal #2, Academic Expectation 2.18 apply to this lesson because the students will begin to understand the basic principles of economic decisions.  Core Content for Social Studies Assessment SS-E-3.3.2 is included in this lesson because the students will learn about bartering and the role it played in the economic system.  According to the Program of Study at the conclusion of this lesson the student will have examined some of the basic components of the economic system and will have traced the changes that have occurred over time in the economic system.

The National Council for Social Studies Curriculum Standards are addressed in this lesson through the thematic strand of production, distribution, and consumption.  By looking at the role that bartering took in the colonies the students will have the opportunity to differentiate among various forms of exchange and money.

Real Life Application:

Students need to understand that bartering influenced the money used in America today.  The purpose of money and role it plays in society will be explained during the lesson.

Context:

The last lesson in the unit covered the occupations of the colonial people and the importance of having a specialized good or service.  The students also looked at the difference between a good and a service.  Now they will look at how bartering influenced the colonial economy.

The classroom atmosphere has been enhanced for the study of colonization through classroom centers and bulletin boards to aid in the learning process.  A KWL chart was displayed on a bulletin board at the beginning of the study of colonial life.  When students find answers to questions or find new information they want to share with the class the child may add an ear of corn with the new information to the ‘learned’ column of the KWL chart.  Corn was an important part of colonial life and to help students understand how often corn is used in our daily life today different products will be displayed in the science center for individual investigation.  In the writing center, prompts of colonial children writing in daily journals and sending letters to Europe will be used to enhance writing skills.  In the class library, books about exploration and colonization will be displayed in a trunk or suitcase so children have easy access to books about the unit.  All art projects pertaining to colonization will be displayed on bulletin boards and around the classroom.

Modifications made:

• IEP students will be given a layout of a letter
• IEP/ESL students will be given the checklist at his or her desk

Marker Board
Dry Erase Markers
Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness
Four copies of the checklist for the IEP/ESL students
Three copies of the layout of a letter for IEP students
Class dictionaries
Parchment paper

Procedures:

 Initiation-

• Welcome students to class
• Remind students that the previous lesson covered specialized goods and services and the different occupations found in the colonial days
• Tell students that today we are going to talk about a system called bartering
• Tell students that at the end of the lesson they will write a letter to a friend ‘back in England’ informing them on how trade is handled in the New World.

• Ask questions:
•     Did the colonist use money?
•     What did they use in place of money?
• Read the book Three Young Pilgrims
• Ask students to listen for information in the book about economy
• Ask students:
•     How would a colonial family meet their need for products and services?
•     How did the family in Three Young Pilgrims meet their needs of products and services?
• Explain that the colonists depended on each other to meet their needs.
• Give example: A family may grow some of its own food and make some of its own clothing, but other needs would have to be met by trading goods and services with other people.
• Ask students to come up with a scenario and take volunteers to present their example to the class.
• Write the word barter on the board.
• Ask what the word means, have children look the definition up in the dictionary.
• Give scenario: Betsy’s father, Caleb Smith, is a doctor and he needs to buy an axe to cut trees down for lumber to build a barn.  Mr. Miller has an axe.  He is willing to trade and his son; John has been sick and needs the care of a doctor.  Mr. Miller trades his axe for Dr. Smith’s services.
• Write definition on the board:
•     Bartering is the exchange of goods and services
• Now ask students to get in pairs to write a scenario of bartering that would have taken place in the colonial days

• Once students have a grasp of bartering, have them write a friendly letter ‘home to England’ about the way they buy things in the New World.
• Review parts of a letter and hand out parchment paper for the student’s final draft

• Ask students what we barter with today?
• Ask students why they think we developed a currency system?
• Encourage students to research the answer and report their findings to the class
• Tell students they can create a word wheel that would organize the information they have learned about bartering

The tool used to complete the objective is a letter

The criterion for assessment is the attached checklist.

Bibliography:

 Colonial Currency. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2001 from http://www.nashville-schools.davidson.k12.tn.us/CurriculumAwards.htm

Harness, C. (1995). Three young pilgrims. New York: Bradbury Press.
 
                                            Letter Checklist

 Do you have a salutation?    Y N

Do you have two to three well-developed paragraphs?       Y N

Did you use common language in your
letter?        Y N

Did you explain the system of bartering? Y N

Did you write about your daily life in
the colonies?       Y N

Did you write to the appropriate audience? Y N
Did you close the letter?    Y N

Did you sign your letter in cursive?  Y N
Do you have any grammar or spelling
errors?        Y N
 

                                                Day#5: Indian Corn

        Name: Jennifer Davis          Date: 11/20/01              Age/Grade: 10/11, Fifth

        Subject: Social Studies       # Students: 25               # IEP Students: 3

        Major Content: Colonial Culture                                 Title: Indian Corn

Objectives:

After reading the book Giving thanks: The 1621 harvest feast and listening to the story ‘The Five Kernels of Corn’
 

• The students will be able to create a collage of foods that the colonists/Indians and people today eat at    Thanksgiving.
• The students will understand why a variety of food should be included in the diet.
• The students will develop an understanding of the role the Indians played in the colonist’s lives.

Kentucky Learner Goal #1, Academic Expectation 1.13 apply to this lesson because the student will have the opportunity to communicate ideas with the visual arts through the creation of a collage of foods that the colonists and Indian’s ate and we eat today during Thanksgiving.  Core Content for Reading Assessment RD-M-x.0.9 is covered in this lesson because after listening to the story Giving thanks: The 1621 harvest feast the class will make a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the lives of the Indians and the lives of the colonists.  Encouraging students to reevaluate the text gives them the opportunity to reflect and evaluate the literature.  According to the Program of Study at the conclusion of the lesson the student will be able to create a work of art using the various elements of art and the principles of design while recognizing that artists express themselves in a variety of ways.  Students will also use a variety of media to successfully complete this project.

Kentucky Learner Goal #2, Academic Expectation 2.16 apply to this lesson because the student will analyze and interpret the social groups of the Indians and the Colonists and expand their knowledge on how they formed relationships among each other.  Core Content for Social Studies Assessment SS-E-2.1.1 and SS-E-2.1.2 are covered in this lesson because the students will learn how the Indians and colonists shared many foods that help to define their relationship; however, they will also learn that the elements of culture are what make each group’s perspective unique.  According to the Program of Study at the conclusion of this lesson the student will be able to understand how diverse groups have influenced culture in the United States.

The National Council for the Social Studies Curriculum Standards are addressed under the thematic strand of culture.  The performance expectation covered is that the students can compare the similarities and differences in the ways culture meets human needs and concerns.

Real Life Application:

The students need to know about the foundation of cultural diversity from the beginning of America’s founding.  The diversity that is in the classroom will be pointed out to the students so they can better understand how cultural diversity effects them every day.

Context:

The unit of study has been culture in the colonies.  Over the last few days, the lessons have covered labor in the colonies to how the colonists learned to barter.  Bartering leads into this lesson about the role of the Indians because the students will look at how the relationship among the Indians and the colonists occurred through an exchange of corn.

Throughout the study of colonization, the classroom atmosphere has been enhanced by classroom centers and bulletin boards to aid in the learning process.  A KWL chart was displayed on a bulletin board at the beginning of the study of colonial life.  When students find answers to questions or find new information they want to share with the entire class the child may add an ear of corn with the new information to the ‘learned category’ of the KWL chart.  Corn was an important part of colonial life and to help students understand how often corn is used in our daily life different products will be displayed in the science center for individual investigation.  The children will be asked to figure out if the product has some form of corn in it e.g. corn meal, paint, and non-corn products too.  In the writing center, prompts of colonial children writing in daily journals and sending letters back to Europe will be used to enhance writing skills.  In the class library, books about exploration and colonization will be displayed in a trunk or suitcase so children have easy access to books pertaining to the unit.  All art projects pertaining to colonization will be displayed on bulletin boards and around the classroom.

Modifications made:
 

• Students will be paired in multi-ability groups so all levels will learn from each other
• IEP children will be given note cards with a list of food that the student can look for in a magazine or draw for the collage
• IEP and ESL students will be given cards with the food already on it to place in the Venn diagram, they will need to figure out which circle the cards fits under

• Corn kernels for the whole class
• Giving thanks: The 1621 harvest feast by Kate Waters
• Two hula hoops
• Masking tape
• Index cards
• 25 copies of the food pyramid
• Poster board in the shape of an ear of corn
• Raffia ribbon
• Various magazines and other media to use on collage
• A bulletin board

 Initiation-
 

• Welcome students to class
• Remind students that the lessons have been over labor, occupations, and bartering
• Tell students that today they will hear a story that will lead into new information about the Indians.
• Tell students they are going to have the opportunity to be creative and make a collage at the end of the lesson.

• Give each child five kernels of corn and explain that is all they have to eat for dinner
• Ask questions:
•     What do you normally eat for dinner?
•     Would five kernels be enough food for you to eat all day?
• Do you think that the Pilgrims were very healthy if all they ate were five kernels of corn?
• Tell the story of  “The Legend of the Five Kernels of Corn” (attached)
• Explain that the Pilgrims did not have food the first winter and many died.  Explain that the Indians knew about corn and taught the Pilgrims how to plant and cook it.  Also, that the Indians would barter with the Pilgrims for items like rifles and cannons for food.
• Next, read book Giving thanks: The 1621 harvest feast and discuss how the first Thanksgiving was among the Indians and the Pilgrims.
• Now ask questions pertaining to the text:
•     What food did they both eat?
•     Is that food we eat today at Thanksgiving?
•     Ask if the Pilgrims were healthier the first winter or the second winter?
•     Ask why? … the Indians helped them become self-sufficient
• Put two hula hoops on the board and hand out note cards have the class complete a Venn diagram comparing the foods the colonists and Indians ate to the foods that people eat today at Thanksgiving
• Handout a food pyramid
• Ask students what foods the colonists and the Indians ate?
• Ask what kinds of foods are on the food pyramid?
• Did the colonists eat all the foods from the food pyramid?
• Have students get in groups of four and draw for making a collage of the foods the colonists and Indians ate or for making a collage of the foods that people eat today for Thanksgiving

• Hand out poster board in the shape of an ear of corn for students to cover with magazine, hand drawn and any other media they want to use.
• Ask students why the poster board is in the shape of an ear of corn?
•     …because corn was the food that brought the Indians and the colonists together and it is the food that both people today and the people of the past eat/ate
• Remind the students that they need to create a collage that shows foods from all the food groups that the groups eat from today.
• Remind students to refer to the Venn Diagram if they get stuck remembering what foods were/are served at Thanksgiving meal

• Ask for volunteers to finish sentences that begin “Today I learned…”
• Give feedback on what the students say and correct any misunderstandings
• Hand out raffia ribbon to use as the husk of the corn
• Have the group members hang their corn on the cob on a bulletin board titled “Thanksgiving: Then and Now”

The tool used to complete the objective is the collage of the foods eaten during Thanksgiving.

The criterion for assessment is a small group discussion checklist attached.

Bibliography:

 Indian Corn. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2001 from http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/Tlresources/longterm/LessonPlans/

Waters, K. (2001). Giving thanks: The 1621 harvest feast. New York: Scholastic Trade.

                                           SMALL GROUP CHECKLIST

ALWAYS  10
USUALLY    5
SELDOM    3

FINISH THE SENTENCE:

_____________________ IN MY SMALL GROUP …

VOLUNTARILY SHARED IDEAS OR INFORMATION  ____

CONTRIBUTED HIS OR HER OWN PERSONAL IDEAS ____

SHOWED WILLIGNESS TO WORK HARD    ____

RESPECTED AND LISTENED TO THE IDEAS OF OTHERS ____

PUT FORTH HIS OR HER BEST EFFORT     ____
 

_____________________ IN MY SMALL GROUP …

VOLUNTARILY SHARED IDEAS OR INFORMATION  ____

CONTRIBUTED HIS OR HER OWN PERSONAL IDEAS ____

SHOWED WILLIGNESS TO WORK HARD    ____

RESPECTED AND LISTENED TO THE IDEAS OF OTHERS ____

PUT FORTH HIS OR HER BEST EFFORT     ____
 

                                     “THE LEGEND OF THE FIVE KERENLS OF CORN”

 (Told from the point of view of a Pilgrim, dress in long dress and bonnet to look more like a Pilgrim)

 “The first winter in our new home was very cold.  With only a thatched roof over our heads and one fire

to heat our entire home, the cold air sat in the air and pierced our bodies.  I huddled by the fire with my

family.  The baby used to cry, but he was now too cold to even let out a noise.  Food was in short supply.

Papa had never done farming in England and few other men in our colony new how either, so we tried the

best we could – all of us, but we were not very successful.  There was only enough food for each of us to

have five kernels a day.  That was not very much to keep our strength up.  Finally spring came and so did

the sun, which made us all feel better.  Papa and the other men became friends with the Indians.  They

were dark skinned men who lived out in the forests.  We were told to never go near them with out Mama

or Papa because they still weren’t sure about them.  They helped us plant more corn and this time it

grew.  The Indians taught Papa and the other men how to hunt better.  Fewer people died that year; in

fact our bellies were full most of the time.  People started to laugh and play games when their work was

done.  Papa told me ‘maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad place after all.’  That winter we asked the Indians to

come eat with us since they had taught us how to hunt and harvest so we did not go hungry.  We called

the time ‘Thanksgiving.’  From then on Papa would put five kernels on our plates when we ate to remind us

of what it was like to starve.  He said the kernels stood for:
 
The first reminds us of the autumn beauty around us.
 
The second reminds us of our love for each other.
 
The third reminds us of God’s love for us.
 
The fourth reminds us of our friends. (the Indians)
 
The fifth reminds us that we are a free people.

It was hard, but I am glad to be free in the New World.”