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Lesson 9: A Research Project: A Discussion of
the Recreating and Populating of a Colonial Village
1 class period (85 minutes)
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| Key Content Ideas Taught in this Lesson and
Teacher Background |
Colonial communities were united in their beliefs
and practices. The meeting house was the focal point of the community,
serving as a house of worship and the center of town governance.
A school was established. Gender roles were clearly defined. As
time passed, the threat of danger from the Native Peoples receded,
and the town grew and prospered. Tradesmen became an integral part
of the reestablished community.
Teacher Backgroun Essay: The
English Settlers in Deerfield
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| Intended Learning Outcomes |
Understandings
Students will understand:
- the political, social, religious, and economic world and national
context in which the events of Deerfield occurred.
- that there were increasingly in this period competing political
agendas, and competition for land, power, and wealth in Deerfield.
- that in Massachusetts there was no division of church and state
as we understand it, and this condition influenced every aspect
of daily life.
- that land ownership conferred power because it was a determinant
of wealth, and a prerequisite for political participation.
- that it is valuable to study the lives, actions, ideas, political
experiences, and judgments of people in the past.
- how historians approach their work, using both artifacts and
documents.
- that both primary source materials and interpretive materials
of all types are rich sources of historical evidence.
Skills
Students will be able to:
- use a variety of primary source materials, to analyze these
sources, and to make logical inferences and supported conclusions.
- make reference to previously presented material.
- utilize technology to research information and present projects.
- compare and contrast events in Deerfield with world and national
events.
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| In Preparation for Teaching |
Read the Teacher Background Essay: The
English Settlers in Deerfield
Further Background Reading:
McGowan, Susan and Miller, Amelia. Family
and Landscape: Deerfield Homelots from 1671. Deerfield, Massachusetts:
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, 1996.
Hawke, David Freeman. Everyday Life in Early
America. New York: Harper And Row, 1989.
Deetz, James. In Small Things Forgotten.
New York: Doubleday, 1996.
Dublin Seminar. New England Meeting House
and Church: 1630-1850. Boston: Boston University, 1979.
Dublin Seminar. Puritan Gravestone Art.
Boston: Boston University, 1976.
Forbes, Harriette. Gravestones of Early New
England and the Men Who Made Them - 1653-1800. Boston: Houghton,
1927.
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Primary and Secondary Sources:
1. A list of occupations
in Deerfield during the colonial period.
2. From Memorial Hall Website: "People
and Places" entries for family names.
3. Singer of History:
Lucy Terry Prince by David Proper.
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| Activities |
Materials in Context |
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Activity 1
1. The teacher will give a brief overview
of the proposed project to be completed as a culmination
of the unit. There will be a presentation by the class.
Students will be asked to:
a. adopt a character (male, female,
or child)
b. develop the persona based on family position, social
status, and economic conditions.
c. give the person a name (taken from the Deerfield families
in Sheldon: Williams, Hoit, Stebbins, Hawkes, Wells, Allen)
d. make an appearance with costume or prop.
e. participate in a situation or event that would reflect
the times.
One person will act as the narrator,
setting the stage for the presentation.
In this way, the town of Deerfield will be reconstituted
in a format similar to "Our Town."
A list of colonial occupations will be
given from which the students will select one for their
colonial person. Information about this occupation should
become an integral part of the presentation of their character.
Artifacts and documents from the web site should be referenced
in the dialogue. This work will be the homework during the
last 4 lessons of the unit, which will relate to this exercise.
2. As a class, invite the students to generate a rubric
to be used in assessment.
3. The teacher will provide a list of
colonial occupations that will become the work of the person
to be developed.
4. Invite students to brainstorm about
how they think one can best develop a persona and then portray
the life of that colonial person. (Remember they are not
we and we are not they!)
5. Ask the students to access the Memorial
Hall Website, completing a search of the Digital Collection
for specific individuals during the 1680-1720 period. They
should also visit all sections of the "Turns of the
Centuries" exhibit on the same time period.
6. Invite student to do a preliminary
selection of the family in which to place their character
based on a preliminary search of the website. Search "People
and Places" 1680-1790.
7. Invite students to begin to "sketch"
out the composite person and the situation that they will
develop, developing a short summary for the teacher. Begin
the research.
(carpenter, minister, physician, hatter, weaver, wheelwright,
tools, trade) using a collection of printed materials and
the website.
Assignment:
Commence work on the Colonial person. As background to the
virtual field trip, read Singer of History: Lucy Terry
Prince by David Proper
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occupations
in Deerfield
"The Turns of the Centuries Exhibit"
"People
and Places"
Singer of
History: Lucy Terry Prince
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