· This lesson should be used as the final lesson of a Unit on Colonial, Pre-revolutionary War Life.  This lesson will be a summary activity in which students bring together their thoughts on Colonial life.  This lesson would provide closure for the Literature Circles Unit that integrates Social Studies with the historical fiction genre of Literature.

Focus & Review: Students will have completed Literature Circle Units. They will each have read a specific Historical Fiction book(s) based on the time period surrounding the Revolutionary War (1700s).  Students should be asked to focus on what they have learned about Colonial life, during this time period, from reading their Literature Circle book(s).  To focus on and review the main themes from their books, students will be asked to complete the K (what they already know about Colonial life after reading their literature circle books) and W (what they want to learn from further researching the time period) portions of a KWL chart on Colonial Life in the 1700s.  The students should share with the class what they record under the W part of their KWL charts (the teacher should record these additional questions somewhere that is visible to the entire class).  <this portion of the lesson should last about 15 minutes>

Statement of  Objectives: This activity helps to meet Language Arts and Social Studies Objectives of the Fifth Grade NCSCS. Students also gain practice in utilizing media, developing their computer skills. The SCS objectives being targeted by this lesson are as follows:
Language Arts: 3.06- Conduct research (with assistance) from a variety of sources for assigned or self-selected projects (e.g. print and non-print texts, artifacts, people, libraries, databases, computer networks).

Social Studies: 1.1- Identify, locate, and describe major groups of people, past and present, in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
11.1- Identify and describe changes which have occurred in ways of living in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
Skill I- The learner will acquire information from a variety of sources.

Teacher Input: The teacher will have two stations set up for students to participate in, to further research information on 1700s Colonial Lifestyles.  The teacher should break students into two groups (as close to equal as possible). The teacher should bring up additional important components of Colonial life, (that were not mentioned by students), to research at the stations. (What types of jobs Colonial people held?, How Colonials got along with one another?, What children did during this time period?, The types of food and clothing of the time?, What types of transportation  people used during this time?, and similarities and differences between the lifestyles of the 1700s and present day)  One station should be set up as a “video viewing station”, allowing students to visualize and hear about Colonial life.  Examples and descriptions of the types of videos to share with students at this station are listed below. The second station should be set up as a “web-site station” where students are each allowed to navigate a web-site which explores various characteristics of 1700s Colonial lifestyles (students should take turns navigating the web-site as their classmates observe). A couple of examples and descriptions of web-sites to use at this station are listed below.  The teacher should move between these two stations, ensuring that students remain on task and to facilitate their understanding and exploration of the two research stations.  An assistant teacher or parent volunteer would be helpful in assisting with one of the stations, while the teacher manned the other.
<the teacher instructions should last about 5 minutes, but his/her interaction with students should last throughout the lesson>

Guided Practice: The students will travel with their groups to the two stations to “research” Colonial Lifestyles of the 1700s.  Each student should be asked to focus on the ideas brought up as the class discussed the W portions of their KWL charts.  Students should be made aware of the assignment they will be asked to complete after researching Colonial life at the two stations.  This assignment will be for each student to complete the L part of their KWL charts (what they have learned since further researching Colonial Life).  They should do this in the form of a poster, drawing, or other creative way of their choice.  Students will view the videos and navigate the computer web-site at the two research stations in the classroom.
<students should be at each station for approximately 20 minutes>

Independent Practice: Each student will individually complete the L part of their KWL charts, to show what they learned about Colonial life in the 1700s, after viewing the video and exploring the web-site.  Students will have access to various supplies throughout the classroom to complete this part of their KWL charts (poster board, glue, markers, paper, scissors, etc.)
<this portion of the lesson should last about 15 minutes>

Closure:  Each student should be given the opportunity to share their “creative L s” (the L portions of their KWL charts).  The teacher should then summarize what the students have found through further researching the topic of Colonial Life in the 1700s. The teacher should address any additional questions students have on the topic at this time. The class KWL charts should then be posted somewhere in the room where they can be referred, to during relevant future Social Studies activities.

Assessment:  The teacher should informally assess students as they participate in the two station activities, to ensure that they are comprehending their findings on Colonial Life.  The teacher should also evaluate students’ “L representations” of what they have learned about this topic.  The teacher should ask students questions as they research, such as:  What types of things have you found to explain the lifestyle of Colonials of this time? their clothing? the foods they ate? how they got from one place to another? what types of jobs they had? how they worked with one another to survive? How does the Colonial lifestyle of people living in the colonies during the 1700s differ from the way we live today?
 
 

Resources:

Literature Circle Books:

*(On grade level- fifth grade)  Night Journeys by Avi
*(Below grade level- fourth grade)  The Journal of William Thomas Emerson by Barry
 Denenberg
*(Below grade level- third grade) 1.  Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope
 Osborne  2.   A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde R. Bulla
*(Below grade level- second grade) 1.   Buttons For General Washington by Peter and
 Connie Roop,  2.  The Boston Coffee Party by Doreen Rappaport,
3. The 18 Penny Goose by Sally Walker, 4.  Sam The Minute Man by Nathaniel
Benchley, 5.  George The Drummer Boy by Nathaniel Benchley

Videos for Station 1:

· “Jamestown”- a young boy walks through time with a “resident” of the early
colony of Jamestown. The video introduces the boy to the ways of life for early settlers of this colony. This video focuses mainly on very early settlement, before the 1700s, but can be used to touch on facts about life once the colony was more established.

· “St. Augustine”- a young girl travels through the historic city of St. Augustine, Florida. She is introduced to the ways of life of both the Spanish people who settled there in the 1740s and the French people who lived in the city during that time. This video gives a good representation of a slightly different way of life during the Revolutionary War time.

· “Children of the Colonial Frontier”- this video is narrated by a young girl, whose
family (the O’Conners) have recently moved to a family farm from a colony of other families. This video does a good job of expressing the struggles of the lifestyle a Colonial family would have had. This video is older and not as visually stimulating as the others, but provides worthwhile information for students.

Websites for Station 2:

· http://library.thinkquest.org/J002611F/introduction.htm-  interactive web-site allowing, created by students to help other students learn about life during Colonial times. This site includes information on topics such as: fashion, transportation, homes, Indian neighbors, etc. of the Colonial families of the 1700s.

· http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/academics/LS/4/sstudies/Colonial/4K/4k98/4kdch.htm- web-site created by a fourth grader whose class collected information on various colonies of early Colonial America and represented important people, events,  etc. on stamps. This particular site shows the stamp representation of the colony of Pennsylvania (the setting of the on grade level lit. circle book).