William J.

McKay 1

Hardships in Jamestown

Introduction

• Hardships faced by the Jamestown settlers

• Length of lesson: 30-40

• SOL VS.3 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the first permanent English

settlement in America by (f) describing the hardships faced by settlers at

Jamestown and the changes that place to ensure survival.

Learning Objectives

Students Will:

• compare the hardships the settlers faced at Jamestown with the changes they made

to survive.

• construct a step booklet that displays the hardships and changes that resulted in

survival.

Teaching and Learning Sequence

Introduction/Anticipatory Set

• Using the overhead projector and a computer with Internet access show the

students a video of hardships the settlers at Jamestown faced.

• http://www.history.com/videos/jamestown-founded-in-1607#jamestown-founded-

in-1607 (this is a four minute video that describes all the hardships and struggles

the settlers faced while at Jamestown)

• Explain to the students what the word hardship means.

• Write the word “hardship” on the white board.

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Lesson Development

• Divide the class into groups of 3-5 students.

• Provide each student with three hardship slips and three survival slips.

• Do not tell the students which slips are the hardships and which are the survival.

• Instruct that the students to decide which are hardships and which are survival and

to arrange them into two different groups. One group for the hardships and one

group for the survival changes.

• The hardship slips should read as follows: 1. The site was marshy and lacked safe

drinking water 2. The settlers lacked some skills to provide for themselves 3.

Many settlers died of starvation and disease.

• The survival slips should read as follows: 1. The arrival of supply ships 2. The

forced work program of and strong leadership of Captain John Smith 3. The

emphasis on agriculture.

• Once all the students have arranged the hardships and survival slips write the

correct arrangement of the clips on the white board.

• If there are any students that did not arrange them correctly instruct to the do so

according to the categories on the white board.

Closure

• Ask students which hardship might be connected to which survival technique.

• Ask students if they know what a cause and effect relationship means.

• Define a cause and effect relationship

• Model the construction of the step booklet for the class.

• Provide each table with a glue stick to help them construct the step booklet
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Assessment

Formative

• While the students are busy trying to arrange the slips ask them which ones they

think are hardships and why.

• Ask the students which one they think are survival techniques. Why?

Summative

• The purpose of the arrangement of the step booklet is to help children to

determine the cause and effect relationship between the hardships and survival

techniques.

• The booklet will be used to assessment to see if the lesson objectives were met.

Content Organizer
SOL and Curriculum Framework Essential Understandings and Essential Questions

VS.3 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the first permanent English settlement in
America by (f) describing the hardships faced by settlers at Jamestown and the changes that took
place to ensure survival.

The English settlers found life in Jamestown harder than they had expected

What hardships did the settlers face?

What changes took place that resulted in survival of the settlers?

Materials and Advanced (Pre-Lesson) Preparation

Overhead projector
Computer with Internet access
Pre-cut slips for making the hardships and survival changes
Glue
Three different colored pieces of paper for the step booklet

Essential Knowledge (To Include Content Information and Vocabulary)

Hardships faced the settlers

• The site they chose to live on was marshy and lacked drinking water
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• The settlers lacked some skills necessary to provide for themselves

• Many settlers died of starvation and disease

Changes that resulted in survival

• The arrival of supply ships
• The forced work program and strong leadership of Captain John Smith
• The emphasis on agriculture

Connections – Cross-Curricular and Real-World

This lesson can be used to make comparisons to other cause and effect situations that happened
at Jamestown not just the hardship and survival changes.

Differentiated Instruction Organizer

Alternate
Instructional Alternate
Lesson Method(s) to
Method Method(s) to
Components Challenge
Originally Planned Assist Students
Students
Major Concepts Categorizing six Have another Allow the student
slips into two student help them to find other
categories; with the cause and effect
hardships and categorizing relationships at
survival changes the Jamestown
settlement.

Vocabulary Hardship Bad time emphasis

Terms

Activities Make a step Have another Ask the student if

booklet that student assist they can name
makes it easier for them with making any other cause
students to the step booklet and effect
visualize the relationships that
cause and effect existed at
relationship of the Jamestown
hardships and
survival changes
Assessments Formative and Did the students Did the students
Summative arrange the slips follow the model
correctly correctly
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