TITLE OF LESSON PLAN: Colonial Williamsburg in a week (or longer)

TITLE OF LESSON PLAN: Colonial Williamsburg in a week (or
longer)
CREATED BY: Janet Moody
LENGTH OF LESSON: 5-10 days (depending on time devoted to history each day)
GRADE LEVEL: 5 th grade but can be adapted for younger students
OBJECTIVES: To become more aware of life during the Colonial period.
MATERIALS: quill pens (feathers @ Michael’s), ink, cross-stitch fabric, needles, thread,
marbles, musical instruments like harmonica, stamp paper, and costumes from the time
period (aprons, hats, dresses, etc)
PROCEDURE: First I suggest that a tour of Colonial Williamsburg be taken on line to
assist in planning the unit. This can be done at:
http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/Almanack/tourTheTown/
You may choose any of the sites/trades to recreate as stations in your room. I have listed
examples of some I have recreated in my room and how I used them. (Adjust as you need
to do for time, materials, and resources are available.) I would suggest that you locate
pictures of these places on the website to include in the setting of the classroom to help the
students feel more involved. I’ve attempted to provide links to sites on the Colonial
Williamsburg site but keep in mind the site in constantly being updated. If you prefer
readymade lesson plans visit
http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/history/teaching/classroom_plans.cfm as there are
many lesson plans already complete for students to drama and role play. (Most of these
plans are for middle school students.)
1. College of William and Mary station: Students will learn at this station that boys
and girls were treated very differently during the colonial period. Boys were
educated with books, learning to read and write; whereas girls learned to run a
household and sew. At this station girls learn to cross-stitch and boys learn to write
with quill pens. I also wanted the students to learn about the manners of people. A
copy of these manners is located at the site:
http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/Almanack/life/manners/rules2.cfm
2. Raleigh Town Tavern station: Students will learn about games that children played
at the town tavern. You may use games such as dice, marbles, jacks, or a stitching
hoop rolled with a stick at this station. You may also have students revisit the
website http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/Almanack/tourTheTown/ and select
the Raleigh Tavern to read more information about the tavern.

3. Hope Plantation station: Students will learn about the lives of African American
families at this station.
Visit: http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/Almanack/people/african/ to learn
more facts about African Americans. Also the Hope Plantation site for pictures and
descriptions of what various jobs the slaves had to perform.
http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/Almanack/places/hb/hbgrthopes.cfm
I had students experience music and African American Folklore at this station.
These items are readily available for purchase at the Colonial Williamsburg website
store.
4. Bruton Parish Church station: Students will learn about social levels in society.
During the Colonial Period, society was made up of the wealthy lawmakers, the
common people (tradesman), and slaves. The church was a common place where
social levels existed and were practiced. Visit
http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/Almanack/life/religion/religionhdr.cfm
to learn more about religion in early Virginia. The church was also the place where
the majority of information was shared throughout the community since people
gathered there. There are several podcasts available on the site above that explain
the social levels and why it was so important to attend the church. Provide costumes
if possible for the children to dress up for church as the Sunday dress was different
from daily dress. Also be sure to share the pictures from the original website town
tour so that students understand the seating of social society.
EVALUATION: Many of these activities can be evaluated by teacher observation or the
teacher could use the boy’s writing/girl’s sewing for grades. Students could also respond to
some specific questions in their notebook or write a reflection after completing each station.
EXTENSION (if any): Encourage students to continue to explore the website and create
ideas of their own for other places in Williamsburg and then share them with the
remaining members of the class. Additionally, students could role play characters from the
period in time.
TAH GRANT REFERENCES: 2008 Summer Institute, Colonial Williamsburg summer
2008 teacher program, and History’s Alive resource book.
STANDARDS: Standard 4: The student understands United States History to 1880.
Benchmark SS.A. 4.2.2. The student understands why Colonial America was settled.
Strand 2. Understands selected aspects of everyday life in Colonial America