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

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