Intern Name: Skye Garner

Topic/Title of Lesson: Jamestown

Grade: 1st

LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE DIRECTIONS

In this lesson…
Students will learn the importance of Jamestown and what life was like for the settlers.
Overview They will learn through pretending we have gone back in time by dressing like the
settlers, eating colonial food, and building triangle forts.
Content Objectives:
SS.1.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of Virginia history, including
important events, people and holidays we celebrate.
Standards of Learning
SS.1.4.1 Demonstrate knowledge of the settlement of Virginia at
Jamestown. (SOL 1.2a)
What is the importance of Jamestown?
Essential Questions What was life like in Jamestown?
Students will be able to…
Objectives understand the significance of Jamestown, how it shaped Virginia today, and what life
was like for the Jamestown settlers.
I can explain why Jamestown is important. I can compare how life was for the settlers
versus how we live today.
Learning Target(s)

-Writing and following directions given by the teacher

Necessary Prior -Use popsicle sticks and glue to make a triangle
Knowledge -Use scissors to cut
-Pencils with feathers
-Black, yellow, and white paper
Stapler
Materials -Popsicle sticks
-Glue
-Worksheet with lines to build fort and write the importance of Jamestown
-Oatmeal
Introduction/Hook Chromebooks away, show map of Virginia
1. Put away chromebooks and any technology
2. Play Jamestown video in slideshow and go over the steps of the lesson to make sure
kids are aware of the schedule
3. Make hats and colonial dress: cut out outlines, glue yellow buckle on hat, go to
teacher to get it stapled
Instructional Activities 4. Make popsicle stick triangle fort and write neatly on the lines about the main idea of
& Strategies jamestown: Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North
America.
5. Try Jamestown “gruel” (watered down oatmeal) and explain the connection to the
“starving time”
6. Ask about key takeaways and how Jamestown is different from life today
Homework None
 -Settlers go to new land and live on it
-Jamestown was settled over 400 years ago
Key Vocabulary -Life was very bad and hard to live for the settlers
or Concepts -Many settlers starved due to no food
-Life was very different compared to nowadays
Informal Assessment:
Assessments -Verbal questioning asking what they learned and think about life in Jamestown
-Worksheet about the importance of Jamestown with triangle fort craft
Closure Activity Verbal questioning assessment, short review, collect worksheets
Max: short directions, gain attention before giving directions, pictures on slideshow,
show examples of the craft and writing worksheet, lined paper
Karnella: repeat directions, can take a break if needed, help by using reminders during
each activity, close to the front of the room
Olivia: timer during each activity, repeat directions, close to the front of the room, can
Accommodations move ahead/stay behind on each activity if needed, gain attention before giving
directions
Bennett: show pictures in the slideshow, short directions, remind and check in about the
activity to make sure he stays on task, allow talking to peers when working on activity
**(Any early finishers can go on their database and look at Jamestown facts or finish any
assignments from earlier)**
-Consulted Ms. Nardelli and Ms. Shumate
-Used Pinterest for ideas for crafts and colonial gruel recipe
Resources -Colonial America Book PDF
-Youtube: Flocabulary
-Google Slides

Reflection on a Lesson Plan Taught

Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow
Intern Name: Skye Garner
Lesson Title (Subject/Topic): Jamestown
Date of Lesson Taught: 5/24
Cooperating Teacher & School: Ruediger, Thoroughgood Elementary School
Grade: 1st
Time of Day: 11:30-12:30

1. What steps did you go through to create this lesson? With whom did you talk, discuss, or edit your lesson?

I talked with Ms. Ruediger, Ms. Nardelli, and Ms. Shumate to try and find the best way to approach my lesson to
keep it engaging for the kids. A lot of the materials in resources I found were geared towards higher grade
levels, so I had to simplify this for first grade to just introduce them to the importance of Jamestown. I first
looked at the focus of my objective and then organized the order of activities to best accommodate students
and their learning styles.

2. How did the SOLs and Objectives help focus your instruction?
My objective was pretty broad for my lesson, so I focused on WHY they need to learn about Jamestown. I
wanted to focus on the big idea in order to not go over their heads, as I feel the concept of Jamestown is much
further back in history than they are used to learning about.

3. What parts of the instructional plan worked as you anticipated?

I think the activities we did that were hands on were very engaging and left the kids with a lesson they will most
likely remember for grades to come. I think our popsicle stick activity worked very well because they practiced
their writing skills and got to work with their hands.

4. What, if any, adjustments needed to be made once you began?

I had to adjust the time given for the crafts because the students took longer to cut and glue. I also needed to
make sure I helped the kids with accommodations with more instructions.

5. How well did you anticipate the materials needed?

I had the materials needed. It definitely helped that I made piles of each paper they needed and examples of the
crafts, so they knew the end goal. I did not feel I was missing anything, except maybe a second stapler to
assemble their hats quicker.

6. How effective was the assessment you chose to use? (If no assessment was used, what will the future
assessment be and how will you gauge its effectiveness?)

I asked questions at the end to assess their knowledge and it seemed a lot of them understood the big ideas
that went with each part of the crafts we did. I did think this was effective because multiple students were able
to talk about the triangle fort, how different the clothing was, and how gruel was not that great of a food to
have to eat on the daily.