Topic: John Smith and the Settlement of Jamestown
CONTEXT—4th Grade; Whole Group and Independent Work; 22 students; Mrs. Erin Sexton’s
Classroom (D.J. Montague Elementary); 8:50-9:45 (50 minutes); prepared by Kylee Brown.
STANDARDS--Colonization and Conflict: 1607 through the American Revolution
VS 3. The student will demonstrate knowledge of the first permanent English settlement in
American by…
f) Describing the hardships faced by settlers at Jamestown and the changes that took
place to ensure survival;
g) Describing the interactions between the English settlers and the native peoples,
including the contributions of Powhatan to the survival of the settlers
OBJECTIVES— (1) Given student led discussion of hardships, students list the hardships
experienced by the settler; (2) Given discussion of John Smith and his leadership role, students
will discuss the differential ways in which he exemplified action for the common good. (3)
Given a prompt about life at Jamestown, students will explain and illustrate life in the colony.
INTERVENTION OBJECTIVE — (1) Given the use of non-contingent attention, Stewart will
raise his hand when asking a question; (2) Given the use of non-contingent attention, Stewart
will complete notes with the class.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS —Additional Resources (Appendix A); Accommodation for
students; Letter to relative assignment (Appendix B); Additional Content/Background
Information (Appendix C); Captain John Smith PowerPoint (Appendix D).
LESSON DESCRIPTION
INTRODUCTION (5 min.)—Ask the students to remind you of the hardships that the
settlers faced while they were at Jamestown. Remind the students that a hardship is something
bad that happened to the settlers during their time at Jamestown. Review the notes from the week
before if they are struggling. Explain to them that everything that happened at Jamestown came
in threes; this means that the three main hardships were lack of skills, no fresh water, and
diseases. Tell students that many of the settlers died from these hardships, however one
individual helped them survive. Ask them for guesses of the individual’s identity.
CONTENT FOCUS—INCLUDING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT—Content Focus
(20 min.): Ask students to come up with two characteristics of a leader in their small groups (5
min). As a whole group, list the characteristics that were described by the students (5 min).
Using the PowerPoint on Captain John Smith, describe key events in the settlement of
Jamestown and John Smith. Focus on the leadership portrayed by John Smith and ways in which
he contributed to the survival of Jamestown (10 min). Student engagement (15 min.): After
discussion, invite students to give reactions, ask: What actions did John Smith do that made him
a strong leader? Brainstorm with students about life in early Jamestown. Have students imagine
they are among the first settlers in Jamestown. Ask them to write a letter to a relative in England
describing their life in the colony. Tell students to describe the hardships that they faced as well
ways in which John Smith was a strong leader.
CLOSING (5 min.)—Ask students to share their examples of hardships faced and strong
leadership qualities for John Smith from their letters based on what they were able to accomplish
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in the designated time period. Tell the students that if they are not finished with the assignment
to put it in their WIP folder and we will continue it at a later time.
ASSESSMENT
FORMATIVE—students’ responses to discussion of ways in which John Smith
exemplified leadership in novel ways
SUMMATIVE—letter to a relative in England created by students to illustrate the
hardships faced by the settlers and John Smith’s leadership and actions for the common good of
Jamestown; Pre-Post Assessments.
INTERVENTION— A frequency count of inappropriate vocalizations will be taken
before, during, and after the intervention has been implemented. The special education educator
in the classroom will also keep a frequency count to ensure that we are observing the same
behaviors.
CONTENT/BACKGROUND INFORMATION
John Smith played an important role in ensuring the survival of Jamestown. See
Appendix C for attentional information.
Concepts: leader—a person who takes action to help and promote others; role—a set of
connected behaviors, rights and obligations expected in a social situation; forced work
program—“He who does not work, will not eat”, If an individual did not work they would be put
in jail and not given food; hardship—suffering faced by people that make life difficult; trading—
exchange of good between people
DIFFERENTIATION—Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences that will be addressed:
visual/spatial (map; visuals; lists); verbal/linguistic (discussing in groups; letter to a relative),
kinesthetic (role-playing), interpersonal (understanding others’ feelings); whole group and
independent work.
The students that have difficulty completing tasks on time will be given extra time during
Intervention/Enrichment or free time throughout the day to finish the assignment. In addition, I
will make sure to walk over to each student listed above to ensure that they understand the
directions and begin to brainstorm with them some of the hardships faced and actions that John
Smith did to help the colony. They will only be asked to explain on of the hardships and what
John Smith did to help.
Average students will be asked to use all of the words in the word-bank when completing
this assignment. Additionally, they will need to explain at least two ways in which John Smith
helped the colony survive.
For students who finish early, they will be asked to explain what they think John Smith
could have done better. They are to imagine they are the leader who is trying to help the colony
survive; what would they have done different than John Smith if they were in that situation. If
this is too difficult, have the students describe an event in which they showed leadership qualities
and helped during a certain situation.
ACCOMMODATIONS— N.F has an IEP for visual cues. This means that he “needs a
checklist of items to be completed, directions for assignments written and given to him, as well
as a word bank to assist with completing work”. A.W. has an IEP that states that he “needs to sit
near the teacher to aid with focus, teacher support, and for clarifying of the directions”. J.M. and
T.G. will have an instructional aide to assist with instruction. They also need “read-aloud,
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spelling aids, adapted notes, and sensory tools”. T.G. also needs “read-aloud, spelling aids,
directions to be clarified, and extra time to complete assignments”. M.W. requires “positive
reinforcement when completing activities, repetition or rephrasing of directions, visual cues, and
the use of a ball point pen”.
RATIONALE FOR NON-CONTINGENT ATTENTION INTERVENTION — In a study
on non-contingent attention, Banda, Hart and Kercood (2012) found that non-contingent
attention has a positive impact on disruptive vocalization in the classroom. In order to change
these behaviors, the teachers were told to provide reinforcement in the form of attention
contingent on the student’s behavior. Each teacher was taught to ignore any disruptive
vocalizations, moved the student’s desk to the front of the classroom in close proximity to the
teacher’s desk, as well as remain in close physical proximity by standing near the student. The
results indicated that the unwanted or disruptive behavior was maintained by attention from the
classroom teachers, and when the intervention was implemented the disruptive vocalizations was
reduced.
In the case of Stewart, he frequently calls out, changes the topic of the discussion, and
partakes in other disruptive vocal behaviors. In order to address these behaviors, I believe that I
will first begin with the simplest form of changing the behavior. His peers in the classroom are
supportive, which leads me to believe that “planned ignoring” and reinforcing of good behaviors
will be an appropriate first attempt to modify these inappropriate classroom behaviors. I will be
sure to acknowledge the positive behaviors that he does throughout the day by reinforcing them
with short verbal phrases, such as “thank you for raising your hand” and “I appreciate you
staying on topic”. This intervention will be used with everyone in the classroom in order to
improve academic performance and develop socially appropriate behaviors.
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APPENDIX A- Additional Resources
Banks, J., Collerary, K., Greenow, L., Parker, W., Schell, E., & Zike, D. (2011). Exploring
people, places, and cultures. Columbus, OH: Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Glencoe.
Banks, J., Collerary, K., Greenow, L., Parker, W., Schell, E., & Zike, D. (2011). Virginia in the
nation and the world student edition. Columbus, OH: Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Glencoe.
Berson, M., Howard, T., Shoob, S., & Salinas, C. (2011). HMH Virginia studies, Virginia
edition. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers.
Historic Jamestown: The indispensable role of women at Jamestown. (2015). Retrieved
September 14, 2015, from http://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/the-powhatanindian-world.htm.;
Historic Jamestown: The Powhatan Indian world. (2015). Retrieved September 14, 2015, from
http://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/the-powhatan-indian-world.htm.
Masoff, J. (2011). Our Virginia: Past and present. West Palm Beach, FL: Five Ponds Press.
The voyages of Captain John Smith: American Indians. (2015). Retrieved September 14, 2015,
from http://smithtrail.net/captain-john-smith/.
The voyages of Captain John Smith: Captain John Smith. (2015), Retrieved September 14, 2015,
from http://smithtrail.net/captain-john-smith/.
The voyages of Captain John Smith: Smith’s maps. (2015). Retrieved September 14, 2014, from
http://smithtrail.net/captain-john-smith/smiths-maps/;
Virginia studies. (2008). Retrieved September 14, 2014, from
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/history_socialscience/;
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APPENDIX B—Letter to a Relative
Name: _________________________
Date: ______________________
Letter to a Relative
Directions: Imagine you are among the first settlers in Jamestown.
Write a letter to a relative who is back in England describing your life
in the colony. Be sure to describe the hardships that you faced as well
as the ways in which John Smith was a leader and ensured the survival
of the colony.
Word Bank:
John Smith
Trading
Leadership
Jamestown
Forced Work Program
Hardships
American Indians
Dear ___________________,
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
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Directions: Please draw a picture of the hardships you faced at
Jamestown and the leadership that you witnessed portrayed by John
Smith.
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APPENDIX C—Additional Content/Background Information
John Smith played an important role in ensuring the survival of Jamestown. He
exemplified many forms of leadership, especially since he was considered a trouble maker before
his arrival at Jamestown. Explicit examples of leadership—set up trading between American
Indians for food and other goods; forced work program in which he put people to work planting
crops and building houses; taught settlers new jobs and skills to ensure that they all had a job;
and began growing tobacco as a cash crop for the colony. Implicit: positive disposition;
encouraging; desire to learn from American Indians; courage when faced with hardships; risk
taker; peace-keeping with American Indians. He demonstrated civic engagement (actions for the
common good) by: moving his image from a trouble maker to a strong leader; supported the
growth of the colony through tough rules; stepped up to lead the colony during the hardships and
death of colonists.
Instead of focusing on getting food, when the colonists first arrived at Jamestown they
were focused on finding gold in the new colony. This is because the Virginia Company, who
fund the voyage, was interested in making money from the new area. However, John Smith
realized that this was a waste of time. In order to get food, John Smith began a trading
relationship with the American Indians, the Powhatan Indians, who lived in the surrounding
areas. The settlers began to trade tools and pots for much-needed food. Because of the strong
relationship that John Smith created with the American Indians, the settlers learned how to hunt,
fish, raise livestock, and grow their own food. Also, he created the forced work program. This
program ensured that all of the settlers were helping to better the colony. He would say, “He who
does not work, will not eat!” Additionally, John Smith did not just tell the settlers what to do, he
worked just like all of the other settlers to ensure the survival of the colony. Without the strong
leadership from John Smith the colony would not have survived.
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APPENDIX D—Captain John Smith PowerPoint
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