5th Grade Close Reading for the Social Studies Unit: The Fight for a Continent
Name of Text: ”A Message for the Settlers” taken from We the People by Bobbi Katz (poem located at the end of this lesson)
Duration of Lesson: One week
Lesson Outcome: Students will understand the concept of bias (prejudice and favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared
with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair).
Category
Before Reading:
Establishing a Purpose
1st Read: What does the
text say?
(General understanding and
key detail questions about
the content.)
What questions could you ask students here?
Unit 3: The Fight for a Continent Lesson 3: What major conflicts did European colonists and
American Indians have?
After reading and discussing Lesson 3, read the poem “A Message for the Settlers.”
Teacher: We are going to be reading a poem written from the perspective of Chief Powhatan to
the settlers.
Students listen to the text to figure out the “gist” of the piece, gain a sense of flow and for
enjoyment.
Students go back and reread again with a pencil to annotate. Remind them to stop and think about
sections of text: what is each section or about?
● Who was Powhatan?
● When and where does the poem take place?
● What does Powhatan want from the settlers?
Discuss student annotations.
2nd Read: How does the
text work?
(Vocabulary, text structure,
and author’s craft questions
to bridge explicit and
inferential meaning.)
Reread the poem, and focus on the craft of the writing.
● Find the proper nouns in the poem and discuss who they are? Why did the author capitalize these
common nouns? i.e. Coat-wearing People, King, Ancestors
● In the first stanza, what does the author mean by the question:
○ “Have you forgotten the crown of copper sent to me by your King?”
● In the third stanza, what does the author mean by the phrases:
○ “Soon my voice will be silent.”
○
3rd Read: What does the
text mean?
(Going deeper to mine the
author’s purpose, symbolism,
inferences across the text,
locating meaning across
multiple texts.)
“Who then will counsel patience...”
Based on observations, the teacher reads the selection, or selected parts of a text,
aloud. If the students demonstrate clear understanding of the text, then move onto phase 4.
● What is the author saying about Powhatan and the settlers?
● What does the author mean by the following:
“You to whom we brought corn, consider the ways of peace.”
● How does this poem relate to lesson three in the social studies text?
● What bias is reflected in the poem?
What culminating question or task follows from this? (What does the text inspire you to do?)
Extended thinking tasks considering the bias of each side:
1. Ask students to write a response to Chief Powhatan in the form of a letter, or poem utilizing the mentor text “A Message for the
Settlers.” Make sure to point out Captain John Smith’s quotation at the bottom of the poem as you write your response.
2. Write a skit illustrating the interactions between the settlers and the Native Americans.
3. Divide class into two groups to research the following questions. Have the two sides debate whether or not it was ok for the
Europeans to displace the Native Americans. This lesson could lead to an opinion essay - from the perspective of your assigned
role.
Ask students who have been assigned the roles of Native Americans questions such as:
● How would you feel if people from another place wanted to settle land on which you lived?
● What happened when more and more settlers arrived?
● Would you continue making agreements to give up more land?
● If necessary to keep your family alive, should you be able to hunt animals and fish in lands you assigned to settlers by treaties?
● How do you think other Native Americans living in adjacent lands would react if you were forced to move to their ancestral lands?
● What could you do to stop the advance of the foreign settlers?
Ask students who were assigned as settlers questions such as:
● Why should you have to make deals with the Native Americans if the king or queen of England had given you permission to settle
this land?
●
●
●
●
Since there is so much vacant land, why shouldn’t you have some land to farm?
Why can’t Native Americans understand that when we purchase land it is ours to keep and use as we see fit?
What measures should you take if Native Americans do not agree to give you enough land on which to provide for your family?
Would you be willing to go to war if sachems (a chief or leader) refuse to negotiate for land you need to make a living?
Further Extension:
1. Visit the Cultural Literacy course MyConnect.
2. Select Thanksgiving.
3. Select Fact or Fiction and find two Discovery Education videos highlighting multiple perspectives on the First Thanksgiving.
**Scaffolded Resources
The Powhatan Indians and Jamestown-Reader’s Theater Script and Fluency Lesson by Debra J. Hansel
www.youngwriters.co.uk/glossary-poetry-types
Poetry for Kids: www.kathimitchell.com/poemtypes
Powhatan Fact Sheet: www.bigorrin.org/powhatan_kids
Powhatan Culture and History: www.native_languages.org/powhatan_culture
Native American Legends: www.native_languages.org/legends
Youtube: Powhatan Indian Village