Curriculum Overview
Curriculum Context This short-focused research project fits into the Social Studies curriculum as part of state and local history or as an opening to a study of Native Americans or Early Settlement.
Vermont Standards | Vermont Standards | Understanding Place 4.6 Students demonstrate understanding of the relationship between their local environment and community heritage and how each shapes their lives. Historical Connections 6.4 Students identify major historical eras and analyze periods of transition in various times in their local community, in Vermont, in the United States, and in various locations worldwide to understand the past, the present, and the relationship between the two. VERMONT--The Pre-Contact to 1608 Era-discover how Abenaki oral tradition reflects and influences their society and the Colonization Era (1609-1774)-interpret the impact of resettlement on Abenaki, European colonizers, and the environment. Geographical Knowledge 6.7.a Identify location and patterns of local areas. Being a Historian: 6.6c Collect and use primary sources in building original historical interpretations. Movement and Settlement 6.8.d Recognize push/pull factors related to migration and settlement. New Hampshire Standards | New Hampshire Standards | SS:GE: 6:2.1 Illustrate the ways in which regions change. SS:GE:6:4.2: Describe the types and historical patterns of human migration. SS:GE:6:5.3: Appreciate how characteristics of different physical environments provide opportunities human activities or place constraints on human activities. Common Core State Standards | Common Core Standards |
Reading Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.5 Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas,
Writing Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
Listening Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
concepts, or information in two or more texts. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
Enduring Understanding
People move from region to region, sometimes displacing other people.
New Knowledge
The Abenaki once lived on this land we now call Vermont and New Hampshire. We can see evidence on this
land from place names. Settlers came from Connecticut and Massachusetts to live in this region. Every settler worked to establish new towns with farms, mills, churches, schools, and political structures.
Texts/Resources
Background Knowledge/Historical Context For Teachers: Rebecca Brown, ed., Where the Great River Rises, 131-134 For Students: Marge Bruchac, Malian’s Song; Alice Dalgliesh, The Courage of Sarah Noble; Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, The Bear that Heard Crying
Primary Sources Maps, Gravestones, Early Town History Other sources to consider: Town Charter, 1790 Census, Town Meeting Records
Vocabulary
What academic vocabulary is essential for this lesson?
primary source, secondary source, research
What vocabulary is needed for a close-read of the texts? Abenaki, colony, colonization, colonist, settler, migrate
Assessment Evidence
Formative Assessments Explanatory Writing: Make a claim about where settlers from your town came from. (Session 3) List of evidence gathered from research with quotes (Session 5)
Summative Assessment Descriptive Writing: Write a paragraph describing a settler’s life using evidence from historical research
Instructional Process
Gaining Background Knowledge Session 1: The Abenaki Homeland Who lived here first, prior to colonization? Session 2: From Old England to New England When and why did colonists leave England? Where did they settle? Session 3: Settling Vermont and New Hampshire When and how was this region settled?
Formative Assessment: Make a Claim—After gathering evidence from the maps, write a paragraph in which
you explain where settlers from your town came from. Support your response with evidence from the map. Short Focused Research Session 4: Finding our Town’s First Settlers Who were the first people to settle here? Session 5: Researching our Town’s First Settlers What did these people do to form our town?
Formative Assessment: After researching your settler, create list of at least three details you will share with the class about your settler’s story. For each detail, provide a quote from your research and record where you found your information.
Presenting New Knowledge Session 6: Writing our Colonial Quest How can we share what we’ve learned with others?
Summative Performance Task: After researching your settler, write a brief paragraph describing your settler’s life. Support your description with historical evidence.
Session 7: Completing our Colonial Quest What do we need to do to complete our Quest?
Grade: 5 - 8
Author: Vital Communities
Contact Information: http://www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
The Colonial Quest Curriculum Overview
Discover Your Place in History! Bring history to life for your students with this free, standards-based curriculum that examines early settlement history through the lens of
your hometown.
The sequence of the Colonial Quest Curriculum is driven by questions:
- WHO were the first residents here?
- WHERE did the colonists come from?
- WHEN and WHY did they come?
- WHAT did the colonists do to establish this town?
The curriculum's approach integrates place-based education, primary
source exploration, and service learning: students use maps to track movement and settlement; they find early settlers in old burial grounds;
learn more about specific people using the census and town histories; and share their learning via a Quest (educational treasure hunt).
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
What is a Quest?
A Quest is a community treasure hunt that guides people through -- and teaches them how to see -- a unique community treasure. The
treasure might be a natural feature in the community (a watershed, a park or wetlands), a cultural site (the oldest building, the first
gravestone) or perhaps the setting of a particular story (the life of a person or beginnings of an industry).
Quests can be designed and adapted to explore a wide variety of places; and can be created by classrooms, scout troops, or by youth groups and
adult community partners working collaboratively.
For each quest, participants create: Clues that guide and teach questers as they move through a site
Maps or drawings that illustrate the quest and prevent visitors from getting lost
A treasure box at the end of the quest, which contain a scrapbook, a sign-in guest book and a unique, hand-carved rubber
stamp
Once a quest has been created, children, families, adults and visitors embark on the quest to have fun while they learn about the
community's landscape and heritage. Families can go questing on holiday outings and for children's birthday parties; daycare programs,
schools and camps can utilize quests for educational field trips; tourists
enjoy quests as well.
On the surface, a quest seems fairly straightforward: rhyming clues, a hand-drawn map and a hidden treasure box. But that's just the tip of
the iceberg. Beneath the surface is a program that teaches community landscape and heritage and that fosters a sense of place.
Quests, in general, emphasize three things: Mapping the assets of our communities -- our special places Teaching about these places in an integrated, multisensory and
experiential way Deepening community interrelationships: between children and
adults, schools and communities, newcomers and old-timers.
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 1: Abenaki Homeland
Focusing Question: Who lived here first, prior to colonization?
Overview: Students learn Native American place names and connect these words to an ancient relationship with specific locations and
qualities of the region. Then, they collaborate to create an Abenaki dictionary.
Topical Understandings: - This region has been Native American homeland for thousands
of years.
- Native words and place names are found across the region - These words link to specific attributes of the region
Materials: - Map(s) of Vermont (optional)
- - Abenaki Home land http://www.abenakination.org/pics/xlargemap2.jpg
- Where the Great River Rises, p. 134
- http://www.upne.com/1-58465-765-0.html
- Native American place names (Handout A) / Adapt to emphasize your part of the state
- Colored pencils or crayons - Lightly colored construction paper
- Optional supplements: - Native artifacts…
- Foods, like fiddleheads, Jerusalem artichokes, wild onions, maple syrup
- Cultural artifacts, like pottery, projectile points, tools or basketry
Length of time to complete: One 30 - 40 minute period
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
2
Procedures:
A. Establish thousands of years of Native inhabitation
1. Students form a line, shoulder to shoulder, and then take steps back in time, to explore how transportation (movement) and
culture (settlement) have changed in the region over time. Take one step back with the reading of each statement:
- Let’s go back in time, 5 years – there are no iPhones - And now 25 years – no personal computers
- Back 50 years – no interstate highways, much less travel - 75 years –few have ever flown in an airplane
- 100 years – very few have ever ridden in a car - 150 years – the 1st trains arrive here in the 1840’s & 50’s
- 200 years – everywhere by foot, boat, “horse power” - 250 years ago – there are no European colonists or colonies in
the Upper Valley; this is Abenaki home land - 500 years ago – Abenaki are living here - 1000 years ago – Abenaki are living here
- 2000 years ago – Abenaki are living here - 4000 years ago – Abenaki are living here
- 8000 years ago – Abenaki and their ancestors are here. - Since the last ice age - 10,000 or so years ago – native people
have inhabited the Upper Valley. It is only very recently that European colonists arrived and called this place “home.”
- Many Abenaki still reside here. Do any of you have Abenaki (or other) native ancestry? Abenaki friends? Or neighbors?
2. Introduce various clues to Native inhabitation
How do we know of this long Abenaki history? Through written documents (letters, histories, etc.)
o (Read from a local one, if available) Through oral histories, both native & colonial Through the dating of artifacts – pots, arrowheads, etc.
o (Pass around, if available) Through cultural heritage – native foods, etc.
o (Show and tell, if available) Through native “place names” across the landscape
3. Introduce Native place names
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
3
Living here - and traveling by boat or on foot - over thousands of years, dozens of generations, Native people developed a deep sense of how
wealth and wisdom “sits in places,” e.g. Here is the best route between two valleys.
There are the falls – or a good place to fish Down there is the best place to find clay.
B. Native Place Names Activity
1. Introduction Ask students if they know of any places in the area with Native
American names.
Each student receives a Native American place name from the region
Students read these names aloud to the rest of the class,
beginning to build their vocabulary. Students identify and highlight these names on a copy of a
regional map. (Any map will have some, like Connecticut, Sunapee, Ascutney; or you can use a more specialized map)
Discuss how Native Americans name places, (Descriptive of the site-specific qualities)
Navigate a journey from one place to the next using Native place names. e.g. How might you get from Mt. Ascutney to Lake Sunapee? Travel east from Kaskakadenak (Wide Mountain) to
Kwanitekw (Long River). Follow the river south to Senomoziktekw (Sugar Maple River); then east up the river to Seninebes (Rock
Lake).
2. Main Activity – drawing places
Students receive ½ sheet of construction paper At the top, they carefully write their native word At the bottom, they write the definition / translation
In between, they imagine and then draw a picture of that definition, translation or action: e.g. someone gathering wild
onions (Winooski) or making a pot from river bank clay (Mascoma). As they work on their drawings, ask the students to
try to memorize both their word and its meaning. Students share their work
Collectively, the drawings can be compiled into a dictionary of local Native American place names
3. Concluding Discussion
o Emphasize many Abenaki still inhabit this community
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
4
o Emphasize Abenaki folk-ways and food-ways still inform our lives: paved roads trace Abenaki trails; planted fields trace
the floodplains; we enjoy and recreate in Abenaki sacred places; and honor the seasonal harvests (sap run,
fiddleheads, berries ripening) with celebration. o Native words - not always correctly interpreted or
pronounced by Europeans – surround us today. o As Europeans heard Native Americans say a name they
would apply these words to name places more permanently by placing the names on maps; and different groups might spell these words in different ways: for example, the name
Lake Winnipesaukee has over 100 spellings.
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 1: Assessment Rubric Abenaki Homeland
Beginning 1
Developing 2
Accomplished 3
Exemplary 4 Score
Group work &
Participation
Student made little effort to
participate in “stepping
back in time”
activity.
Student participated
in the activity.
Student actively
participated – and is
beginning to understand
the chronology.
Student
worked well with group, understands chronology,
and a few key turning points.
Discussion/ Analysis
Student was unfocused in
group discussions, distracted,
or distracting to others
Student was following
discussions, but not active in
responding to or asking questions.
Student was engaged in
group discussions;
and asked OR answered questions
Student was actively
engaged in group
discussion: BOTH asking
and answering questions
Drawing/ Product
Student did not make an
effort to complete a
drawing according to directions
Student followed
directions and
completed their
drawing
Student demonstrated
topical understanding
OR positive feeling about their word /
work
Student demonstrated understanding AND positive feeling about
their work and word
Content/ Mastery
Student did not learn a place name
and meaning
Student learned one place name
and its meaning
Student learned two place names along with
their meanings
Student learned two (or more)
place names; their
meanings; and either their physical or ecological
place within this region
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 1: Handout A
Connecticut River
Kwanitekw
“Long River”
Ompompanoosuc River Bemomanoske
“Fishing Place River”
Coos Koasek
“Pine Tree Place”
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
2
Mt. Moosilaukee Mozalhlakik Wadso
“Cow Moose Land”
Lake Sunapee Seninebes
“Rock Lake”
Mount Ascutney Kaskakadenak
“Wide Mountain”
Sugar River Senomoziktekw
“Sugar Maple River”
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
3
Mink Brook
Mosbasak Zibosiz
“Mink Brook”
Winooski River Winoskitekw
“Onion Land River”
Passumpsic River Pasomkasek Zibo
“Sandy Bottom River”
Merrimack River Molodemak Zibo
“Deep Water River”
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
4
Mascoma River Mazalopskok Zibo
“Clay Place River”
This list is adapted from Chapter 20, Native Space, in Where the Great River Rises
Dartmouth College Press, Hanover, NH, 2009
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 2: From Old England to New England
Focusing Questions: When and why did colonists leave England for
New England? Where did they settle?
Overview: In this lesson, students learn - in broad strokes - when and
why colonists left England for the New England colonies. Students ‘travel’ across the Atlantic in families: to different places, at different
times, and for a variety of reasons. Using maps, students locate English place names: first in England, then across the Atlantic in New England.
Topical understandings: - The colonization of New England - English place names
- Re-naming the New England landscape
Materials o New England Colony slips (Handout A)
o Colonization date slips (Handout A) o Purpose for leaving slips (Handout A)
o English towns (provided as Handout B); or http://maps.google.com/?mid=1293811969
(One copy per student on 11 x 17 paper) / Adapt for your part of the state and CT towns (Handout C)
o Connecticut towns (Handout D) or
http://www.ct.gov/ecd/LIB/ecd/20/14/townmap.pdfr (One copy per student on 11 x 17 paper) OR Massachusetts
towns (Handout E) http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cispdf/ma_counties.pdf
o Colored pencils or crayons o Masking tape
Length: One 40 - 55 minute lesson
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
2
Procedures
A. Introductory Conversation 1. Why might people move from one place to another?
2. Discuss the general definition of colonization
Colonization: the act of colonizing Colonizing: to establish a colony
Colony: a body of people living in a new territory but retaining ties with the parent state
B. Acting Out Colonization 1. On the classroom floor, a simplified map of the Atlantic
basin is constructed using masking tape (with England to
the east, New England to the west, the Atlantic Ocean in between).
2. Students sit on one side of the room, in England.
3. The population is growing; the countryside is becoming deforested; there is little economic, social or religious
mobility. 4. Small groups - representing families-receive (handout A)
a date to leave, a place to go, and
a reason for leaving. 5. One by one, families cross from old England to New
England, stating where they’re going, when they went, and why they went
6. On the far shore students, one at a time, declare their colony – this place and on this date – a NEW colony of
ENGLAND in the name of GOD and the KING.
C. Reflective Discussion 1. Reflect again on the definitions of colonization.
2. Do these definitions accurately depict this act? 3. Why do you think people colonize other places?
4. Is colonization a peaceful process? Yes or no? Why or why not?
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
3
D. New England in Old England – Adapt for YOUR cluster of
towns 1. Pass out worksheet – Map of England
Let’s take a look at where the colonists came from. 2. Have students label the map “NEW ENGLAND IN OLD
ENGLAND” Look. Do some of these names seem familiar? 3. Next, have them mark the four directions on the map:
NORTH at the top, SOUTH at the bottom, WEST left, and
EAST right. 4. In the southeast corner of England find LONDON and
color it YELLOW. 5. North of London – along the coast search for NORWICH
and color it BLUE. 6. Southwest of Norwich find THETFORD and color it
PURPLE. 7. Southwest of Thetford, find ENFIELD. Color it ORANGE.
8. Follow the coastline moving south and then west from London. Can you find LYME and color it BROWN?
9. Between Lyme and London look for WINDSOR and color it RED.
10. Further north find HARTFORD and color it PINK.
E. Reflective Discussions Most of these towns and cities were founded between the years 1000 –
1200 AD, five hundred years before English Colonists traveled to and colonized New England. Some of these are originally “native” place
names - indicating specific natural settings. Can you decode the language of one or more of these place names?
“Thet” = a river in England; “ford” = river crossing “Nor” = abbreviation for north; “wich” = a village
“En” = short for end; “field” is self-explanatory
E. Now let’s look how colonists tried to replicate Old
England in New England 1. Pass out a map of Connecticut towns
2. Label the map: COLONIZATION IN CONNECTICUT (OR MASSACHUSETTS if you are in a “MA town”)
3. Begin by labeling the four directions on the map of Connecticut: write NORTH at the top of the map, SOUTH
at the bottom, WEST to the left of the map, and EAST to the right.
4. Connecticut was colonized in 1636. You can see the Abenaki heritage in the name Connecticut, meaning “long
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
4
tidal river;” as well as the transition of “old” England into
New England in the transparent naming of ‘New London.’ Find NEW LONDON on the jagged southern coastline and
color that city YELLOW. 5. Upstream from New London search for NORWICH,
Connecticut and color that town in BLUE. 6. Two towns west of Norwich find LEBANON, Connecticut
and color it PURPLE. 7. Northeast of Norwich can you find PLAINFIELD,
Connecticut? Color it ORANGE. 8. Follow the coastline west from New London. Can you find
LYME, Connecticut and color it BROWN? 9. Now try to place your fingertip in the center of the state
of Connecticut. Can you find Wethersfield, Hartford and Windsor all in a row? Color WEATHERSFIELD in GREEN.
10. Now color HARTFORD in PINK…
11. And finally, color WINDSOR in RED.
F. Reflective discussions: How did the colonists name their ‘new ‘communities? Why do you think they named them in this fashion?
Some names were clearly for places…New London from London Others were named for powerful people...
Bennington, VT from Governor Benning Wentworth; OR Or to honor / receive favor from the landed gentry / nobility…
Thetford, from the Viscount of Thetford Orford, from the Earl of Orford
How did the colonial way of naming differ from the way natives named places? And why?
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 2: Assessment Rubric From Old England to New England
Beginning 1
Developing 2
Accomplished 3
Exemplary 4 Score
Group work Participation
Student made little effort to
participate in “Crossing
from England” activity.
Student participated
in the “Crossing” activity.
Student actively
participated – and
understands ONE when, where and
why.
Student
worked well with group, understands
TWO (or more) when, where and
whys.
Discussion / Analysis
Student was unfocused in
group discussions,
distracted, or distracting to
others
Student was following
discussions, but not active in
responding to or asking questions.
Student was engaged in
group discussions,
and asked OR answered questions
Student was actively
engaged in the group discussion:
BOTH asking and answering
questions
Map / Product
Student did not make an
effort to complete the
map work according to instructions
Student followed
directions and
completed the map activity
Developing, PLUS student understands
the movement
from UK to CT
Accomplished, PLUS students
understand motivation(s)
and chronology
Content / Mastery
Student cannot name Upper Valley towns found in England
(or Connecticut).
Student can name two or three towns common to UK, CT and
the UV
Student can name more than four
towns common to the UK, CT
and UV
Accomplished, PLUS the
student knows geophysical locations,
chronology plus
motivations for
colonization
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 2: Handout A
WHERE & WHEN WE GO -----------------------------------
Connecticut 1639 ----------------------------------- Rhode Island 1636
----------------------------------- New Hampshire 1623 -----------------------------------
Massachusetts 1620 ----------------------------------- New York 1626
----------------------------------- Maine 1607 -----------------------------------
www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
2
WHY WE GO -------------------------------------
FISH ------------------------------------- TREES
-------------------------------------
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
------------------------------------- TO OWN LAND
-------------------------------------
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
------------------------------------- A FRESH START
-------------------------------------
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 2: Handout B
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 2: Handout C
Connecticut Towns
Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development 1996
Bridgeport
Hartford
New Haven
Stamford
Waterbury
Andover
Ansonia
Ashford
Avon
Barkhamsted
BeaconFalls
Berlin
Bethany
Bethel
Bethlehem
Bloomfield
Bolton
Bozrah
Branford
Bridgewater
Bristol
Brookfield
Brooklyn
Burlington
Canaan
Canterbury
Canton
Chaplin
Cheshire
Chester
Clinton
Colchester
Colebrook
Columbia
Cornwall
Coventry
Cromwell
Danbury
Darien
Deep River
Derby
Durham
East Granby
East Haddam
EastHampton
EastHartford
East Haven
EastLyme
EastWindsor
Eastford
Easton
Ellington
Enfield
Essex
Fairfield
Farmington
Franklin
Glastonbury
Goshen
Granby
Greenwich
Griswold
Groton
Guilford
Haddam
Hamden
Hampton
Hartland
Harwinton
Hebron
Kent
Killingly
Killingworth
Lebanon
Ledyard
Lisbon
Litchfield
Lyme
Madison
ManchesterMansfield
Marlborough
MeridenMiddlebury
Middlefield
Middletown
Milford
Monroe
Montville
Morris
Naugatuck
NewBritain
NewCanaan
NewFairfield
NewHartford
NewLondon
NewMilford
Newington
Newtown
Norfolk
NorthBranford
NorthCanaan
NorthHaven
North Stonington
Norwalk
Norwich
Old Lyme
Old Saybrook
Orange
Oxford
Plainfield
Plainville
Plymouth
Pomfret
Portland
PrestonProspect
Putnam
ReddingRidgefield
RockyHill
Roxbury
Salem
Salisbury
Scotland
Seymour
Sharon
Shelton
Sherman
Simsbury
Somers
South Windsor
Southbury
SouthingtonSprague
Stafford
Sterling
Stonington
Stratford
Suffield
Thomaston
Thompson
Tolland
Torrington
Trumbull
Union
Vernon
Voluntown
Wallingford
Warren
Washington
Waterford
Watertown
WestHartford
WestHaven
Westbrook
Weston
Westport
Wethersfield
Willington
Wilton
Winchester
Windham
Windsor
Windsor Locks
Wolcott
Woodbridge
Woodbury
Woodstock
Wrentham
Fairhaven
West
Bridgew
ater
EVERETTBelmont
SOMERVILLE
Chilmark
West Tisbury
Provincetown
Truro
Well eet
Eastham
Orleans
ChathamHarwich
BrewsterDennis
YarmouthBARNSTABLE*
Sandwich
Mashpee
Bourne
Falmouth
Oak Blu s
Tisbury
Nantucket*
Scituate
Marsh eld
Norwell
Duxbury
Kingston
Plymouth*
Hanover
Rockland
BROCKTON*
Abington
Whitman
Avon Holbroo
k
Hingha
m
Cohasset
Hull
QUINCY
Adams
Becket
Cheshire
Clarksburg
Florida
Great
Hinsdale
Lee
Lenox
Monterey
New
NORTHADAMS
Otis
PeruPITTSFIELD*
Sandis eld
Savoy
She eld
Washington
Windsor
Buckland
Ash eld
Charlemont
Colrain
Conway
ErvingGill
Hawley
HeathLeyden
Monroe
Montague
North eld
Orange
Rowe
Shelburne
Warwick
Whately
Blandford
Chester
Granville
HO
LYO
KE
Southwick
Tolland
WES
TFIE
LDBelchertown
Chester eld
CummingtonGoshen
Granby
Hat
eld Pelham
Plain eld
AshbyTownsend
Ashburnham
Athol
Barre
GARDNER
Hardwick
Hubbardston
LEOMINSTER
NewOakham
Petersham
Royalston
Templeton
Westminster
Winchendon
Willi
amsto
wn
NewAshford
Lanesborough
Han
cock
Worthington
Deereld
Sund
erlan
d
Will
iamsb
urg
Leve
rett
Amhe
rst
Hun
tingt
on
EAST
-H
AMPT
ON
Mou
ntW
ashi
ngto
nEg
rem
ont
Wes
tham
pton
Stoc
kbrid
ge
Wes
tSt
ockb
ridge
WEST
SPRINGFIELD
Southampton
Montgomery
Russell
TyringhamAlfo
rd
Marlborough
Barrington
Richmon
d
GREENFIELD*
Shut
esbur
y
Bern
ardsto
n
New
Sale
m
FITC
HBU
RG*
Brook eld
NorthBrook eld
West
Phillipston
Braintree
Wendell
Dalt
on
Middle eld
Hampd
en
Ware
PalmerWarren
MonsonBrim eld
Wales
Hollan
d Sturb
ridge
Spencer
Broo
keld Ea
stBr
ook
eld
Charlton
Dudley
Web
ster
SOUTHBRID
GE
Douglas
Oxford
Leicester
AuburnMillbury
Sutton
Ludlow
Wilb
raham
SPRIN
GFIELD
*CHICOPEE
AGAWAM
NORTHAMPTON*
South Hadley
Longmeadow
East Longmeadow
Uxbridge
Mendon
Milford
Blackstone
Belli
ngha
m
Mill
ville
Hopedale
Hadley
Princeton
Rutland
Paxton
Holden
Sterling
Lanc
aster
Wes
tBo
ylsto
n
Boylsto
n
Clinton
WORCESTER*
Shrewsbury
Northborough
Berlin
Westborough
Grafton
Upton
Hopkinton
Northbridge
Holliston
Medway
FRAN
KLIN
Plainville
North
Attleborough
Mans eld
ATTLEBORO
Seek
onk
Swansea
Somers
et
FALL RIVER*
Westport
Dartmouth
NEWTON
Dover
Sherborn
Millis
Norfolk Sharon
Norton
Rehoboth Dighton Berkley
Freetown
East Bridgewater
BridgewaterHalifax
Rochester Wareham
Lakeville
MiddleboroughCarver
Plympton
Easton
Brooklin
e
Wellesley
Pembr
oke
Han
son
Raynham
Foxborough
Mattapoisett
NEW
BEDFO
RD*
Acushnet Mar
ion
Littleton
Ayer
Groton
Harvard
Acton
Westford
Boxborough
Concord
Carlisle
Billerica
Tewksbury
Chelmsford
LOWELL*Andover
METHUEN
Dracut
LAWRENCE*
Dunstable
TyngsboroughPepperell
Way
land
Sudbury
MARLBOROUGH
Southborough
Hudson
StowBolton
Shirl
ey
Lincoln
May
nard
Ashland
Lunenburg
TAUNTON*
Canton
Dedham*
Med
eld
Milton
Needham
Norwood
Walpole
Westwood
Stou
ghto
n
Randolph
BOSTON*
WOBURNLexington
Wes
ton
Winchester St
oneh
am Wak
eeld
MEDFORD
ArlingtonWALTHAM
WATERTOWN
CAMBRIDGE*
REVERE
MALDEN
MELROSE
Framingham
Natick
Winthrop
AMES
BURY
BEVERLY
Boxford
Danvers
EssexGLOUCESTER
Hamilton
HAVERHILL
Ipswich
LYNN
Manchesterby-the-Sea
Marblehead
Merrimac
Nahant
NewburyNEWBURYPORT*
PEABODY
Rockport
Rowley
SALE
M*
Salisbury
Saugus Swampscott
Wenham
WestNewbury
Bedford
North Reading
Middleton
Tops eld
GeorgetownGroveland
Wilm
ingt
on
Lynneld
Bur
lingt
on Read
ing
North
Andover
Edgartown*
Aquinnah
CHELSEA
Gosnold
Bern
ards
ton
WEY
MO
UTH
BRAI
NTRE
E
William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the CommonwealthCitizen Information Service(617) 727-7030 • 1-800-392-6090 (in Massachusetts only) • TTY: (617) 878-3889 • www.sec.state.ma.us/cis
NantucketSound
Buzzards B
ay
Cape Cod Bay
Massachusetts Bay
Martha’s Vineyard
Cities are in capital letters. * indicates County Seat.
ere are 14 Counties, with 50 cities and 301 towns.
ere are twelve communities that have applied for, and been granted, city forms of government, though they wish to be known as “e Town of”. ey are: AGAWAM, AMESBURY, BARNSTABLE, BRAINTREE, EASTHAMPTON, FRANKLIN, GREENFIELD, METHUEN, SOUTHBRIDGE, WATERTOWN, WEST SPRINGFIELD, and WEYMOUTH. ey are in Italics.
e geographic center of Massachusetts is the Town of Rutland, Worcester County.
Oldest Town: Plymouth - 1620Oldest City: Boston - 1820Newest Town: East Brook eld - 1920Newest City: BRAINTREE - 2007Smallest by population: Town of Gosnold - 86, City of North Adams - 14,681Largest by population: Town of Framingham - 66,910, City of Boston - 589,141
Updated 3/11/08
N
MASSACHUSETTS COUNTIES
Franklin
Hampshire Hampden
EssexWorcester
Dukes
Bristol
Middlesex
SuffolkNorfolk
Berkshire
Nantucket
Plymouth
Barnstable
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 3: Settling Vermont and New Hampshire
Focusing Questions: When and how was this region settled?
Overview: Students conduct a close read of one family’s migration
from England to Massachusetts to Connecticut to the Upper Valley. Students generate questions about their own town’s settlement and
conduct an inquiry using maps. They then make a claim about settlement using evidence from the maps.
Topical understandings: - Families migrated to the Upper Valley from Connecticut and
Massachusetts
- Families settled on what was once Abenaki land.
Materials: The Mann Family Story (Handout A: adapted for 4th grade)
Maps: Upper Valley Map—Lauren do you have a PDF of this?:
http://www.vitalcommunities.org/transport/uvregionmap.htm
Connecticut and/or Massachusetts maps from Session 2
Colored Pencils
Length of time to complete: Two 30 to 45 minute lessons
Procedures:
A. Close Read – The Mann Family Story (Paragraph 1)
Read the first paragraph to the class. While reading stop and have the students underline each location with a different
color: Plymouth and Norfold Counties (red)
Hebron, Connecticut (green)
Orford, NH (blue)
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
2
As a class, trace the family’s migration from England to Orford,
NH, on a map and note the dates. Discuss: How does the Mann family story match what you have
already learned (that colonists moved from England to New England).
Analyze: What new knowledge does the story provide? (Settlers continued to move with each new generation. Some
families who originated in England eventually settled in the Connecticut River Valley.)
Question: Generate questions about the family and your own town. (Where did the settlers in our town come from?)
B. Investigating Upper Valley Town Settlement
A. Map Inquiry—Where did the settlers in our town come from?
Hand out the Connecticut or Massachusetts map that students
have labeled “Colonization in Connecticut.” Can they find their
town? What color is it?
Hand out the Upper Valley Map (or a VT/NH map) and have them mark the four directions. Color the Connecticut River blue.
Find your town and color it the same. Have students continue to
match colors between Connecticut and the Upper Valley.
B. Make a Claim—After gathering evidence from the maps, write a paragraph in which you explain where settlers from your town
came from. Support your response with evidence from the map.
C. Concluding Discussion A. Review the migration of people to the Upper Valley,
specifically the connections between England, Connecticut
and the Upper Valley.
B. Guiding questions: How and why did people migrate to the
Upper Valley? How did they choose to name their towns? What do you think it meant to Native Americans to have
these new people claiming land and renaming the places? What is different about the way Native Americans name
places and the English settlers did?
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 3: Assessment Rubric
Session 3: Settling Vermont and New Hampshire
Beginning
1
Developing
2
Accomplished
3
Exemplary
4 Score
Mann
Story
Student was
unfocused,
distracted, or
distracting to
others
Student paid
attention to
the process
and story.
Student was
an active
listener: asked
questions OR
offered
insights.
Student
beginning to
understand the
content AND
asked
questions and
offered insight.
Map
Inquiry
Student did
not make an
effort to
complete the
map work
according to
instructions
Student
followed
directions
and
completed
the map
activity
Developing,
PLUS
understands
when and how
their town was
laid out.
Accomplished,
PLUS student
beginning to
understand
political &
technical
aspects of
colonization.
Claim
Student
could not
make a claim
about town
settlement.
Student
made a
claim but did
not provide
evidence.
Claim was
supported by
appropriate
evidence.
Claim was
supported by
evidence drawn
from more than
one map.
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE TOWN OF ORFORD NH
DELIVERED ON THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 7 1865 WITH SOME
ADDITIONAL MATTERS RELATING TO THE HISTORY OF THE PLACE
by Joel Mann
(Adapted by Marguerite Ames for the 4th grade)
@I. My great-great grandfather Richard Mann, a planter, came on the Mayflower
with the Pilgrims in 1620. His descendants settled in the Massachusetts counties of
Plymouth and Norfolk. His son Richard (my great-grandfather) purchased a farm in
Hebron, CT, and moved there. My parents were brought up in Hebron. They married
on the Sabbath day, Feb 17, 1765. My grandfather, John Mann, learned that there was
land for sale in what would become Orford. He purchased a lot of fifty acres for one
dollar an acre. He gave this piece of land to my father, John.
@II. John Mann (my father) started on the 16th of October 1765, on horseback with
my mother, who carried with her a wardrobe by no means ample for a bride. My father
rode part of the way, carrying a knapsack, some tools for coopering, and an axe. On
the day they left for the wilds of Coos the people of the village bid them farewell, not
expecting ever to see them again. Indeed it was a greater and far more dangerous trip
than now to go to California or Oregon.
@III. At Charlestown, NH, (Fort #4)Mann bought a bushel of oats for his horse,
and some bread and cheese for himself and his wife. They set off, he on foot and his wife
on horseback. From Charlestown to Orford, a distance of 60 miles, there was no road,
only a foot path with marked trees to guide them. The path was often blocked with
fallen trees. When they came to one that the horse could not get around, the young bride
had to get off the horse. Then they had to unload the horse and make it jump over the
obstacle. This happened many times. Once, the horse did not wait to be unloaded and
leaped over a large tree, rider and all! His wife and all the luggage ended up in a heap
upon the ground! Thankfully she was not hurt, so they packed up and continued on
their way.
@IV. On their journey they stopped in Claremont, Cornish, Plainfield, Lebanon,
Hanover, and Lyme to rest or to spend the night. As newcomers, my parents were
welcomed and treated to what little food the settlers had. Just before arriving in
Orford, they came to a stream that was too deep for wading and had to go upstream to
find a safe place for crossing. The banks were steep with tangled underbrush, so this
was quite dangerous.
@V. The whole journey of about two hundred miles took eight days, averaging
twenty-five miles in a day. They arrived in Orford on October 24, 1765. Orford was
founded by John Mann, a man of pure and noble aims and of greatly useful life. Over
the years, skill and hard work has transformed a gloomy wilderness into a productive
town. The home of the savage has become the home of an intelligent cultivated Christian
people.
@VI. My oldest brother, Major Mann, wrote an account of the early settlement. He
said that when our parents arrived in Orford, Mr. Daniel Cross and his wife were
living in a small log hut near the bank of the river. The hut was covered with bark and
had a floor of split logs. There was no chimney or hearth. Mr. Cross welcomed the new
comers into his cabin. The men agreed to share the cutting of wood and to keeeping a
fire in the middle of the cabin. They divided the space using blankets.
@VII When my father needed an augur to make a bed, he had to walk nine miles
through the woods to Thetford to borrow one. When the bed and two or three chair
frames were put together, it was back nine miles through the woods to return the augur.
This labor and fatigue was considered as nothing!
@VIII Since there was no grain raised yet, Mr. Mann spent his evenings making pails
and tubs. When the river was frozen, he piled them on a hand sled and took them to
Newbury VT, about 20 miles away. There he exchanged them for corn with the three
families living there: Johnston, Bailey, and Hazen. They had been there three years, had
cleared land, and raised corn. Back in Orford, they pounded the corn in large mortars
made from wood logs that they had hollowed out at one end. Mrs. Mann and Mrs.
Cross used the finest ground part of the corn to make cakes. They boiled the coarser
part and ate it with milk from Mr. Cross's cow. After they were settled in their own
tent, Mrs. Mann went to the river and brought all the water they used in a three-pint
basin, except on washing days. What would our young lasses think of beginning
housekeeping in that way?
@IX My father told me that soon after they arrived, nearly two feet of snow fell and in
a few days there fell two feet more. My parents began to think they might be buried
alive before the spring. Fortunately plenty of wood was close at hand. My father had
built their log cabin on high ground near the river. But, because of the spring thaw, the
river rose so much that one morning they found their cabin entirely surrounded by
water. He carried his wife to a place where it had not reached. The work of clearing the
land may be imagined from the fact that the pine trees were an average two hundred
feet high! I remember seeing their enormous stumps when I was a boy. When my
parents first arrived here, there had been endless forest, the prowling wolf and the timid
deer.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 4: Finding our Town’s First Settlers
Focusing Question: Who were the first people to settle here?
Overview: Students explore a cemetery with gravestones of the first settlers. Students gather data; connect with sites via drawing and mapping; and
use these connections as a jumping off point for Lesson 5.
Topical understandings: Primary sources
Data collection
Materials: Digital Camera
Cemetery data collection form (Handout A)
Clipboard Paper
Pencil Chaperones
Length of time to complete: Teacher Prep + one class period
Procedures: Teacher Preparation:
Use your town history to choose a window of time for your students to
investigate. For instance, if your town was chartered in 1763, the first settlers to be buried in the cemetery will range from 1763 – 1820 or
later.
Visit the cemetery and decide whether you want to pre-choose settler
stones for students to find or if you want to provide them with a set of dates and let them search for settler stones (this is much more
challenging). Decide how far apart you want your students to range.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
2
Typically, it works best to have one stone for each 1 – 3 students,
depending on whether they do their best work individually, working in pairs, or as trios.
1. Introduction
Help students visualize the first settlers of the town by continuing a close read of the Mann Family Story from Session 3. Other
stories to read include: Alice Dalgliesh, The Courage of Sarah Noble; Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, The Bear that Heard Crying
Explain that you will be gathering evidence from primary
sources—artifacts from the time when the town was first settled to find out who settled the town.
2. Gathering Evidence at the Cemetery
Clarify that the cemetery is – for today – their “outdoor
classroom.” Elicit a list of appropriate outdoor classroom behaviors, and commit to following them.
Also clarify that a cemetery warrants other respectful behaviors. What are they?
Clarify that this section of the cemetery is – for today – a museum of primary sources, artifacts which can help them discover the
history of their town. Begin to walk through the cemetery.
Model your process with the first headstone – data collection / drawing / symbol. You may wish to include measuring height /
width / depth. And take photos! Then drop off pairs to complete the process with additional stones
Teacher moves between groups and gathers students for reflection as they finish.
3. Drawing Conclusions Who are some of the characters – or people – in our town’s
colonial story? Were there specific clues or links to important local, regional or
national events (e.g. American Revolution)? Dates when things happened (e.g. First settler in 1766)? Are their clues to migration
(e.g. Born in Farmington, CT)? Or to roles played in the community (Served as Deacon)?
4. Asking Questions
Students should generate 2 – 3 new questions about “their settler.”
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 4: Assessment Rubric
Lesson 4: Finding our Town’s First Settlers
Beginning
1
Developing
2
Accomplished
3
Exemplary
4 Score
Field work
in Cemetery
Student was
unfocused,
distracted,
or
distracting to
others
Student paid
attention to
the process
of
observation
& analysis.
Student
beginning to
recognize
architectural
and/or
cultural
features.
Student can
demonstrate
observation &
analysis of
artifacts.
Discussions
Analysis
Student was
unfocused in
group
discussions,
distracted,
or
distracting to
others
Student was
following
discussions,
but not
active in
responding
to or asking
questions.
Student was
engaged in
group
discussions,
and asked OR
answered
questions
Student was
actively
engaged in the
group
discussion:
BOTH asking
and answering
questions
Data
Collection/
Product
Student did
not make an
effort to
complete the
data
collection
form
Student
followed
directions
and
completed
their data
collection
form
Developing,
PLUS
beginning to
wonder about
/ understand
who their
settler was as
an individual.
Accomplished,
PLUS
beginning to
understand the
larger story of
colonization:
who, when,
where, how,
why.
Content/
Mastery
Student
cannot name
or date a
colonial
settler
Student
knows the
name OR
dates of
their colonial
settler
Student
knows the
name and
dates of their
Colonial
settler
Accomplished,
PLUS can
name several
settlers, where
they’ve come
from, what
they did.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 4: Handout A
GRAVESTONE DATA COLLECTION FORM
Your name: _____________________________ Today’s date: _______
Stone color:________________________________________________
Stone type: fieldstone slate marble granite
(circle one)
Shape: bed board arched pointed rectangular
other_____________________
Height: ________________ Width: ____________________________
Thickness: ____________________
First name on stone: ________________________________________
Middle name / initial: ________________________________________
Last name: ________________________________________________
Date of death: Month_____________Day___________ Year _________
Date of birth: Month______________ Day_________ Year _________
It might not be on stone - but you might be able to estimate
Year of death: ________ Minus the age: ________
------------------------ Birth year: ________
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
2
Name of spouse(s):__________________________________________
Children’s names:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Other information on the stone:
____________________________________________________
Make a sketch of the stone.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2010
1
Session 5: Researching our Towns First Settlers
Focusing question: What did these people do to form our town?
Overview: Students use primarysources such as the 1790 census or town meeting records and secondary sources such as the town history, to learn more
about their town’s settlement era. They decide what is the most important information they will share about their settler.
Topical Understandings: Using primary sources Using secondary sources
Materials: Town History
Town meeting records or other primary sources 1790 Census
Time: Varies, depending on students & resources.
Recommend 1 – 2 periods.
Procedure:
1. Introduction to Historical Evidence Introduce the concept of primary and secondary sources as
evidence. Typically, primary resources are "artifacts" from the time in question. Secondary resources are books about the time in
question.
Primary Sources provide firsthand evidence of historical events. They are generally materials such as manuscripts,
photographs, maps, and newspapers form the time under
study. Gravestones are primary sources. Other primary sources you might gather into a classroom archive include:
Scans of the first town records (found via the Town
Clerk)
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2010
2
Scan of the town charter (found via the Town Clerk)
1790 census (online)
Secondary Sources, on the other hand, offer an analysis or a restatement of primary sources. Examples of secondary
sources include: dictionaries, encyclopedias, and textbooks. A textbook might reprint a primary source such as an old
document or photograph. A website might provide digitized versions of primary sources. Secondary sources you might
gather into a classroom archive include:
Copies of Abby Hemenway’s Vermont Historical Gazetteer history of your town. Some one online at archive.org
Your town history (found online or in your town library)
2. Gathering Evidence Provide students with a notetaking system that you already use.
For each primary or secondary source have them look up “their” settler’s name and answer the questions generated at the end of
session 4. These might include: How big was the family? Where did they live? Did they have a role in the community? What sort of
work did they do?
3. Formative Assessment After researching your settler, create a list of at least three
important details you will share with the class about your settler’s story. For each detail, provide a quote from your research, and
record where you found your information.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Lesson 5: Assessment Rubric
Lesson 5: Researching our Colonial Settlers
Beginning
1
Developing
2
Accomplished
3
Exemplary
4 Score
Discussion /
Participation
Student
was
unfocused,
distracted,
or
distracting
to others
Student
paid
attention,
but was not
active in
responding
to or asking
questions
Student was
engaged in
group
discussions,
and asked OR
answered
questions
Student was
actively
engaged in the
group
discussion:
BOTH asking
and answering
questions
Primary
source
Student
was
unfocused
in the
inquiry
process and
did not
complete
their
challenge
Student
completed
their
primary
source
challenge
Student
completed the
challenge and
retained the
information
Accomplished,
PLUS building
an
understanding
of their colonist
& that person’s
role
Secondary
source
Student
was
unfocused
in the
inquiry
process and
did not
complete
their
challenge
Student
completed
the
secondary
source
challenge
Student
completed the
challenge and
retained their
finding(s)
Accomplished,
PLUS building
an
understanding
of their colonist
& that person’s
role
Content /
Mastery
Student
could not
make a list
of details
Student
made a list
of at least 3
important
details
Student made
a list of at
least 3
important
details and
found quotes
Accomplished,
PLUS they can
synthesize
their learning
verbally or in
writing
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Lesson 6: Writing Our Colonial Quest
Focusing Question: How can we share what we’ve learned with
others?
Overview: Students first establish a route for their Quest. They then
either go back to the cemetery or use maps/photographs from their first
field trip to compose movement clues (procedures) to guide visitors along the Quest route. They then use their research to create a teaching
clue to share what they’ve learned. Finally they create an illustration that synthesizes their learning.
Topical Understandings: Procedural writing
Synthesis Presentation of learning / knowledge
Materials: Movement clue worksheet (Handout A) Putting it all together worksheet (Handout B)
Masking tape Index cards (or scraps of paper)
Paper Pencil
Length of time to complete: Three to four 30 – 40 minute periods
Procedures: Before you move through these procedures, review with your class one or two examples of other student work at www.valleyquest.org You can
print examples – or better still look at it on the ‘big screen’ by using an
LCD projector. Then….
1. Establish the “Quest domain” (10 – 15 minutes)
Have the students sit in a large circle. Let’s map this quest site…right here on the floor!”
Using the duct tape, establish the baseline(s); the four directions.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
2
Pick a Quest starting point (place to park OR that is easy to
find) From there, move mentally through this site, marking KEY site
elements using either ‘post its’ or index cards. 2. Establish route (5 minutes)
Next, sequence these features into an order, or your Quest ROUTE
3. Assign points Clarify / assign small groups responsibility for specific
segments of the route: Starting point A to point B; point B to C; C to D; etc.
Responsibility will follow based on your earlier site visit & their area of research.
4. Clarify assignment (10 – 15 minutes) Clarify that on this field trip, each group - working in its
segment - will need to create a movement clue leading to their
site (from the last one). The 1st group writes from the Quest starting point.
Pre-teach movement clues in the classroom (or on campus)
using the attached form.
First, walk between your two points making observations.
Next, chose the landmarks / ideas that you like best.
Then, sequence them into procedures. And now, work to turn them into 1 – 3 fragments…
And finally into the desired form (sentences, couplets, etc.)
5. Movement Clues (one period) Head out on the field trip! Each group drafts their
movement clue. Then two groups pair up to test / refine each other’s work.
6. Back in the Classroom - Teaching clue / drawings (one period)
Pre teach the Synthesis process using the “Pulling it all
together” form (Handout B)
o First, create a list of the things you know about your
topic.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
3
o Next, circle the facts that feel most important to
share. o Then, sequence these ideas into a best order: A, B, C,
etc. o And now, turn that into a DRAFT paragraph or two of
“synthesis writing.” o Finally, create an illustration that helps convey your
idea / story.
Students put their paragraph and image into the form.
7. Students share their work with a read-through from the beginning.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 6: Assessment Rubric
Lesson 6: Creating our Colonial Quest
Beginning
1
Developing
2
Accomplished
3
Exemplary
4 Score
Participation
Student
was
unfocused,
distracted,
or
distracting
to others.
Student
paid
attention,
but was not
active in
responding
to or asking
questions
Student was
engaged in
group
process,
participated
by asking OR
answering
questions
Student was
actively
engaged in the
group process:
BOTH asking
and answering
questions
Movement
clue
Student
was
unfocused
in the
inquiry
process and
did not
complete
their
challenge
Student
completed
their
movement
clue.
Student
completed the
challenge
using
thoughtful
language OR
focused
observation
Challenge
completed with
BOTH
thoughtful use
of language
and strong
powers of
observation
Teaching
clue/
Illustration
Student
was
unfocused
in the
inquiry
process and
did not
complete
their
challenge
Student
completed
their
teaching
clue and
illustration.
Student
completed the
challenge
using strong
details OR
synthesis
Challenge
completed with
BOTH strong
presentation of
learning AND
synthesis
(story telling)
Content/
Mastery
Student
cannot say
much about
their
colonist(s)
Student
knows basic
information
about their
colonist(s).
Developing,
AND can cite
a variety of
primary and
secondary
resources.
Accomplished,
PLUS they can
synthesize their
learning into a
comprehensive
narrative.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 6: Handout A
Movement Clues:
Group: ____________________________ We are responsible from getting: FROM TO Some landmarks between these two points are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Now, circle the ones you like the most. Now sequence them into the ‘best’ order:
1. 2. 3.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
2
Now, write these lines in prose (as sentences)
_______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________ Now, turn these into rhyming couplets, your Quest movement clues: _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 6: Handout B
Putting it all Together After researching your settler, write a brief paragraph describing your
settler’s life. Support your description with historical evidence.
Draw an illustration that reveals something you’ve learned about their life and times.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 7: Completing Our Colonial Quest
Focusing Question: What do we need to do to finish our Quest?
Overview: Students participate in a production session, where all of
the Quest elements are completed: map; compass rose; movement clues; teaching clues; directions to the site; Quest box (with stamp,
pad, sign-in book); thank you notes; marketing plan distribution plan; etc.
Topical Understandings: Editing Design
Promotion Distribution
Materials: Paper, pencils, glue sticks, computers, a pair of
compasses (artist) and various art materials for the box maker,
book maker and stamp maker.
Time: One or two 30 - 40 minute periods. (Note: Could be completed as homework)
Procedures: 1. Revisit a sample Quest (online or in one of the Valley Quest books)
with your students and encourage discussion about overall design,
layout, graphics, etc. Tell the students that this is the time for them to pull together and work to bring their Quest to a final product. Set
a deadline for the completion of tasks.
2. Assign students or small groups to the different tasks that will
complete your Quest:
Job title: Artist(s)
Challenge: Come up with a design for a Compass Rose that
indicates North and utilizes elements/details/themes of your Quest site.
Procedures: Sketch out the Compass Rose.
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
2
Ink it with dark pen so that it will photocopy.
Reduce image to the appropriate size for your publication Materials: paper, pencil, pen, examples of Compass Rose
The best compass ro
The best compass roses will encrypt some elements of the story of your site.
Job title: Poet (s) Challenge: Review the “portions” of the Quest and work to
improve flow, meter, and rhyme so that the quest fits together as a whole.
Procedure: Review clues
Edit to improve flow, meter, etc. Spell check the entire document
Print out the final product Materials: Pen, paper, computer, dictionary, thesaurus
Job title: Cartographer(s) Challenge: Create the Quest Treasure Map, using student
drawings, landmark drawings and other resources. Procedures:
Collect student drawings
Photocopy, darken and re-size as necessary Lay out to “frame” the Quests map
Create site map utilizing community map, google map, world wide web or memory
And overlay student “landmark” drawings re-sized as appropriate Insert compass rose
And add key, title, scale, etc. as appropriate
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
3
Materials: Paper, pen, map resources, student art work
Job title: Graphic Designer(s) Challenge: Come up with a publication format/design that works
best to present your Quest. Procedures:
Should there be a cover? What should it look like? Compose the “To get there” instructions that steer visitors to the
Quest site. Consider the overall design: Where should the map and clues be
placed? Create a statement from the group. “This Quest was created
by…”, “because…”, and especially a “we’d like to thank…” section at the end.
Materials: Paper, pens, colored pencils, crayons, copies of Quest map and clues.
Job title: Archivist(s) Challenge: Come up with a system to organize and store digital
photographs and other materials used so you have a clear records
and resource for others. Procedures:
Download pictures from camera Scan primary or secondary sources
Create digital archive folder or files for the teacher Burn on a CD and deliver to school librarian
Burn on a CD and deliver to your Historical Society
Job title: Stamp Maker(s) Challenge: Come up design and carve a rubber stamp for the
Quest treasure box. Procedures:
Follow the instructions at
http://www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest/MakeAStamp.htm
Job title: Book Artist(s) Challenge: Make a guest book for your Quest treasure box.
Procedures:
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
4
Follow the instructions at:
http://www.vitalcommunities.org/valleyquest/bookmaking.htm
Job title: Publicist(s) Challenge: Come up with a plan to share your Quest with the
broader community: other classes, library patrons, day care centers, scout groups, etc.
Job title: Appreciator(s)! Challenge: Create thank you notes to acknowledge all the
people (and organizations) who have helped you with your project.
3. Students share their work
4. Finally, finish the project with a CELEBRATION and CLOSING
CIRCLE:
What did you learn? What will you remember?
What was most important for you? What excited you the most?
How did this project make you feel?
www.vitalcommunities.com/valleyquest | Copyright 2015
1
Session 7: Assessment Rubric
Lesson 7: Completing our Colonial Quest
Beginning
1
Developing
2
Accomplished
3
Exemplary
4 Score
Participation
Student
was
unfocused,
distracted,
or
distracting
to others.
Student
participated
in their
aspect of
the process.
Student was
engaged in the
process OR
demonstrated
creativity /
commitment
Student was
actively
engaged,
demonstrating
creativity AND
commitment
Product 1
Student
was
unfocused
in the
inquiry
process and
did not
complete
their
challenge
Student
completed
their
component.
Student
completed the
challenge
demonstrating
content
knowledge OR
careful
execution
Challenge
completed
BOTH
demonstrating
knowledge
AND with
careful
execution
Product 2
Student
was
unfocused
in the
inquiry
process and
did not
complete
their
challenge
Student
completed
their
component.
Student
completed the
challenge
demonstrating
content
knowledge OR
careful
execution
Challenge
completed
BOTH
demonstrating
knowledge
AND with
careful
execution
Content/
Mastery
Student did
not follow
through on
their part of
the whole
Student
completed
their part of
the project
Developing
AND
understands
that part
within the
context of
(and
commitment
to) the whole.
Accomplished;
PLUS took a
leadership role
in helping the
class complete
the QUEST!