Teacher Resources
In this interactive lesson, students will learn about the colonization of Jamestown and St. Mary’s City. Students will investigate the colonists’ challenges and interactions with Indigenous people, and ultimately compare and contrast the successes and failures of the two colonies.
This interactive lesson is aligned to Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards.
This module contains several interactive features.Lesson Information
- Grade Band: 3-5
- Focus Standard: Maryland Elementary School Social Studies Standards
- Topic: Social Studies
- Completion Time: 30-40 minutes
- Vocabulary: Visit the Glossary page for definitions of key vocabulary in this module.
Related Standards
Maryland Social Studies Standards
Standard 2.0: Peoples of the Nations and World
Standard 3.0: Geography
MSDE SS: 4.2.1
Students will compare Maryland’s colonial experience with other colonies by:
- examining motivations for European settlement in North America. (4.2.1.a)
- comparing and contrasting the factors that led to success and failure in Jamestown, Plymouth, St. Augustine, and St. Mary’s City. (4.2.1.b)
MSDE SS: 4.1.2
Students will evaluate the motivations for European exploration by:
- identifying the push/pull factors that led to European exploration and colonization. (4.1.2.a)
- explaining geographic factors that influenced European exploration. (4.1.2.b)
MSDE SS: 4.1.3
Students will evaluate the impact of exploration on various groups by:
- evaluating early interactions between European and American Indians from multiple perspectives. (4.1.3.c)
- assessing the economic and geographic outcomes of European exploration in North America and Maryland. (4.1.3.e)
Additional Resources
- Historic St. Mary’s City - This website provides a comprehensive visual and narrative history of Historic St. Mary's City.
- Liberty of Conscience - This video from Maryland Public Television includes film clips used in this lesson. Continue to watch the full documentary to learn more about the founding of Maryland and St. Mary’s City.
- Library of Congress: Virginia's Early Relations with Native Americans - This secondary source article provides background information on interactions with Indigenous people in the early Virginia colony.
- Library of Congress: Jamestown Teacher’s Guide - This secondary source article on the founding of Jamestown. The top of the page also includes several related primary sources.
- Encyclopedia Virginia: Map of Powhatan Chiefdom - This map provides information on the location of tribes in the Powhatan Chiefdom.
Using This Site
This lesson is built for use on classroom computers and tablets. If you have access to a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or an interactive whiteboard in your classroom, you may complete the lesson in your classroom. Otherwise, you will need to schedule time to use your school's computer lab. For technical specifications, see below.
Some activities on this site may include videos and narration, so you may want to have headphones available for students working at individual stations. For best results in viewing the videos and interactives, you should have a high-speed, stable Internet connection.
This lesson may contain PDFs for students to complete. They can print the PDFs and fill them out by hand, or download the files and fill them out on the computer. Most or all portions can be filled out online. Please check with your Instructional Technology Specialist for instructions on downloading the PDF. (Note that to complete the PDFs on the computer, you will need a viewer that supports forms, such as Adobe Reader.)
Technology
This site is an Internet-based activity, and was built to run on the following computer operating systems and browsers:
- Windows 10 or Newer: IE 8, 9, 10, 11; Current version of Chrome; Current version of Firefox
- Mac OS 10.7 or Newer: Current version of Safari
- iPad2/iOS6 or Newer: Current version of Safari
- Android 4.0 or Newer: Current version of Android browser
- Chromebook: Current version of Chrome
Users running Internet Explorer 8 will not be able to use the highlighter tool. Instead, teachers should consider partnering students for a brief discussion.
Visit the Accessibility page for detailed information on the site's accessibility features.
