Leadership in Jamestown

K-12 Objectives | Materials Needed | Procedures | Assessment | Standards

Discipline: U.S. History

Specific Lesson Topic: The social and political world of the Chesapeake region, British government and society, and the Virginia Company

Methodology: Primary Sources

Objectives:

Identify contemporary ideas about the New World and about leadership.
Formulate criteria for leadership based on evaluation of Jamestown's leaders.
Identify origins, compositions, and goals of the Virginia Company.

Materials:

One networked computer with Internet access

Procedures:

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1. Distribute copies of Leadership in Jamestown to students.

2. Print a copy or refer to the on-line glossary if needed.

3. Divide class into 3-4 groups.

4. Have students read Leadership in Jamestown individually.

5. Distribute copies of the rating analysis chart. Choose either the blank chart or the chart with suggested leadership criteria and distribute.

6. Have students discuss candidates among themselves and complete chart.

7. End discussion period and have each group tell you and the class which candidate they chose and why.

8. Ask students to think individually about which candidate he or she would personally select (regardless of whom the group selected). They each write one paragraph about their choice and provide one reason in support of their choice.

Assessment for K-12:
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Have students read a short biography of an actual leader of Jamestown, John Smith (or read a biography of John Smith at the Jamestown Rediscovery site). They should then evaluate John Smith as a leader according to the categories in the ratings analysis chart, and decide which candidate John Smith resembles most.
Then, they should write answers to the following questions:

What are some of the problems John Smith had to deal with as the leader of Jamestown?
Do you think John Smith's experience helped him be a leader in the colony?

Standards:

National History Standards: Standards in Historical Thinking

Standard 2: Historical Comprehension
Standard 3: Historical Analysis and Interpretation

This module is based on the work of Mickey Hickman and Erin Wigginton and was modified and adapted to the web by Sonja Czarnecki of the University of Virginia.