We began last week by discussing the sources of history, and how historians classify their sources into primary and secondary sources. After some practice on identifying the different types of sources, we have small discussions each social studies period when students discuss the different types of sources we are using.
Because our focus is on British Colonial America, we started the official study of history with an overview of the Lost Colony, perhaps the most famous and mysterious event in North Carolina history.
We watched the following videos to look at some sources and to watch a narrated re-enactment of the Lost Colony:
After exploring the Lost Colony, we moved on to Jamestown, which will be the focus for the next few social studies sessions. On Friday afternoon, we played a fun National Geographic for Kids game that simulates the settling of Jamestown called On the Trail of Captain John Smith. Ask your child to tell you what they learned about the Jamestown settlement from playing the game! In the coming days, some text reading and a simulation will give us a better idea of the types of people who began settling the Jamestown colony, and what motivated them to depart Britain.
