Teaching Jamestown to Upper Elementary Students
- Jun 17
- 4 min read
Jamestown is one of the most important topics in early American history, but for many students, it can feel like a collection of dates and names. With the right activities and resources, however, Jamestown can become an exciting story of survival, perseverance, and decision-making. Here are some engaging ways to help your upper elementary students connect with the first permanent English settlement in North America.
Start with a Survival Challenge
Before introducing the history of Jamestown, present students with a simple challenge:
"Imagine you are traveling across the ocean to a new land. You can only bring five items. What would you choose?"
Allow students to discuss their choices in small groups. Then introduce the challenges the Jamestown settlers actually faced, including disease, hunger, drought, and unfamiliar surroundings. This activity helps students understand that surviving in Jamestown was far more difficult than many imagine.
Provide Informational Texts about Jamestown
Providing students with age-appropriate informational texts helps them develop both content knowledge and reading comprehension skills.
As students read about Jamestown, encourage them to focus on key topics such as:
Why did the settlers come to Virginia
The role of John Smith
The Powhatan people
The Starving Time
John Rolfe and the importance of tobacco farming
House of Burgesses
Students can practice identifying main ideas, citing evidence, and determining cause-and-effect relationships while learning important historical content.
Explore Cause and Effect Relationships
Jamestown provides excellent opportunities to teach cause and effect.
Ask students questions such as:
What happened because many settlers searched for gold instead of growing food?
How did drought affect the colony?
Why did tobacco farming help Jamestown succeed?
Students can create graphic organizers that connect important events with their outcomes.
Add Engaging Activities like Task Cards and Color-by-Code Worksheets
Have you tried any task card/scavenger hunt activities? I love being able to present information in a new and interesting way. Any time you can implement a social studies curriculum while getting the kids up and moving, you're winning. I place the cards around the room (out of order). Then, during ELA centers or the Social Studies block, students move around the room to answer the questions corresponding to each card.
Color-by-code is a perfect review before a test or quiz. Students answer comprehension questions about Jamestown and color according to the code.
Encourage Book Clubs with Chapter Books
One of the best ways to maximize instructional time is to integrate social studies content into reading instruction. Jamestown informational texts provide opportunities for students to practice vocabulary, text evidence, main idea, sequencing, and comprehension skills while learning about early American history.
By combining literacy and social studies, students gain a deeper understanding of historical events while strengthening essential reading skills.
Could Sam and his fellow settlers trust Virginia’s Indians to help them? Could they learn to survive in this strange new land?
Tells the story of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. Written in graphic-novel format.
Our Strange New Land by Patricia Hermes is a historical fiction novel told through the diary entries of nine-year-old Elizabeth Barker.
To understand the impact of a disaster, you must understand its causes. How did the settlers' attitude toward the Powhatan tribes result in violence? Did the settlers' search for gold blind them to the need for other necessities? Investigate the disaster from a cause-and-effect perspective and find out!
American history through the letters of two girls in the 1600s: Abigail, who encounters Pocahontas while struggling to survive in the Jamestown colony, and her friend Elizabeth in England, who finds herself trapped in a society that refuses to acknowledge her intelligence or her dreams.
Find the true story of the beginning of the United States in this funny, colorful graphic novel that will excite reluctant readers, prepare students for standardized tests in history and help homeschooling parents!
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Tap into Jamestown with Technology
Mr. Betts' Class
Mr. Betts' songs are so much fun especially once you've learned the topic. Check out his Jamestown song here.
Teaching about Jamestown can be exciting beyond just the textbooks! By incorporating survival challenges, engaging with informational texts, and exploring cause-and-effect activities, students can truly dive into the narrative of America’s first permanent English settlement. When they understand Jamestown as a tale of real people navigating tough choices, it really sparks their interest and connection to the roots of American history. It’s all about making history feel alive and relatable!
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"This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much for sharing!"
Third Grade Groupies
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"What a great way to close out our study of Jamestown! It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to get up and move around the classroom during our small group time. The information included on the cards was in line with our curriculum and lessons taught. "
BethAnn B.
