Sailing to Jamestown, 1606-7: Five Classroom Activities
The author presents five classroom activities that involve students in the settlement at Jamestown. Activity 1 simulates the problems encountered on the Godspeed, a fifty-two-foot foot boat with fifty-two passengers traveling across the Atlantic in 1607 for three slow months. In Activity 2, students plot their route, ocean currents, and wind affecting the speed of their 1607 boat crossing the Atlantic from London to Jamestown. In Activity 3, student teams analyze and try to solve problems encountered in the first year at Jamestown when over 70 percent of the adventurers died. In Activity 4, students participate in a skit describing the interesting relationship between Captain Smith and Pocahontas. In Activity 5, students compare and contrast information about Malinche, Pocahontas, and Sacajawea, three Native American women who played significant roles in the history of North America.