Early Settlers Unit Study

Roanoke, Jamestown, Bermuda, and Popham

Before Plymouth Plantation, four other settlements placed their footprints on history.




A love story that didn’t happen, a brutal sea battle, pirates....
a lost spy map, and a colony that disappeared...

            It’s the story of the founding of America.

Our multi-level unit study offers intriguing insights to students and leaders about the events near the Atlantic shore from 1584 to 1619.

Get the Early Settlers Unit Study

Student and Teacher's Material Included
$5.99 Download - 199 pages

Who Can Use the Early Settlers Unit Study?

Designed with maximum flexibility, our unit study can be used in several ways:

Solo Students

Textual readings are interspersed with engaging activities that can be done by a single student working page by page through the content.

Classroom and Small Groups

The Teacher's Key provides directions on presenting some content in large groups, and breaking other activities into small groups. Varied teaching methodologies and captiviating content will peak students' interest.

Multi-Level Learning

Ideal for homeschooling families and micro-schools, students in different age groups can work side by side.

The Teacher's Overview Chart will indicate content adaptable for three different age groups.

What Is Included?

• Student pages with content and activities (117 pages, not including maps)
• Maps (28 different maps with a variety of cartography activities)
• Instructor's Guide (Lesson Chart, Strategies, Teacher's Notes, Answer Keys)
• Made-For-Use Reference List (Kids' Books, Teen/Adult Resources, Annotated Bibliography, Recommended next books for further reading, Primary sources for the seriously interested scholar)
• Notebooking Pages
• Vocabulary Cards
• Final Exam (Suggested)
•             199 Valuable Pages of Action-Packed Info and Ideas!

What Else Is Needed?

This is a self-contained unit study, so NO other supplies are required. (With the exception of pencils, highlighters, scissors, etc.)

Recommended Optional Supplies

While nothing else is NEEDED, the lesson plans do list other optional activities.

Literature & Additional Reading for Younger Students

These books give suggested chapters for students to read in the lesson plans:

1. Bulla, Clyde Robert. Lion To Guard Us
2. Our Lion to Guard Us Unit Study has additional activities for younger students.
3. Bulla, Clyde Robert. Pocahontas and the Strangers
4. Yolen et al. Roanoke The Lost Colony: An Unsolved Mystery from History

Older students may also enjoy these easy to read books listed above.

Literature for Middle and Older Students

1. Fritz and Talbott. The Lost Colony of Roanoke
2. Givens, David, et al. Angela: Jamestown and the First Africans
3. Strachey, William. True Report (3 page exerpt included in Unit Study. Transliteration of full report available here.

Primary Source

This 1590 reprint gives middle and older students an authentic historical experience:

• Harriot, Thomas. A Briefe And True Report of The New Found Land of Virginia. The Complete 1590 Theodore De Bry Edition (Dover Publications reprint)

Other Activities

Other optional activities that require outside materials include short Youtube clips of historical events, model of Fort Jamestown, and field trip ideas.

Content Covered in the Early Settlers Unit Study

Major themes include:

• Queen Elizabeth and Spanish Armada
• Algonquian tribes
• Roanoke Colony
• Theories of the Lost Colony
• Jamestown: The First Ten Years
• Sea Venture Wreck and Bermuda
• Popham Colony of 1607

Activities in Our Early Settlers Unit Study

High-interest content is presented through a variety of activites:

• Algonquian Indian Villages
• Map/Cartography Skills
• Contrast Tribal and Medieval Villages
• Reasons to Colonize America
• Vocabulary: How Words Change
• The Four Journeys to Roanoke
• Search for Clues in the Roanoke Mystery
• Choose a character type to follow
• Know Those Council Members
• 3 Groups of Settlers
• John Smith’s Map Scavenger Hunt
• Read 16th Century Typeset
• Jamestown Archaeology - Find that Fort!
• Primary Sources
• Hang Man: What’s In The Ship’s Hold?
• Word Search: Jamestown’s Rough First Year
• Jamestown Supplies: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th
• Strachey’ Sea Venture: A Modern Transliteration
• Shipwrecked: What’s Next?
• Sea Venture Shipwreck Game
• Starving Time: Jamestown Bombs
• Martial Law: Penalities for What?
• History, Legend, and Archaelogy
• Pocahontas Facts - Dot-to-Dot
• Did Pocahontas Save John Smith - comparing history and legend
• Lost Colony Theories: What did the Jamestowners think? What do you think? (Compare 9 theories)
• Timelines: Why they matter
• The Zuniga Spy Map!
• Game: Plymouth vs London & the Popham Colony
• Pin the Colony on the River (pin the tail on the donkey)
• Which was more successful: Jamestown vs Popham
• We Dig Archaeology: Finding the Forgotten Colony
• What’s In A Charter?
• 11 Settlements to be Represented in 1st Legislative Assembly
• Vote with the 1st Legislative Assembly in 1619
• The Journey of a Slave Ship
• Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Get the Early Settlers Unit Study

Explore scenes of native life, evaluate reasons for settling the new world, search for clues to the fate of the lost colonists, join the John Smith scavenger hunt on the 1612 Map of Virginia, sail with Strachey on the ill-fated Sea Venture, look for the location of old forts, and vote in the first legislative assembly.

Multi-Level Unit Study: Student & Teacher's Material Included
$5.99 Download - 199 pages

Early Settlers Pages

Check out our other pages for the Early Settlers Unit Study

Get the Lion To Guard Us Unit Study

Student Guide AND Teacher's Answer Key Included
$2.99 Download - 78 pages

Our pages for A Lion To Guard Us

Clyde Bulla's Historical Fiction of Jamestown & the Sea Venture