Colonial Day Project
In conclusion of our study with the 13 Colonies, we will be hosting aColonial Day to experience life back in the colonial times. In order to put the day and celebration together, groups of students will need to choose one of the following jobs listed below. You will have four days to study, compile, and become an “expert” with your group members for the job you have selected. Look at the jobs listed below and rate your top three jobs, placing a 1 next to your top choice and a 2 and 3 next to the jobs that follow.
WANTED: Newspaper Editors
Do you like writing, drawing cartoons, or talking about the weather? This job requires a group of students to compile top stories from the colonial days, as well as weather reports, wanted ads, and political cartoons.
WANTED: Map Makers
Are you a good navigator? Do you like drawing? Well, put the two together and map making is the job for you! Employees of this job will create maps of each of the colonies, explaining the land and its terrain. You will also need to do some research on how maps were made and designed.
WANTED: Black Smiths
Are you good with your hands? Do you like creating designs from scratch? Well, if you don’t mind the heat, choosing a career as a blacksmith would allow you to study how goods were assembled and made in the colonial days. You will share about the colonies in which your job was most popular, even providing some examples to show off your craft!
WANTED: Fashion Designers
Are you a fashion guru? What a perfect way to study the colonial times along with an interest you love. Designers in this job will study what fashion was like for men and women during the colonial times. You will even have the opportunity to explore other items and accessories such as wigs, shoes, hats, and much more. With dyes, textiles, and weaving, the possibilities are endless.
WANTED: A Colonial Family
Are you a homemaker? Do you want to know more about the day-to-day life of a typical family in the colonial days? You will have the opportunity to study the roles of men, women and children to recreate a typical household, showing daily life including chores, meals, free time and much more.
WANTED: Colonial Planners
Are you a planner? Do you constantly find yourself thinking about the convenience of certain stores, restaurants, hospitals and houses in your neighborhood? This job will require these excellent planners to study the inner-workings of a typical colonial town and carefully plan and construct a replica for all to see.
WANTED: Ministers
Do you feel called to the religious life? This unique and special job will allow you to study the different religions present during the colonial times, composing sermons and sharing the importance of and the role religion played in the colonists’ lives.
WANTED: Farmers
Do you like food and cooking? Better yet, do you like growing your own food for that cooking? Well, farming might be the job for you. In this profession, workers will study the crops harvested from colony to colony, providing examples and maybe a few to try.
WANTED: Colonial Entertainers
Were you born to be on the stage? Entertainment was a special way for colonists to release the stresses of their daily lives and have some fun. If you love entertaining people, you will enjoy studying the entertainment of the colonial days and creating a show or two to share.
WANTED: Convenient Store Owners
Are you a good salesman? Do you wish you could own your very own store? Well, this job can provide you with the opportunity to study the items sold at stores in the colonial days, choosing the products that interest you most and then opening that store to the public.
WANTED: Diplomats
Are you a leader? Do you like to take charge when necessary? Well, you may be destined for a job in the early government of the colonial days. You will study the founders of the colonies, adopting a specific leader to share the roles they played and the methods they used to run their colonies and keep the peace.
Once the groups have been determined, each group of students will create one pamphlet, following the 5Ws (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How) to pass out to students that visit their booth. The pamphlet’s design is up to the group, but it will need to explain the job, why it is important to the colony and any other interesting facts your group chooses to include. Each booth will be assessed on the Colonial Day. In addition, each group member will assess each other and themselves according to a cooperation rubric.
Our Colonial Day will take place on Friday, February 26th. More details will be discussed in class. Happy planning!