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Pocahontas

Pocahontas – Fact or Fiction?

Pat Tribble, Sharon Owen, Brenda Thompson

OlympiaMiddle School

Summer 2005

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs

Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Pocahontas is a fictional/animated character created by Disney for a majority of our 7th grade students. By using primary sources our students will discover the historical facts surrounding Pocahontas and her people.

Overview/State Standards/Resources/Procedures/Evaluation

Overview Back to Navigation Bar
Objectives / Students will:
  • Analyze primary sources and biographies to compare factual information about Pocahontas to fictional accounts of her life.
  • Produce an illustrated poster or booklet using personal artwork, digitized primary sources or digital photography with a typed text summary of how Pocahontas and her people shaped United States history.
  • Demonstrate their newly acquired factual knowledge by listing the facts, fiction, and similarities of the two in a Venn diagram.

Recommended time frame / 5 days
Grade level / 7th
Curriculum fit / Social Studies
Resources /
  • Image table
  • KWL worksheet
  • Directions for making booklet
  • Computers/Printers
  • LCD display/TV/VCR
  • Construction Paper
  • Scanner
  • Colored Pencils, scissors, glue
  • Poster paper and markers

IllinoisStateLearning Standards Back to Navigation Bar
Social Science
GOAL 16: Understand events, trends, individuals and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the United States and other nations.
  • 16.A. Apply the skills of historical analysis and interpretation.
GOAL 18: Understand social systems, with an emphasis on the United States.
  • 18.C. Understand how social systems form and develop over time.
Language Arts
GOAL 3: Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.
  • 3.B. Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences.

Procedures Back to Navigation Bar
DAY 1: Brainstorm and complete the KWL broadside as a class. Introduce Pocahontas with a short video of her life. (Pocahontas by Nest Entertainment, Living History Productions)
DAY 2: Access primary sources from the Library of Congress website by using the Meet the Amazing Americans link or the image table provided. Also biographies from the library will be used in conjunction with the Library of Congress website. Notes will be taken using the template: who, what, when, where and why.(KWL chart)
DAY 3: Develop final project from the notes taken. Students may chose from making a poster summarizing the life of Pocahontas or they may make a six page booklet highlighting just the facts. (Instructions for making booklet are included)
DAY 4:Watch the Disney animated film of Pocahontas with the background knowledge of the real Pocahontas and take notes of the factual content and the fictional content of the film.
Evaluation Back to Navigation Bar
  • Rubric for making booklet
  • Rubric for making poster

An Adventure of the American Mind

IllinoisStateUniversity