Colonial Virginia Learning Menu

Welcome to the yummy colonial Virginia learning menu! Completing fun activities
from this menu as we learn about the influences of Europeans, Africans, and
American Indians on colonial Virginia is going to be a tasty treat. We will have time
in class 3-4 times a week to work on these tasks and it will be due at the end of
the unit. Read the directions carefully, try your best, and have fun!
My colonial Virginia learning menu is due on ____________________.

What to do:
You may complete the main and side dish activities in any order you like!
Main Dish: everyone MUST do this activity
Side Dishes: choose two out of the six activities to complete
Desserts: choose any amount of these you like to complete only AFTER you
have finished your main dish and two side dishes

Behavioral Expectations:

Please
Please
Please
Please
Please

be respectful of classmates.
be respectful of classroom materials.
keep talking to a minimum unless you need help.
concentrate on completing your best work.
stay on task.

Main Dish (must complete!)

Put on your Colonial Virginian Shoes! (Individual)
Think about how your life would have been different if you had been born in colonial
times in Virginia. Write three journal entries from the perspective of a 10-year-old in
these times. Include the following: what you may have done during the day, what your
home looked like, what your parents did during the day, how your family cooked meals,
and what kind of people you interacted with on a daily basis. When you are finished,
turn in your entries in the finished work bin.

Side Dishes (choose any two)

Why Live Anywhere Else?

Take some time to explore the regions of
Virginia using the link on our Weebly
(http://morganesears.weebly.com/socialstudies.html), but this link has been added to
the Favorites bar on our classroom
computers). Create a poster of one of the
regions (Piedmont, Coastal Plain, or Blue Ridge)
that immigrants settled in when they came to
Virginia. You should include pictures, talk about
the landscape, say which group of people lived
here in colonial times, and say whether or not
youd like to live there. Supplies can be found
in the art center!
*Individual or partner
Then and Now
Using information you have learned in class,
create a flipbook that contrasts colonial
Virginia to present-day Virginia (from your
perspective). You should include a then flap
and a now flap for each of the following
things: architecture, customs, and beliefs.
Include facts, current-day observations, and
pictures. Supplies can be found in the art
center!
*Individual
Role Call!
Create a 5-minute role-play that shows what
the first meeting of the American Indians and
European immigrants may have been like. One
or more of you should play the part of an
American Indian while the other partner or
group members plays the European. Be
dramatic in showing your feelings using facial
and verbal expressions. Once you have it
rehearsed, plan a time to perform it for a
classmate or me!
*Partner or small group

Shipwrecked!
Your ship has just crashed on the shore of an
isolated island, and you discover that you have
no way to leave. There is a family that lives
there, but they look and act very different
from you. Write a two-page paper about how
you would start life on this new island. What
kind of architecture, beliefs, and customs would
you bring with you? Would you befriend the
family that is living there already? What would
you name your new home? On a separate piece
of paper, include a drawing of what your
settlement would look like. Turn in your paper
and drawing in the finished work bin.
*Individual
What Does That Even Mean?
Using our class dictionary, look up the following
words: displacement, repression, alien, novelty,
and wistful. Each of these can relate to one or
more of the groups we discussed in class
(Europeans, Africans, American Indians). Create
a book about this. Each page should include the
word, definition, a picture, which group you
think it would relate to that we learned about
and why. Turn it in in the finished work bin!
*Individual or partner
Tell Us How You Really Feel
Pretend you are an African man, woman, or child
that has been brought to colonial Virginia to
work on tobacco farms. Write a poem, song, or
rap that details how you may have felt if you
were in this persons shoes. If you write a poem,
turn it in in the finished work bin once you are
happy with it. If you choose to write a rap or a
song, plan a time to rehearse it for a classmate
or me, then turn in your lyrics in the finished
work bin!
*Individual or partner

Desserts
(Complete as many as you like once you have FINISHED the main and
side dishes)

Go to the library and ask the librarian to help you find a picture book about
colonial Virginia or one of the groups that came here. Read it, and then write a
one-paragraph response on it.
Create a 10-question quiz that could be given to classmates about what we have
learned in this unit. It can be any format (multiple choice, true/false, matching,
fill-in-the-blank).
Complete another side dish.
Work on another assignment.
Read a book!

Menu Justification
For this unit, I envision using this menu as a learning tool that will help my students
broaden their knowledge and deepen their empathy regarding the SOL I have
chosen. Students will work on their menu 3-4 times a week during our social studies
period for 20-30 minutes each time. It will be used throughout the duration of the
unit so that students can work at their own pace. The only website that I am
planning on using has actually been added to my personal Weebly (which I will
eventually be turning into a class Weebly when I am a teacher). The link I am using
is http://morganesears.weebly.com/social-studies.html, but with the idea in mind
that it would be a class website, I added the link to the Weebly page
(http://web.scott.k12.va.us/martha2/Virginia's%20Geography.htm) in the side dish
description instead of a Portaportal.

Learning Menu or
Contract

Name: Morgan Sears

Date: June 17, 2015

Directions:
1. Create a learning contract OR learning menu that could be used in your unit. Be sure to
differentiate it across content, process and/or product with attention to your students
interests and learning preferences. Make it kid-friendly so that students get energized
to actually complete the tasks. Include directions the students would follow to complete the
task.
2. In a short narrative, describe how you envision using this learning tool in your unit. Think
about how it will be used and when in the unit you would use it. If you use Internet sites in
your menu/contract, on the menu/contract indicate access through Portaportal (you dont
actually have to create a Portaportal). However, at the end of your narrative list the URLs
for each site you want students to access.
3. Attach this coversheet to your assignment.
Checklist:
Submitted on time (or consulted with Michelle)
Attached this cover sheet to your product
Followed all directions
Proofread materials so no errors exist

_x__YES
_x__YES
_x__YES
_x__YES

___NO
___NO
___NO
___NO

Evaluation Rubric:
Value
Component
You created a tool that is appropriate for the purpose, curriculum content, and grade level.
Content &
You developed an instrument that highly supports and actively engages the students as they learn
Thinking
the content of the unit. Depending on the instrument you chose, you accurately applied the
(20 pts.)
Communication
(10 pts.)
30

elements of good design. You creatively provided a variety of differentiated tasks that were
equally demanding and engaging.
You created materials of the highest professional quality. You paid careful attention to details
such as typing, spacing, layout, clear directions, etc. so the product is visually appealing and kidfriendly.
Total
Comments:

Morgan Sears
ELED 570
June 15, 2015
Learning Menu and Contract Checklists
For this assignment, I chose to do a learning menu. Therefore, I will not be
completing the good learning contract checklist.
A good learning menu
___x___ Include one or more side dishes that all students must complete (NO
choice if more than one)
__x____ Include several side dishes for students to choose from
__x____ Include clear explanations of what a main dish, side dish, and dessert
is
__x____ Explains how many of each main dish, side dish, and dessert a
student must do
__x____ Explains that students must complete main and side dishes before
desserts
__x____ Include several desserts for students to choose from when they are
finished with tasks
A good learning contract
______ Explains that each task must be completed
______ Explains that contract items must be finished before after tasks
______ Explains that more than one person must agree that work is complete
(can be teacher or peer)
Both a good learning menu and a good learning contract
___x___ No PBEs
___x___ Include clear, child-friendly directions
___x___ Titles for activities
___x___ Include behavior expectations
___x___ Are child-friendly
___x___ Are visually appealing
___x___ Demonstrate correct mechanics and grammar
___x___ Include a variety of learning tasks
___x___ Establish a due date for all of the tasks to be completed by
__x____ Include options of activities students can do when they have finished
main tasks
__x____ Provide choice in order of activities
___x___ Are reasonably aligned with content
__x____ Allow for students to activate, apply, or extend their knowledge
__x____ Include engaging tasks

__x____ Detail whether each activity should be completed individually, with a

partner, or with
a small group