Village Life Unit Frame

This is the third in a series of elementary/middle level unit frames on Vermont and New Hampshire history. It follows the Abenaki Unit and the Early Settlement Unit. All of these units can be found online at the Flow of History Toolkits page. These toolkits include background essays, primary sources, worksheets, and online interactives

Topic/Title	Village Life in Vermont and New Hampshire
Overview	This unit investigates the formation and evolution of communities in Vermont and New Hampshire through the middle of the 19th century, with an emphasis on settlement patterns, landscape change, and economic development.
Enduring Understandings	*All human activity has impacts on the land. *Settlement patterns and ways of making a living in our communities changed over time as people developed new ways of using natural resources.
Essential Question	What are the relationships between people, geography, and culture?
Focusing Questions	*How did farming change the land? *What was the role of barter in the village economy? *How did women’s work change?
Content Grade Expectations for Vermont
H&SS3-4:8 Students connect the past with the present by… ·       Explaining differences between historic and present day objects in Vermont, and identifying how the use of the object and the object itself changed over time. ·       Describing ways that life in the community and Vermont has both changed and stayed the same over time
H&SS3-4:9 Students show understanding of how humans interpret history by… ·       Identifying and using various sources for reconstructing the past, such as documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, and others.
H&SS3-4:12 Students show understanding of human interaction with the environment over time by… ·       Describing how people have changed the environment in Vermont for specific purposes. ·       Describing how patterns of human activities relate to natural resource distribution.
H&SS3-4:11 Students interpret geography and solve geographic problems by… ·       Observing, comparing, and analyzing patters of local and state land use to understand why particular locations are sued for certain human activities.
New Hampshire Curriculum Framework: Social Studies
SS:EC:4:2.1: Explain why needs and wants are unlimited while resources are limited. (Themes: C: People, Places and Environment, D: Material Wants and Needs)
SS:EC:4:3.1: Illustrate cycles of economic growth and decline, e.g., New Hampshire manufacturing or agriculture. (Themes: D: Material Wants and Needs, F: Global Transformation, G: Science, Technology, and Society)
SS:EC:4:4.1: Describe different methods people use to exchange goods and services, e.g., barter or the use of money. (Themes: D: Material Wants and Needs)
SS:GE:4:1.5: Recognize the causes and consequences of spatial interaction on Earth’s surface, e.g., the origin of consumer goods or transportation routes. (Themes: C: People, Places and Environment, D: Material Wants and Needs, F: Global Transformation)
SS:HI:4:4.3: Investigate the evolution of the United States economy, e.g., the transition from farms to factories or the trend from small local stores to shopping malls. (Themes: D: Material Wants and Needs, G: Science, Technology, and Society)
SS:HI:4:5.3: Trace the changes in the roles and lives of women and children and their impact on society, e.g., the family or the workplace. (Themes: B: Civic Ideals, Practices, and Engagement, I: Patterns of Social and Political Interaction)
Background Information
Freedom and Unity: Building Communities Vermont History Explorer: Maps Vermont History Explorer: Geography New Hampshire History Slideshows *The Good Old Days: Remember Them? *Going to School in New Hampshire *New Hampshire: An Industrious State
Suggested Resources	Children’s Books: ·       Charlie Needs a Cloak by Tomie dePaola ·       The Ox-Cart Man, by Donald Hall ·       Lyddie; Jip: His Story, by Katherine Paterson Background Reading: ·       Jan Albers, Hands on the Land ·       David Foster, New England Forests through Time ·       “The Debit Economy of 1830s New England” ·       Richard Ewald, Proud to Live Here: In the Connecticut River Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire Primary Sources: ·       Paintings and engravings ·       Diaries:  The Diaries of Sally and Pamela Brown 1832-1838, ed. Blanche Bryant and Gertrude Baker (Springfield, Vt.: The William L. Bryant Foundation, 1970). ·         Letters of Mary Paul, a Vermont mill girl in Lowell ·       Merchant daybook ·       Whitelaw Map of Vermont, 1796/1810 ·       Beers Atlas of Vermont towns, 1869

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Early Settlement in the CT River Valley Unit Frame

The purpose of this unit is to study the early settlement of the Upper Connecticut River Valley using primary sources and the landscape. Students follow an inquiry model where they gain background knowledge to the topic, generate questions about the people who settled this region, and then launch an historical investigation culminating in a historical cemetery quest that they can share with their community.




Enduring Understandings

• The Abenaki first lived and named the area we now call Vermont and New Hampshire.
• The Connecticut River Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire was primarily settled by colonists from Connecticut and Massachusetts.
• Town meeting was the main political institution in VT and NH communities.

Essential Question

What is the relationship between culture, humans, and geography?

Focusing Questions

• Who first lived in this area we now call Vermont/New Hampshire?
• Where did the first European settlers come from? Why did they come to this area?
• Who settled here and how did they live?
• What did they do to organize their towns?

Background Information

• Who first lived in this area we now call Vermont/New Hampshire?
• Where did the first European settlers come from? Why did they come to this area?
• Who settled here and how did they live?
• What did they do to organize their towns?

Bibliography

Abenaki History and Culture Unit Frame

Abenaki History and Culture

Overview: The purpose of this unit is to study the history and culture of the first people who
inhabited and continue to live in Vermont and New Hampshire, the Abenaki.

Enduring Understandings:

• The Abenaki have lived in the area we now call Vermont and New Hampshire for at least 12,000 years.
• This area is the Abenaki homeland.
• There are many Abenaki place names in Vermont and New Hampshire.
• From first contact to the American Revolution, Abenakis and Europeans sometimes cooperated with each other and sometimes fought.
• European settlement of Vermont and New Hampshire increased continually and the Abenaki tried to maintain control of their lands.
• Europeans eventually prevailed over the Abenaki and took control of their lands.
• Today, the Abenaki have reasserted their identity as the longstanding inhabitants of Vermont and New Hampshire.

Essential Questions

• Why do groups of people come into conflict with each other?
• How are Native American and Euro-American cultures different?

Focusing Questions

• How was traditional Abenaki society organized and how did the Abenaki live?
• How is the landscape central to Abenaki culture, stories, and history?
• Why did the Abenaki and European and American settlers come into conflict?
• Why did Americans in Vermont and New Hampshire come to believe that the Abenaki had disappeared from these states?
• How do Abenaki people live today?

Background Information

• Freedom and Unity: The First People
• New Hampshire History Slideshows: The French, the Indians, and the English: Trouble in Colonial New Hampshire

Bibliography