Grades 3-5 Lesson Plan - Setting up a New Community

Map 4 Main Page

Core Map: Anon., "Carte Particuliere du flevue [flueve] St. Louis dix lieües au dessus et au dessous de la Nouvelle Orleans" (A particular map of the St. Louis River [Mississippi River] ten leagues above and below New Orleans, on which are marked the homes and lands granted to some private individuals along the Mississippi) (ca. 1723), in Cartes Marines. Newberry Library call number: Ayer ms map 30, no. 80 (Printable PDF version of the Core Map)

Resources related to Map 4.
Curator's Notes for Map 4.

Overview
Students learn about the French colonial pattern of settlement and what it means to create a new community in a new environment by exploring the core map.

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. identify the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, the city of Nouvelle Orleans, and long lot settlements on the core map.
2. describe the French pattern of settlement in the New Orleans area.
3. identify the basic needs of new communities, including building shelter, securing food and water, establishing law and order, and creating means of protection from external threats as requirements for setting up a new community.

Materials
Computer image or overhead of the core map, climate and vegetation maps of North America (see Resources), Excerpt from the Jesuit Relations, 1750, Plan of the Town of New Orleans, 1723, poster board or poster paper, art supplies

Time
Approximately 3-4 class periods or 90-120 minutes

Getting Started

1. Explain that the lesson involves exploring the process of establishing new communities in unfamiliar environments, using the settlements shown on the core map as examples.

2. Ask the students what settlers need to consider when they establish new communities in an unfamiliar natural environment (building shelter, securing food and water, establishing law and order, protecting against outside threats).

3. Have the students access the core map. To learn about the map, have the students scroll around and zoom in on detailed sections of the map to answer the following questions: What is the date of the map? From what country or countries were the colonists from? Are there any native settlements? What natural features are identified on the map (houses, clearings, long lots, fortifications, and city streets)? To reveal English translation of some place names and features on the map, select "show translations" from the menu on the core map and click on the buttons that appear.

4. Refer to a wall map, atlas map, or a map of the United States to help students locate the area shown on the core map.

1. Discuss the students' findings and synthesize their answers into a profile of the area shown on the core map.

2. Explain that the lesson now looks at how the French settled the area. Have students examine the map and then describe the environment, especially waterways, vegetation, animals, and climate. Have students add to this information by reading aloud the Excerpt from the Jesuit Relations, 1750 to help students. Refer also to the core map and the Plan of the Town of New Orleans, 1723 to help students identify other environmental aspects and also to help them formulate their conception of the environment and early settlement of the New Orleans region.

3. Access the core map to answer the following questions: How did the French divide the land? What purposes do you think the differing type of division served? What does it appear the French did to the natural environment to set up their communities? Have students work in small groups to answer these questions and then discuss their findings.

4. Discuss the settlement pattern on the core map (emphasizing both the city and the long lots) in the context of the young community's needs.

5. Again, divide the class into small groups of 3 - 4 students each. Have each group create a poster explaining how the French settled the New Orleans area. The posters should include pictures and brief captions that describe how the French settlers: obtained water for irrigation of crops and for water power, obtained building materials, obtained food, established trade, defined themselves, interacted with Native Americans, planned their cities, and laid out their farm land.

6. Have each group present its poster orally to the class.

1. Map and inquiry exercises
   For 4 points, the student/group successfully completes most or all tasks and answers 75 %- 100% of questions correctly
   For 3 points, student/group successfully completes most tasks and answers from 50%-75% of questions correctly.
   For 2 points, student/group successfully completes approximately one-half of the tasks and answers approximately one-half the questions.
   For 1 point, student/group successfully completes only a few or no tasks and answers only a few or no questions correctly.

2. Posters
   For 4 points, the student/group graphically and verbally explains French settlement effectively and neatly. The poster addresses 5 to 7 of the topics listed in Developing the Lesson step 5.
   For 3 points, the student/group graphically and verbally explains French settlement but has minor difficulty articulating or illustrating the explanations. The poster addresses only 3 to 4 of the topics listed in Developing the Lesson step 5.
   For 2 points, the student/group graphically and verbally explains French settlement but has major difficulty articulating or illustrating the explanations. The poster addresses only 1 to 2 of the topics listed in Developing the Lesson step 5.
   For 1 point, the student/group produces a poster but does not explain French settlement and cannot articulate or illustrate the any explanations.