England's first successful American colonies
I can explain how England's first successful colonists interacted with Native Americans.
England's first successful American colonies
I can explain how England's first successful colonists interacted with Native Americans.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The first successful North American English colony was Jamestown.
- Colonials at first relied on Native Americans for help with food.
- Tensions rose between colonists and Native Americans, leading to multiple conflicts.
Keywords
Native American - Native Americans are the original inhabitants of North and South America and the Caribbean Islands
Assembly - an assembly is a group who meet to make laws for a community
Powhatan - the Powhatan are a Native American nation who lived in the region which became Virginia
Tensions - tensions are feelings of anger or fear between two groups
Reservations - reservations are areas of land set aside for a community of people to live on
Common misconception
John Rolfe’s marriage to Pocahontas represented goodwill between colonists and the Powhatan tribe.
Pocahontas' marriage involved her capture and forced conversion to Christianity. Pocahontas was used by the English for their own advantage.
To help you plan your year 8 history lesson on: England's first successful American colonies, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 history lesson on: England's first successful American colonies, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 history lessons from the European conquest of the Americas: why was its impact so devastating? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
- Depiction or discussion of sexual violence
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Starter quiz
6 Questions
original inhabitants of North and South America
the original inhabitants of a specific area
the process of establishing new communities in an area