Unit 1: A Time Before New Hampshire
Pre-1623 to 1700
Abenaki societies thrived in a land abundant with natural resources. The lakes and rivers of the area between what has since been named the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean provided for their daily needs as well as swift travel and trade routes. Social and political structures existed within The People of the Dawn Land, but they were not truly defined until after the arrival of European explorers and settlers as a strategy to match the new arrivals’ social organization.
The rebuilding of European populations after their decimation by the Black Death in the 1350s was still ongoing by the late 16th and early 17th centuries, requiring more and more resources, particularly food. This, along with national rivalries and mercantilist drive to colonize, brought Europeans to North Atlantic shores, both unofficially and at the behest of stakeholders. The first English colonies in what would become known as “New Hampshire” began as fishing operations backed by investors in the mother country.
Inquiry 1.1: How did the First Nations of this region live?
Inquiry 1.2: On what did early colonists base their settlements?
Class 1: Introduction to Unit 1
1) Organize class into theme groups
2) Introduce unit guide and inquiry questions
3) Vocabulary sort activity to build Terms and People to Know database
4) Set up Homework 1 and discuss predictions
Helpful secondary sources to introduce the unit:
Timeline of New Hampshire History, NH Historical Society
Class 2: Use Secondary Sources to learn Terms and People to Know and develop a response to the inquiry, How did the First Nations of this region live?
A standard lesson plan for this class follows this sequence:
1) Evaluate a secondary source of your choice from the list below as a class (20 minutes). This is a great time to introduce the SSE form and how to use it.
2) Assign groups to evaluate another secondary source together (15 minutes)
3) Assign individuals to evaluate a third secondary source on their own (15 minutes)
4) Students report out to groups (5 minutes), groups report out to the rest of the class (15-20 minutes)
The secondary source column of the database/bibliography should be updated by the end of the class (5 minutes)
Helpful secondary sources for class 2:
Short Video “Beneath the Isles of Shoals,” NH Chronicle, WMUR-TV
Short Videos “Abenaki History: Keene NH,” Presentation by Franklin Pierce Professor Robert Goodby, Cheshire County Historical Society
Website “Abenaki Lifestyle” section of Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki
Documentary Surviving New England’s Great Dying, NH PBS
Documentary “Our New Hampshire: People of the Dawn,” NH PBS
Timeline of New Hampshire History, NH Historical Society
Class 3: Use Primary Sources to learn Terms and People to Know and develop a response to the inquiry, How did the First Nations of this region live?
A standard lesson plan for this class follows this sequence:
Suggested intro activity: View and discuss “Beneath the Isles of Shoals,” NH Chronicle, WMUR-TV
1) Evaluate a primary source of the teacher’s choice as a class (20 minutes). This is a perfect opportunity to introduce the PSA form and connect it to what the archeology students demonstrated in the short video.
2) Assign groups to evaluate another primary source together (15 minutes)
3) Assign individuals to evaluate a third primary source on their own (15 minutes)
4) Students report out to groups (5 minutes), groups report out to the rest of the class (15-20 minutes)
The primary source column of the database/bibliography should be updated by the end of the class (5 minutes)
Students should turn to the primary sources they wrote down on their SSE forms during class 2, but also look to this link for more.
A question to ask during this class is: What are some reasons why Native American primary sources are difficult to find, especially those from pre-contact?
Class 4: Demonstrate competency with homework and a quiz; Begin addressing second inquiry, On what did early colonists base their settlements?
A standard lesson plan for this class:
1) Students take their choice of quiz on reverse side of HW 1.1, and turn paper into teacher for grading (20 minutes)
2) Prepare HW 2 and set aside (5 minutes)
3) View/Listen to documentary; take notes on a SSE form
Suggested viewing: “People of the Dawn” Home: The Story of Maine, Maine Public Television
or “Our New Hampshire: Early Settlements,” NH PBS
4) Students report out to groups (5 minutes), groups report out to the rest of the class (5-10 minutes)
The secondary source column of the database/bibliography should be updated with the video/audio citation by the end of the class (5 minutes)
Class 5: Use Secondary Sources to learn Terms and People to Know and develop a response to the inquiry, On what did early colonists base their settlements?
1) Turn back and go over quizzes from last class (20 minutes)
2) Repeat lesson plan from class 2
or
Try one of the lesson plans or activities here:
Recommended secondary sources for class 5:
Timeline of New Hampshire History, NH Historical Society
Class 6: Use Primary Sources to learn Terms and People to Know and develop a response to the inquiry, On what did early colonists base their settlements?
1) Repeat lesson plan from class 3
or
Deliver one of the lesson plans or activities here:
Recommended primary sources and repositories:
NH Historical Society Collections Catalogue
Historic Houses section of Strawbery Banke Museum’s Website
Historic New England: The Jackson House
Class 7: Summative Assessment Day I: Graded Discussion and Project Design
1) Facilitate a graded discussion using student-made questions (30-40 minutes)
2) Assign group/class project. Give the students the remainder of the class period to work on it.
3) Students will turn in HW 2 at the end of class or have it checked while working on the project.
Class 8: Summative Assessment Day II: Project Presentation and Unit Test
1) Allow class members to put finishing touches on project(s)(15 minutes).
2) Share results (10 minutes)
3) Administer Unit Test (remainder of class)
The following links connect to secondary sources and primary source repositories created and maintained by other educators, historians, and institutions. I do not claim ownership of these materials. Instead, I share them as recommendations based on what has proven meaningful and effective in my own classroom experience. Teachers are invited to explore and adapt these resources to best meet their students’ needs, and encouraged to align with district expectations and protocols for using outside resources.
Website Timeline of New Hampshire History, NH Historical Society
Exploring this timeline is a great activity for classes 1, 2, and 5. Each entry has an easy-to-navigate list of facts regarding the entry, and many lead to primary sources.Website NH Historical Society Collections Catalogue
Staying with the NHHS site, this part of it can find usage on primary source investigation days. The advanced search feature helps keep results in the time frame you wish to stay in, and you can adjust the settings of what kinds of catalogue entries you want to see.
Website New Hampshire’s Historical Highway Markers
Similar to the Timeline found on the NHHS page, this easy-to-use site can help start the unit. Students can explore the signs by list or by map, recognizing different terms and names as well as recognizing where things took place and when.
Short Video “Beneath the Isles of Shoals,” NH Chronicle, WMUR-TV
This video is not only a great introduction to the unit, but also on how primary sources should be examined to make conclusions about time and place.
Short Videos “Abenaki History: Keene NH,” Presentation by Franklin Pierce Professor Robert Goodby, Cheshire County Historical Society
There are a few videos of different lengths in this collection, covering archeological finds near Keene Middle School, some of them dating to the paleo-Indian era.Website “Abenaki Lifestyle” section of Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki
This non-profit group carries out school visits and has some classroom resources on their site. The lifestyle section explains rituals and ceremonies common among Abenaki societies.Documentary “People of the Dawn” Home: The Story of Maine, Maine Public Television
Being from Maine Public this presentation covers the tribes of Abenaki in that state, but since the First Nations did not divide themselves along the same lines the English colonists did, the first half of the presentation is very helpful for New Hampshire classrooms.Documentary Surviving New England’s Great Dying, NH PBS
Produced just a few years ago and using the COVID-19 pandemic as a starting point, this documentary attempts to explain what caused the death and relocation of thousands of Native Americans up and down the coast from Maine to Cape Cod in the early 17th century. NH PBS also has a film series from the 1970s called Our New Hampshire . While production quality and some language may be outdate, the content is solid. Viewing these clips would be a good for a historiography lesson.Website Historic Houses section of Strawbery Banke Museum’s Website
Each house at Strawbery Banke is correct to a different time period in the neighborhood’s past. Look at the Wigwam and Sherburne House as primary sources for this unit.Website Historic New England: The Jackson House
This website provides a brief but exceptionally informative history of the Jackson family and the history of their home. There are also several descriptive photographs of the interior and exterior of the home, perfect for a Primary Source Analysis activity.