• 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?

Unit Frame

Topic/Title Early Settlement of the in the Connecticut River Valley (1750 to 1800)
Overview 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?
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
  • Examining how events, people, problems and ideas have shaped the community and Vermont.
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.
  • Recognizing patterns of voluntary and involuntary migration in Vermont.
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 particularlocations are used for certain human activities.
Inquiry Grade Expectations for Vermont
Students initiate an inquiry by.
Asking relevant and focusing questions based on what they have seen, what they have read, what they have listened to, and/or what they have researched.
New Hampshire Curriculum Framework: Social Studies
SS:CV:6:2.2: Identify and illustrate the heritage that early settlers brought to the development and establishment of American democracy, e.g., political, legal, philosophical, or religious traditions. (Themes: E: Cultural Development, Interaction, and Change)
SS:GE:6:4.4: Analyze the spatial patterns of settlement, e.g., urbanization along river, agriculture on fertile plains, or nomadic lifestyles in steppes and deserts. (Themes: C: People, Places and Environment, E: Cultural Development, Interaction, and Change)

Thanks to Steve Glazer of Poetics of Place, classroom teachers Marguerite Ames and Bridget Fariel, and Beth Hughes of Broadwing Design for assistance in designing this toolkit.