Settlement Survival
SPRING, 2005-2006
First Graders examined the answers to the following questions: "Why did people move to and settle in Rochester" and "What did settlers use to meet their needs?" The class took part in a simulation during which students adopted roles of settler family members moving from New England to Rochester in the early 1800's.
Throughout the expedition, students prepared to live a day in the life of a settler by determining needs for the journey, training for a long walk, and making what they would need for survival. Each child completed a journal written from the perspective of a settler family member, including diary entries which described their challenges, hopes, dreams, and accomplishments, and letters home to a cousin in New England.
