Cardboard Models of Historic Jamestown

My class is continuing their study of American History this week with a lesson on the Jamestown Colony. Always wanting to make my lessons hands-on, I had students work together in groups of three to create 3D models of the colony using the pattern from the book Easy to Make & Learn Projects: Colonial America. This fantastic resource from Scholastic is a must-have book for every American History teacher.

Since it’s too expensive for me to print things on card stock, I printed the patterns on regular paper and had students glue them to cereal boxes. I have hundreds of these collected since they are great for projects and easy for students to cut. I then gave the students sturdier pieces of cardboard to display their models on, along with maps left over from our National Aviation Day project that they could use to cover the base if they wanted.

Students worked well with the patterns and had the projects colored and assembled within three class periods.

The book I mentioned has a ton of other great ideas, so we’re looking forward to trying some of them next. What are you up to with your history class? Any resources to recommend?