Materials

• Chart paper and markers
• World map – classroom size
• Virginia map – classroom size
• Early Virginia Groups (labels)
• Virginia Pathways. “Episode 2: Making the Move, Segment 1 — Migration”
  http://www.vastudies.org/episode2/default.html
• Textbook, trade books, or other instructional materials

Instructional Activities

1. Review by asking the students “What people who are living in Virginia now have we discussed?” Review the English men and women, Africans, and American Indians (First Americans).
   
   
2. Define cultural landscape. Cultural landscapes reflect beliefs, customs, and architecture of people living in those areas. Ask if the landscape of early Virginia has changed since the colonists arrived. Remind the students of the features of the landscape before the colonists arrived; examples would be some American Indian (First American) villages, forests, and rivers. What changes have occurred since the English arrived? What does the land look like? (Students should mention cultural structures such as English style homes, barns, and places of worship.) Compare and contrast the landscape of Virginia before and after the colonists arrived. Have the students conclude reasons for changes in the landscape.
   
   
3. Ask the students to share how they celebrate winter holidays in their homes. Have them be specific about their traditions (e.g., special foods, some of their activities, decorations, and other details.). List their responses on a chart. Discuss with the students the fact that many different kinds of people immigrated to America. These people brought their traditions with them — the kinds of food they ate, their clothing, their beliefs, and their architecture. Relate this information to the ways that the cultural landscape changed in Virginia as the European (English, Scotch-Irish, German) immigrants, Africans, and American Indians (First Americans) inhabited early areas of Virginia.
   
   
4. Refer to a world map and a Virginia map to locate the origins of these groups of people and where they settled in Virginia. Have the students place the names of these groups on the classroom wall map of Virginia, and discuss why each group settled in a particular region.
   
   
5. Locate the cities of Richmond and Roanoke, and tell the students that Richmond is an English name and Roanoke is an American Indian (First Americans) name. Ask the students to find and share other places that have Indian names (such as Chickahominy River, Powhatan County, Accomack County) and English names (such as Bedford County, Sussex County, Essex County). Ask the students other words that the English language has adopted from American Indian language (such as moccasin, succotash, squash, and others).
   
   
6. Show for review the Virginia Pathways “Episode 2: Making the Move, Segment 1 — Migration.”
   http://www.vastudies.org/episode2/default.html