Introduction
This pathfinder is designed to help you with social studies research projects on any topic related to Colonial America. You may be researching major settlements of colonial times, colonial life from the perspectives of certain populations (large landowners, farmers, artisans, women, free African Americans, indentured servants, and enslaved African Americans), biographies of important figures of the time, or why the colonists came to America and why did some of them still support the British. There are many research questions you may be trying to answer in addition to these ideas. Look at the sources in this pathfinder to help guide you in your information search.
Keyword Searching....
Now that you have decided on a topic, it is important to find sources that will give you good information. A good search starts with using keywords that will help you find correct information, whether you are looking in the school catalog for books or the internet for articles and videos. The following keywords will help you in your search. These are just suggestions. You are welcome to come up with some of your own keywords if it helps with your specific topic.
Colonial America
Colonial Times
Pilgrims
Colonists
Jamestown
Plymouth
Colonists (this search might give results of influential people of the time)
Clothing from colonial times
Colonial America
Colonial Times
Pilgrims
Colonists
Jamestown
Plymouth
Colonists (this search might give results of influential people of the time)
Clothing from colonial times
Print Resources
Books and eBooks are a great way to find information about a topic. Please go to our library catalog or the public library catalog and use the keywords above to search for your topic. You may also browse the shelves for books in the Dewey section's 970-975. The first example shows the public library search results when the "Colonial America" is put in the search bar. As you can see there are 307 results for Colonial America. They can be found by going to the 973.2 section of the public library and getting the books off the shelf or you can put a hold on the book and the library staff will pull it for you.
This screencast is a tutorial on how to find books in our school catalog using some of the keywords from above. |
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Reliability of Sources
When we are searching the internet or books for information about a topic it is important to search for reliable information. Is the information Current? Is the information Reliable? Is the author an Authority on the topic? What is the Purpose of the article? Is it fact or opinion? This is called giving a source the C.R.A.P test. Watch this video to see a little bit more on how to judge if your source is acceptable.
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Shmoop (2015). How to Know If a Source Is Reliable by Shmoop. [video]. Retrieved from:https://youtu.be/m_EAxomGhNY
Search Engines
You will also want to search for information about your topic on the internet. Click on these search engines and enter your subject or keywords in the search bar. Remember to search safely and cite all your sources. If you need a reminder on the importance of citing sources return to the Digital Citizenship section on the Dav Pilkey page. Let's take a look at this screencast showing you some of the results you might find.
Here are some keywords you may want use in your search:
Colonial America Colonial Times Pilgrims Colonists Jamestown Plymouth Colonists Clothing from colonial times |
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Videos
These videos are about Colonial America and are here to get you started with your video search. As you watch these videos, you will see related videos listed down the right side of You Tube. Click on a video that seems that it might be appropriate for your research. As always, you can type in the keywords into the search bar in You Tube or do a Google Video search. If you forgot how, here is the screencast on how to do a video search from the Dav Pilkey pathfinder. Replace the Dav Pilkey search with your new Colonial America topic or topics. Please remember to be safe when searching for information.
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Here are some videos to get you started in your search.
History. (2010). America the story of us: Life in Jamestown history. [video] Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/ssS6UoBoiuc
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Scholastic. (2012). Plimoth plantation: Virtual field trip. [video] Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/p5qi3Meqy24
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Hip, H. (2017). The Jamestown colony explained: US history review. [video] Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/Dn8oC1HX0eQ
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Khan Academy.(2016). The lost colony of Roanoke-background and first attempts. [video] Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/ghLhtqtp3ZQ
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Presentation
Now that you have all your information, how are you going to share it with your classmates? Here are some presentation tools that you may want to consider.
- Poster
- Written report
- Infographics
- Powerpoint
- Prezi
- Animoto
VA SOL Standards
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AASL Standards
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Virginia Department of Education (2017). Standards of learning. Retrieved from: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/index.shtml
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American Association of School Librarians (2009) Empowering learners. Chicago, IL.: American Library Association
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