1. Explain to students that in order to get a feel for what life was like at The Fort at Number Four in the 1740s they are going to assume the job of a settler. Emphasize with students the importance for members of that frontier community to help each other. Explain how people specialized in certain jobs.
2. To focus everyone’s attention, brainstorm different services and resources that a community living on the colonial frontier might need in order to survive, for example, food, clothing, protection, education, etc. Ask students what kinds of people would be needed in the community to fulfill these needs or provide these services. Distribute the Handout: Fort at Number Four: Job List
3. Give students time to individually read through the eight jobs listed on the Handout. Then have students each select a job that interests them from the list. Groups of students will choose the same occupation. Distribute the Handout: What’s your job? and ask students to answer the questions individually.
4. Place students together in the same group who chose the same job. For example, all those who chose “blacksmith” meet together in a circle in one part of the room. Have students discuss their answers to the Handout including why they chose that job.
5. Call everyone back to their seats and, using the Handout as a guide, conduct a whole class discussion asking students share what they have learned about their colonial period job. As a class, discuss any job that was not chosen.
Wrap up the class discussion by having students generate two questions each to ask the Fort at Number Four Interpreters. Offer bonus points to students who actually get answers the day of the field trip.
End by reviewing student and teacher expectations of the field trip to Fort at Number Four.
