Virginia SOL VS.3

VS.3 is a Standards of Learning history and social science standard. These are the skills expectations under it.

• VS.3.a

  explaining the reasons for English colonization

• VS.3.b

  describing the economic and geographic influences on the decision to settle at Jamestown

• VS.3.c

  describing the importance of the Virginia Company of London Charter (April 10, 1606) in establishing the Jamestown colony

• VS.3.d

  describing the interactions between the English colonists and the Indigenous people, including the role of the Powhatan in the survival of the colonists

• VS.3.e

  describing the hardships faced by settlers at Jamestown and the changes that took place to ensure survival, including, but not limited to trade with the Powhata...

• VS.3.f

  analyzing the impact of the arrival of Africans and women to the Jamestown settlement

• VS.3.g

  identifying the significance of establishing the General Assembly (1619), the first representative legislative body in English America

01

What Students Need to Do

Students explain why England sought wealth, trade, land, converts, and greater power, and how the charter and Jamestown location supported colonization. They connect geography, hardships, Powhatan trade, John Smith's leadership, private land, and tobacco to the colony's survival. They explain how the forced arrival of Africans, more English women, and the 1619 assembly changed labor, family life, permanence, and government.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

A student can build a dated cause-and-effect sequence from the 1606 charter through the 1619 assembly. They explain why the site helped defense but harmed health, and how Powhatan aid, conflict, tobacco, land ownership, Africans, and women shaped the colony. They identify who the assembly represented and who it excluded.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students often see Jamestown's location as simply favorable, overlooking brackish water, marshes, disease, and drought. They may describe Powhatan relations as always friendly or always hostile, rather than changing through aid, trade, conflict, and English expansion. They may think tobacco fed settlers, the assembly represented everyone, or racial slavery already had the hereditary laws Virginia created later.

04

How to Assess It

Exit ticket: Write six sentences answering, "Why did Jamestown survive and change from 1607 to 1619?" Include geography, a Powhatan interaction, tobacco, and either the charter or assembly, then label two cause-and-effect links.

1. 01

   Groups use a Virginia map, river map, and settlement cards to choose a Jamestown site, then compare their choice with the actual site.

2. 02

   Write a claim naming the strongest survival factor among Powhatan trade, Smith's leadership, private land, and tobacco, then support it with two facts.

3. 03

   Play a cause-and-effect match using cards for the charter, site, drought, Powhatan trade, tobacco, women, Africans, and the General Assembly.

4. 04

   Compare the General Assembly with your local council by listing who could participate in 1619 and who can participate now.

• USI.5

  The student will apply history and social science skills to explain the social, political, religious, economic, and geographic factors that shaped colonial Amer...

• 2.6

  The student will use history and social science skills to identify the geographic location, use of resources, and contributions of European explorers, and their...

• USI.2

  The student will apply history and social science skills to describe how early cultures developed throughout North America by

• USI.3

  The student will apply history and social science skills to explain European exploration and colonization in North America by