Teacher's Guide for COBBLESTONE ^® Bacon's Rebellion

• Describe Bacon's entry into Jamestown from the perspective of one of his soldiers. Then describe the same event from the perspective of one of Berkeley's supporters.
• What were some of the good things about the way Virginia government was set up? What were some of the drawbacks? Discuss your ideas with a partner. Then make a list and present it to another group.

• Write a skit telling how Thomas Larrimore took back the Rebecca from Bacon's men. Act it out for classmates.
• Write a letter to Berkeley from a poor Virginian - a slave, small farmer, or indentured servant. Have the letter tell what makes the writer's life hard and what Berkeley can do to help.
• Was Bacon justified in burning Jamestown? Write a paragraph explaining your answer.

1. How would the story of Bacon's Rebellion have been different if the women of the colony had not played the role they did?
2. Were there other ways of settling the arguments between Bacon and Berkeley? If so, what were they? If not, why not?
3. How did disease contribute to the tensions in the colony?
4. Which adjectives might best describe William Berkeley's personality? Which traits helped him be a good leader for Virginia? Which ones made it hard or impossible for him to be a good leader?

• Find information about the American Revolution. Compare the Revolution to Bacon's Rebellion. In what ways were they similar? In what ways were they different?
• Learn more about the Indians of eastern Virginia. Make a poster or booklet to display your findings.

• Draw a detailed picture of one of the events described in the magazine. Be sure to read the description of the event carefully. Compare your version with a classmate's.
• Make a mobile with wire, straws, and string. Write the names of important people and events from the issue on tagboard and fasten them to the mobile. Arrange the names so that the ones that hang down the furthest are the ones you think were the most important. Compare your creation with a classmate's.

• Create a word search using the names of important people and places in this issue. Use a grid that measures 15 letters in each direction. Hide the words by placing them forwards, backwards, up, down, or diagonally.
• Design a board game about Bacon's Rebellion. Play it with a friend.
• Write four or five of your own true-or-false Brain Ticklers like those on page 43. Give them to a classmate to solve.

Compare Bacon and Berkeley. What was good about each of them? What was bad about them? Whose ideas and behavior were more appealing to you? Why? Discuss your answers with classmates.

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Updated: 8/29/08 01:00 pm
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