Fourth Graders Explore Colonial Trades

As fourth grade has moved forward in our year-long study of the history of Philadelphia, we have begun to delve into the 1700's and life in colonial Philadelphia. In this study, students have chosen to research different trades that were popular at that time in history in the colonies. Over the course of this research, each student becomes an expert in a specific trade; in our class, we have students researching everything from an apothecary who cared for the sick using herbs and techniques like bloodletting, to a wigmaker who fashioned and maintained wigs for almost all men in the colonies, to a surveyor who studied the land and made maps, to blacksmiths who expertly forged tools out of iron, as well as many more.

Over the course of the in-depth study, students are learning important research skills that allow them to access the nonfiction texts and organize their research to answer important questions about their trade. For example, they are asked to think about how their trade would have been important to the colonial community, how they would have been trained to become a master in their trade, the tools and skills needed for the trade, and what a typical day would have been like working in their chosen trade.

Students read sections of text and take notes in their own words on labeled notecards, which they can later organize into paragraphs. This process of reading, note-taking, keeping track of sources, and writing notes into paragraphs helps students practice important skills they will later use in middle school and beyond. In the meantime, they are learning the many interesting ways their lives would have been different if they lived in the 1700's in colonial Philadelphia!