Lesson 6: Nothing Can Be Excellent without Risk of Failure
Activity 6.4: Colonial Stock Pamphlet
Perhaps the most successful pamphlet in world history, “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine, was produced in the American Colonies as they furthered their rebellion against Great Britain 1776. However, pamphlets had a long history in the colonies well before the American Revolution that you will learn about in the next unit.
How did people advertise their ideas about products, places, and ideas in the colonies? There was no internet, radio, television. There were newspapers of course, but it was expensive to put a lot of information into a newspaper ad and the printer might change what you wrote if he didn’t like it! What were you to do? Well, people created their own pamphlets or miniature booklets full of information on what they believed in, were hoping to sell, or were hoping you would be interested in. In this lesson you will be learning to create a brochure (but we’re going to call it a pamphlet, okay?) that will advertise the reasons for buying stock to help ensure the success of one of the 13 colonies.
Benchmark:
5.2.4.6.1: Describe the concept of profit as the motivation for entrepreneurs; calculate profit as the difference between revenue (from selling goods and services) and cost (payments for resources used).
Learning Target:
I can...create an informative brochure about a joint-stock venture set in Colonial America.
Essential Question:
How is the concept of profit a motivation for entrepreneurs? How do I calculate profit as the difference between revenue (from selling goods and services) and cost (payments for resources used)?
To complete Activity 6.4 please follow the steps below:
STEP 1: You will create a “stock pamphlet” that presents information about the founding, development, and growth of on of the 13 colonies in the 1600s and 1700s. You may only take the history of the colony you choose up to 1763! We’re not to the Revolution yet!
Each student is responsible for selling a “colonial stock pamphlet” in which the colony is a stock. Your goal is to convince investors to support further colonization and investment in the colony of your choice. Your pamphlet should include some of the “downsides” of your colonial region, but should emphasize what is strong about your region.
STEP 2: The pamphlet should be organized in a logical outline. Each pamphlet should have a mission statement on the front page emphasizing the main topics of the stock. In other words, why is your stock important? Your brochure will cover each of the 7 items below:
1. Founding, founders, and purposes for settlement
2. Geography and town development
3. Types of government with specific examples
4. Economic Activities (What will your colony make, harvest, or sell?)
5. Ethnic, religious, education issues
6. What is family life like? Leisure activities? Food?
7. Significant events, be sure to include your colony’s relationship with the Native Americans
Use the following links to help you find information for your brochure:
13 Colonies Timeline
Colonial Chart
Social Studies for Kids
Congress for Kids
Colonial America for Kids
13 Colonies Clickable Map
Have Fun with Colonial History
13 Colonies Interactive
Britannica for Kids
Academic Kids
STEP 3: Use the Colonial Stock Brochure Template to create your brochure. Refer to the rubric below to make sure that you are including all the necessary items.
Colonial Pamphlet Rubric
5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
Appearance | The brochure is aesthetically pleasing and would attract viewers to it. The brochure is neatly put together and shows that the students put a great deal of time and effort into the assignment. The students used a good amount of pictures to represent the colonial region. | The brochure is neat and well put together but could include more to attract people to it. The brochure shows that the student took care to format the brochure correctly. The brochure contains a good amount of pictures that accurately describe the colonial region. | Brochure reflects time and care in its appearance. The brochure also contains a good amount of pictures that accurately describe the colonial region, however, some more care could have been used | The brochure is not put together very well. More time should have been put into the overall outline or layout. In particular, pictures and graphics could have better represented the theme and improved the project. | The brochure is either not neatly put together, nor does it show detail and time put into forming the project |
Content | The information on the brochure fully satisfies and exceeds the parameters of the project. Students display that they did a good amount of outside research to acquire material for the brochure from multiple outside sources. | The information on the brochure is accurate and fully satisfies the requirements based on the directions sheet. Students display that they did some outside research to acquire material for the brochure from a few outside sources. | The information on the brochure is accurate and is comprised of almost all of the material outlined on the directions sheet. Students display that they used minimal information from outside the text or class notes; however they do have something from an outside source. | The information on the brochure is almost totally accurate and covers some of the material outlined on the directions sheet. The students display that they used mostly the textbook and class notes to complete the brochure, but do include at least one point from an outside source. | The information on the brochure only contains a minimal amount of the information included on the direction sheet and is only partly accurate. Students use only the textbook or class notes to complete the project. |
Total Points: |
STEP 4: Save your work to your own computer and then upload your brochure to using the upload button.