Subject Areas
• U.S. History - Colonial America and the New Nation
• Geography - mapping

Level
Upper elementary

Learning Objectives
After completing these activities, students will be able to:
• Determine altitudes on a map
• Use a scale of miles
• Use the information a map provides to determine an easy way to walk from Deerfield to Canada in the winter
• Transfer these details to a map: rivers, towns, mountains, travel route, compass rose, scale of miles, legend

Skills
• Map reading
• Interpreting visual information
• Observing and describing
• Thinking critically
• Expressing opinions
• Analyzing visually

Time Required
One class period

Introduction
In this lesson, students gain familiarity with New England geography by locating the route the captives took from Deerfield to Canada. They can then improve their map skills by transferring that route to a modern-day map, noting various details.

Guiding Question
What was the best route for walking captives to Canada in the winter?

Along the route to Canada: the Green River in winter. Greenfield, MA
Photo by Allison Bell.

Preparing to Teach

1. Go to the "Maps 101" website to view a map of Vermont. Familiarize yourself with the map.
2. Go to the Maps Menu on this website and click The March to Canada. Familiarize yourself with this map.
3. Click to view a blank map of Vermont.
4. If students do not have access to printers, print the blank map of Vermont and make copies for each student.

Teaching the Lesson

1. If students are using computers in class, instruct them to complete the Student Activity Sheet for this lesson. If they will be using computers elsewhere, either give them the Student Activity Sheet URL: http://1704.deerfield.history.museum/teachers/lesson2_student.jsp, or print the Student Activity Sheet and distribute copies to students.
2. Once students have completed the Student Activity Sheets, discuss student answers in class.

Suggested answers to the Student Activity Sheet.

Resources

From the Maps Menu on this website:

• The March to Canada map (To view scenes from along the route, roll cursor over the yellow spots on the map.)

From the Story Menu on this website:

• March to Canada scene
• Parting Ways scene

Captors and Captives, by Evan Haefeli and Kevin Sweeney
The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion, by John Williams (1706)

Credits

This lesson was adapted from one by the same title created by Johanna Weinstein, a teacher at Rowe Elementary School in Rowe, MA.