Homes are the extension of one’s wealth, occupation and personality. During the 1750’s, many colonist were enjoying an architectural style called Georgian. This method was named after King George I-IV of England and used in America during the colonial period.
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“Georgian was a style based on classical principles. It is almost always
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symmetrical (and the exceptions are nearly symmetrical). It has windows and
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doors lined up in horizontal and vertical rows. It usually has a side gable or
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gambrel roof, especially in New England. In New England, Georgian buildings are
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usually wood-framed with clapboards or shingles. Georgian buildings often have
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panel doors, pedimented dormers, central chimneys, sash windows, and Classical
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molding.”
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This section will be quite technical and it is a good time to incorporate some vocabulary. This will allow students to expand their knowledge of words. Mastering many of these words will enable the students to be able to give accurate description of the houses that they will be required to construct at the end of this unit.
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1. Architectural style- an architectural fashion used in a particular time.
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2. Artisans - craftsman; someone who is skilled at a particular craft.
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3. Clapboards - a long, narrow board that is nailed to the outside of a building in overlapping rows with other clapboards. Clapboards are nailed parallel to the ground.
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4. Classical styles - architectural style associated with the art and architecture of ancient Greece and Rome.
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5. Dormer - a small structure with a gable roof and a window that sits over an opening in a building’s roof. Dormers help get light and air into upper stories.
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6. Dormitory - a building where students live and study when they are at school and away from home.
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7. Gable roof - a pitched roof that slopes downward in two parts from a ridge so as to make a gable on each end.
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8. Gable - the triangular end of a pitched roof.
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9. Gambrel roof - a pitched roof that slopes partway down from the center ridge and then changes pitch so as to slope more steeply.
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10. Joiner - a woodworking craftsman; the main person involved in the construction of buildings.
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11. Panel doors - a door with rectangular panels set within a mortised and tenoned frame.
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12. Pediment - a wide, low pitched triangular gable outlined on all three sides by a molded edge. Pediments may top doors, windows, dormers, and porticos.
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13. Pedimented dormer - a dormer with a pediment at the top.
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14. Sash windows - a window that consist of two or more sections and that opens by raising or lowering one of the sections. Usually sashes consist of six to twelve small rectangular panes of glass.
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15. Symmetrical - balanced, even or equal in its shape and form as well as detail; a mirror image of parts.
Students will research and analyze the homes of the following people: Thomas Clapp, President of Yale College; Jared Ingersol, lawyer; Isaac Doolittle, clockmaker, Joseph Talmidge, joiner; Jethro Blackman; yeoman farmer, William Dinslow, laborer; Samuel Miles, mariner; and Munson, widow.
Students will work in collaborative groups and use town records and probate inventories to determine what type of house each of these people would have more likely owned. The students will be able to strengthen their critical thinking investigative skills. Once they have gathered all of the necessary information, then the students will be able to within their groups begin to plan to build their houses. Students will focus and take in to consideration the following: They must have an occupation, a floor plan, a size of house in mind, and exterior details.