The Listening Grove · Fifty Famous Stories Retold
Chapter 17: Pocahontas
A Charlotte Mason read-aloud lesson. Press play, with the lesson.
What is Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 17, Pocahontas, about?Parent review
Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 17, Pocahontas, is a story of a brave girl’s compassion. Captain John Smith, one of the early English settlers in America, was captured and brought before the king of a Native nation. The warriors laid him upon a great stone and raised their clubs to take his life. Just then Pocahontas, the king’s own young daughter, rushed forward and laid her head upon his to shield him, begging her father to spare him. Her plea was heard, and Smith was set free and led safely home. From that day Pocahontas remained a true friend to the settlers.
Say what you remember!
Tell what you remember from the last chapter.
What happened in Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 16, Sir Walter Raleigh?Have a look
In the last chapter, Sir Walter Raleigh, a young Englishman is said to have spread his scarlet cloak over a muddy puddle so that Queen Elizabeth might cross without soiling her shoes. The queen was so charmed that she never forgot him, and in time Raleigh became a knight and one of her favorites. Half-brother to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, he too tried and failed to plant settlements in America. He is long remembered for making the potato and tobacco known in England. His courtesy carried him far.
Read the previous lesson: Sir Walter Raleigh →Show what you know!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Fill in the vocabulary you know, then click to check your work and learn some new words today.
What are the difficult or advanced vocabulary words in Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 17, Pocahontas?prisoner, warriors, clasped, protectHave a look
- prisoner: a person captured and held against their will
- warriors: people who fight in battles
- clasped: held tightly in the arms; embraced
- protect: to keep safe from harm
Locate it on the map!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Use an atlas and fill in the blank map if you can find the geographic location, then click to check your work.
What important geographic location connects with Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 17, Pocahontas?
- Find Jamestown (Virginia, United States).
See it on the mapHave a look
This matches the map in your Lesson Guide.
The Books come Alive!
Read or listen to Chapter 17 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold, the Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition, read by Laura Caldwell.
Read by Laura Caldwell for LibriVox (public domain), professionally adjusted and trimmed by Kindred Thicket.
What do the Teacher’s Notes tell us about Chapter 17 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold?Parent review
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Baldwin’s 1896 words are read exactly as he wrote them, and we add Teacher’s Notes with historical and literary context.
- About the whole bookFifty Famous Stories Retold gathers real history together with well-loved legends and traditions. These notes tell you, story by story, which is which.
- This chapterPocahontas and her father Powhatan led a real Native nation. Smith’s rescue is debated: he first told it years later, and many historians think it was a welcoming ceremony, not a true brush with death.
Memory becomes Action!
Use the Response Resource* to remember and spell tricky names. Choose one way to narrate.
*Materials in the Lesson Guide.
What is the list of names, people, characters, and places that are important in Chapter 17 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold?Pocahontas, John Smith, The KingHave a look
- Pocahontas: A real daughter (about 1596-1617) of the chief Powhatan, remembered as a friend to the English settlers.
- John Smith: A real English adventurer, one of the early Virginia settlers.
- The King: Pocahontas’s father, the chief Powhatan.
Chapter 17 Q & A
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Baldwin’s stories mingle real history with beloved legend, and here is what to know about this one.
Is the story of Pocahontas true?
Pocahontas and her father Powhatan led a real Native nation, and Pocahontas truly was a friend to the early settlers. Smith’s dramatic rescue, however, is debated: he first told the story only years later, and many historians think it was really a welcoming ceremony rather than a true brush with death. The friendship was real even if the rescue is uncertain.
Who was Pocahontas?
Pocahontas was the young daughter of Powhatan, the leader of a real and powerful Native nation in what is now Virginia. She is remembered for her kindness toward the English settlers at Jamestown during their hard early years. Her people had lived on that land with their own rich culture long before the settlers came.
Where does the story of Pocahontas take place?
The story of Pocahontas takes place in the woodlands of Virginia, near the English settlement of Jamestown. This was the homeland of Powhatan’s nation, where Captain John Smith was captured and, in the tale, saved by Pocahontas. The land was already home to established Native peoples.
What is the lesson of Pocahontas?
The lesson of Pocahontas is courage joined with compassion: standing up bravely to protect another life. Though only a girl, Pocahontas placed herself between danger and a stranger and pleaded for his life. The story invites children to see how mercy can be braver than any weapon.