Teacher Resources
: Lesson Plans
: Mathematics With a Mob Cap
Grade Level: Elementary School
Background Information: The mob cap was a plain cap with gathered crown and frill, worn by
women and girls in colonial Virginia. The cap's shape and size varied over time with changing hair
styles. Usually made of fine linen or cotton, it was one of the head coverings always worn publicly
by females indoors as well as outside. To be found capless was to be found in a state of undress.
Caps protected the hair from dirt acquired through everyday activities - smoke from fireplaces, grease
from cooking, dust from travel, etc. Caps also covered hair which was washed infrequently - it was
generally thought unhealthy to wash hair too often. It was easier to put on a clean cap. Mob caps
were also worn under fancy bonnets and other types of hats.
Time Required: This lesson can be covered over a five day period when integrating the social
studies and math lessons.
Materials: Each student will need the following:
- poster paper 20" X 20"
- pencils, scissors, rulers
- ribbon
- linen or cotton cloth 20" X 20"
- lace - half inch wide (optional)
- Vocabulary Graphic Organizer
Literacy Connections: Students will be engaged in the following:
- Using problem solving approaches
- Applying strategies to solve a variety of routine problems
- Relating everyday language to mathematical language & symbols
- Presenting an oral report on colonial clothing
- Writing instructions on how to make a mob cap
- Creating an original story on "The Secret of the Mob Cap"
- Illustrating the story being told
Instructional Format
Objectives: As a result of this lesson, the student will be able to:
- describe the patterns of early life through the colonial period,
- develop links between conceptual ideas and abstract procedures,
- identify and describe the formulas for constructing a circle
Setting the Stage:
Introduce the lesson with the chapter in your present social studies textbook on colonial life in
America. Emphasis will concentrate on clothing of the time, specifically the mob cap.
Discuss with students the styles of eighteenth-century clothing. Refer to Eighteenth-Century
Clothing in Williamsburg and/or the Sketch Books which are listed in the
Appendix.
Present the lesson in your math textbook on radius, diameter and circumference.
Strategies/Procedures:
Pass out the handout entitled "Vocabulary Graphic Organizer" to each student
(sample). Have students work in teams of three to
look up definitions and to draw an illustration. Allow time for each team to
report its findings.
Present the instructions on making the mob cap.
Be sure students understand their roles before proceeding.
Follow the mob cap instructions. Play eighteenth-century music while students are working. The two
audio cassette listed in the Appendix are good examples of eighteenth-century
music.
Alternate Plans: Have each student write a report on colonial clothing, e.g., the mob cap,
waistcoat, etc. Have students refer to the Summer Teacher Institute lesson "Eighteenth-Century
Clothing." Included in this report could be research into the natural fibers used to make the
clothing being investigated. Students could also illustrate in their report the various kinds of
clothing they are researching.
Have students create an original story entitled "The Secret of the Mob Cap." The story
should incorporate ideas on colonial clothing and historical figures. It could be illustrated with
accurately dressed, eighteenth-century people.
Evaluation/Assessment: The final product (the mob cap) should be evaluated when determining
the overall grade. When finished constructing the caps, the class could create a dramatization using
the mob caps in their play.
Appendix: Resources used for this lesson:
- The Colonial Williamsburg Coloring Book
- Eighteenth-Century Clothing - Summer Teacher Institute Lesson
- Eighteenth-Century Clothing of Williamsburg by Linda Baumgarten
- An Introduction to Williamsburg by Valerie Tripp
- The Music of Thomas Jefferson - an audio cassette
- Nottingham Ale - Tavern Music from Colonial Williamsburg - an audio cassette
- Sketch Book: A Collection of Notes and Sketches on Women's Dresses by Robert Klinger
- Sketch Book 76: The American Soldier by Robert Klinger
This lesson plan was developed by Beverly Murray, fifth grade teacher from Epperly
Heights Elementary School, Del City, Oklahoma. If you have a lesson plan which you would like to share
with teachers, please send to School & Group Services, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, P.O.
Box 627, Williamsburg, Virginia, 23187.
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