Berkshire Museum
The Three Life-Giving Sisters: Plant Cultivation and Mohican Innovation
Children gain first-hand experience with Native American agriculture while investigating the life cycle of plants with this engaging experiment. Focusing on what the natives called the Three Sisters - corn, beans, and squash - young...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: Colonial Craftspeople
In the first lesson plan of this unit on colonial trade, fourth graders gain background knowledge of different jobs performed by early colonists. The class begins with a slide show presentation that includes a variety of great...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Learning About Colonial Life
High schoolers use predictions to explore the lifestyle of American colonists. They draw conclusions about the culture of colonial America based on items used in daily life.
Curated OER
Geography and Its Impact on Colonial Life
Learners interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this colonial America instructional activity, students conduct research to determine how geographic conditions dictated...
Curated OER
Living Yesterday's History Today
Students describe and contrast life as it was in colonial days. They plan, compose, and produce a student movie. They reflect on what they have learned. They share their experience with others in digital format.
Smithsonian Institution
A Ticket to Philly—In 1769: Thinking about Cities, Then and Now
While cities had only a small fraction of the population in colonial America, they played a significant role in pre-revolutionary years, and this was certainly true for the largest city in the North American colonies: Philadelphia. Your...
Curated OER
Having a Great Time - Wish You Were Here
Fourth graders explore colonial life in America.
Huntington Library
Everyday Life - Exploring the California Missions
Young scholars relive history as they examine primary sources that document everyday life in the California missions. During a class viewing of the included slideshow presentation, children analyze documents, paintings, and...
Curated OER
Living Yesterday's History Today
Students explore the colonial period to describe and contrast the life and experiences of people who lived at that time with the lives of individual's in the current era. the lives of researched characters are dramatically enacted and...
National Woman's History Museum
Pocahontas: The Truth vs. The Legend
Young historians study primary and secondary source materials to try and separate the true story of Pocahontas from the myths, fictional tales, and conflicting accounts of her life.
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Franklin’s Philadelphia: Another Point of View
The impressive story of Benjamin Franklin, including his rise from a printer’s apprentice to a statesman, color upper-level scholars’ understanding of the possibilities of life in colonial Philadelphia. But not everyone had the...
Curated OER
Journal Write about Colonial Times
Learners write a journal entry relating to their reading. This this writing lesson plan, students relate a book they are reading about the colonial settlers to their own life situations through journal writing.
Curated OER
What Artifacts Reveal About The Past
Middle schoolers take a closer look at artifacts to learn about the people who used them. In this colonial America lesson, students examine photographs of everyday items used in colonial times and determine what the uses of the...
Curated OER
Lesson 11: Printed Materials (Ads and Broadsides) 1780-1820
Young scholars use primary resources (gazettes, broadsides, advertisements) to consider life at the turn of the 18th century in Deerfield, Massachusetts. They infer observations about life in the nascent United States.
Curated OER
Will the Real Ben Franklin Please Stand Up?
Students explore the life and accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin. In this colonial history lesson plan, students research Benjamin Franklin's work as a printer, a writer, a statesman, and an inventor. Students determine what his most...
Curated OER
Conflict and Compromise
Learners examine opinions about the Boston Tea Party. In this colonial America activity, students analyze several primary sources about the Tea Party and then write essays that reveal efforts to compromise as well as efforts to instigate...
Curated OER
Jobs in the Colonial Period
Students identify jobs and their requirements that were important on the New Hampshire frontier. They analyze the importance of certain jobs and compare and contrast them with jobs today. They also examine the role of technology in...
Curated OER
Lesson: Looking Closer: The Artwork of Wangechi Mutu
Social issues of gender and media stereotypes, begins with a multi-sensory experience. Learners view the painting Backlash Blues and make critical comments based on what they see. They then read the Langston Hughes poem and listen to the...
US Citizenship and Immigration Services
Thanksgiving 1—Pilgrims and American Indians
The Pilgrims first arrived in America in order to gain religious freedom. Here is a lesson that takes the class on this journey with the Pilgrims, stopping to look at how they got here, who they met when they arrived, and a peek into...
Curated OER
When Travelers Meet
Students research life in Colonial America then write and stage a play about life in Colonial times. creating a variety of characters who might have lived at that time. They, in groups, generate seperate lists of characters who would...
Curated OER
Dressing in Early American Times
Fifth graders, by doing research and seeing actual and simulated artifacts, gain knowledge of and make comparisons about clothing in the Colonial and early Republican eras with attire of present time.
Curated OER
Colonial Geography: To and From Canada
Students identify the major geographic features of colonial New England. They explain the essential parts to a map and interpret journals to plot a journey. They discover the connection between geography and life.
Curated OER
Environment: River of Life
Students assess the impact of human activity on the environment. After reading the book, "A River Ran Wild," they role-play and discuss how people changed the river. Students write stories about living along a river from the point of...
Curated OER
The Old Folks Will Bless You and the Girls Kiss You
Fourth graders reflect on the Revolutionary War. For this Colonial America history lesson, 4th graders discuss various battles of the war, specifically the Battle of Cowpens. Students begin by watching a video...