Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
What Was Everyday Life like in Colonial Virginia?
After reflecting on jobs people perform in the present day, scholars discuss what they believe jobs would have been like in Colonial Virginia during the American Revolution. Small groups then perform a jigsaw using informational packets....
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
What Was Everyday Life like in Colonial Virginia?
What was everyday life like in Colonial Virginia? To find the answer cooperative groups work collaboratively to read an informational handout and complete a graphic organizer. The speaker of the group then shares their new-found...
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
The Settlement of the Chesapeake
Focusing on the Virginia and Maryland settlements in the 1600's, this presentation is a complete and thorough resource during a unit on Colonial America. It includes pictures, maps, and interesting discussion points for you to address...
Curated OER
Colonial Migration
Students, in groups, create a student book for an assigned group of immigrants to the Colonial United States (Huguenots, Scots, Irish, Africans.) They create drawings for the book and rhyming text that depicts three struggles that...
Curated OER
Children in Colonial America
Students, in teams, race to find answers to questions about Colonial America using the Internet and print sources. They make charts that compare and contrast colonial times with the present.
Curated OER
Children and Slavery Document Search
Students review the causes of slavery, the Middle Passage, triangular trade and the spread of slavery throughout colonies. They work in small groups and search documents in order to find the answers to a question and document packet.
Teacher Vision
The Wampanoag Indians: A Thanksgiving Lesson
Spark some lively conversation about American holiday traditions and debunk accepted notions about the first Thanksgiving at the same time. After reviewing the mainstream version of the Thanksgiving story with your class, offer some...
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
A Trip to Colonial Virginia
Students consider prices while planning a trip to Colonial Virginia. For this budgeting lesson, students construct an itinerary of events for a vacation. Students are responsible for working within the approved budget.
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 drawings in...
Curated OER
A Day During Colonial Times
Fifth graders participate in read aloud activities of three books about life in Colonial times. They compare their life to that of children of Colonial times using a Venn diagram. They draw a picture and write about what a day in the...
Curated OER
The Architecture of New England and the Southern Colonies as it Reflects the Changes in Colonial Life
Learners compare and contrast the various types of architecture in the Southern colonies. Using slides, they discuss how the homes were made and the materials used. In groups, they identify how the types of homes reflected the...
Curated OER
Samuel's Choice - Social Studies Using Children's Literature
Fifth graders read a book about independence, freedom, and slavery. Students create a story map of the book. They research the causes of the Civil War. Students write a newspaper article from the point of view of an American colonist.
Curated OER
School Life Today and in the Past at Freyberger School
Students compare and contrast school life today with that of Pennsylvania in the 1900's. In this school life lesson students create a description of a typical one-room schoolhouse. They think critically about attending school in a...
Curated OER
Abigail Adams: Integrating Social Studies and Language Arts
Third graders increase reading strategies while learning about Abigail Adams and her role in history. In this Abigail Adams lesson, 3rd graders read about the American Revolution and Abigail Adams using all the balanced literacy...
Curated OER
Comparing Chores - Past and Present
Students read "Sarah Norton's Day" and explore the responsibilities of colonial day children. As a group, students list the responsibilities they have at home. Using a Venn Diagram, they compare and contrast their chores and...
Chandler Unified School District
Ben Franklin Aphorisms
Benjamin Franklin's famous aphorisms are a perfect time capsule of colonist values in the mid-18th century, as well as a clever reminder of the way life still works today. Middle and high schoolers select one aphorism to interpret...
Curated OER
Colonial Quilt Quest
Students identify key events and people from Colonial America.
Students identify key factors of daily life in Colonial America.
Students gather and use information for research purposes.
Students create candles in groups following the...
Curated OER
The Arrival
Students construct classroom rules. In this philanthropy lesson, students investigate The Mayflower Compact made by the Pilgrims and use it as a guide to form their own classroom rules. Students work in small groups.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan on Indigenous Children
Pupils explore indigenous, traditional and tribal cultures--their rights, protections by law, and obstacles as a people. In groups, they form their own activist groups to contribute to the global effort to preserve indigenous cultures.
Curated OER
My Brother Sam is Dead: A study of the Revolutionary War
Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...
Curated OER
A Trip to Sully Plantation
Fourth graders have a better understanding of life in colonial Virginia. The students compare and contrast their life today with the life of colonial Students. Each child or small group of students design a project comparing the two time...
Curated OER
Social Studies: Exploring Boston's Big Dig
Students, in a high school class for autistic children, take a virtual tour of Boston's "Big Dig" and the artifacts discovered there. During weekly lab sessions, they discover the processes involved in artifact preservation. Using...