Looking for a good lesson on the Colonial Period for your upper-elementary class? Then, this lesson is for you! They use website designs, U.S. travel publications, and maps to plan a family vacation to states which were part of the...

Students examine and analyze culturally significant objects from colonial Boston. They construct a story around the life and work of Nathaniel Hurd from a list of keywords excerpted from a passage about Nathaniel Hurd. In addition, they...

Fourth graders write from the perspective of a child in the colonial period. In this writing lesson, 4th graders create a fictional character living in the colonial period and write about daily life from their perspective.

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...

Students explore American colonial times. In this U.S. history lesson plan, students research typical colonial life and script interviews with people that might have lived during the time period. Students create podcasts of the interviews.

Fifth graders examine schooling now and in New England Colonies. In this compare and contrast lesson, 5th graders describe schools of the present to schools of the past. Students also investigate the goals of schooling and the part...

How did literature evolve in America? This presentation briefly covers the transition from Puritan American all the way until today's Contemporary Period. Key figures from each time period are introduced, and a brief overview of each...

Fifth graders share information on one aspect of colonial life with an email partner each week. They take on the personal of a character from Colonial iamsburg and tell their partner about they have done that day with a focus on a...

Students discuss reasons why early europeans immigrated to North America. Working in groups, they complete Internet activities on the PBS Website. They take a simulated voyage to the new world and rercord their actions on worksheets. ...

Students investigate the fashion of women in the Colonial period and it's effect on women today.  In this women's history lesson, students read literature regarding where gowns came from, who wore them, and what they looked like....

Students study the characteristic of self-sufficiency in people that lived during Colonial times. They investigate the contemporary movement of Habitat for Humanity. They listen to the story of Donald Hall's, The Oxcart Man and write a...

Examine popular language and slang and how they have changed over the course of American history. Conduct Internet research, use an online interactive Colonial House website to translate 17th century language into 21st century language,...

Young scholars, 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...

Fifth graders evaluate evidence that indicates a physical change has occurred. In this colonial living lesson, 5th graders explore the science involved in the making of items used in colonial life, such as, bread, butter, soap, candles,...

Students study the labor force used during Colonial America. In this Colonial America instructional activity, students discuss labor types used in the colonies. Students read about indentured servants and the use of African...

Just what did Ben Franklin read? By juxtaposing Ben Franklin’s reading material as a young man with an analysis of his developed ideas, learners gain the opportunity to see how the influences of his youthful reading played out. Roman,...

Young scholars examine the concept of historical perspective in writing. They read the diary of Sally Wister, a young Patriot from Philadelphia during the Revolutionary Era. Additionally, they must include different points of view in...

Fourth graders practice using a graphic organizer to record their notes and answer text-dependent questions while supplying evidence of how they found their answer. They focus on a machine called the wheelright, which was commonly...

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...

Fourth graders read Witch on Blackbird Pond and understand the difficulties of traveling to America during the colonial period.  In this Witch on Blackbird Pond lesson, 4th graders compare the choices we have in...

Study the transformation of American literature starting from Colonial times up until the present. Each of the nine periods (Romanticism, Realism, Postmodernism, etc.) is introduced and important literary agents from that period are...

Students explore schools during the Colonial period. In this American history lesson, students participate in a simulation of school days in Colonial America. Students visit a museum and use the schoolhouse as a setting for their...

Eighth graders investigate the history of the United States by researching Jamestown. In this archaeological activity, 8th graders attend a field trip to historical Jamestown in Virgina to discover key figures that formed our country....

Here is a fine activity on reading and understanding expository text designed for 4th graders. With a partner, learners read a passage of text about a machine called a wheelright. This machine was commonly used in the colonial...