Curated OER
New England Colonies
Students study the New England colonies. In this colonies lesson, students use a directed reading-thinking method to learn about the New England colonies. Students follow the method to make predictions, read the text, and analyze the...
Curated OER
Education in Colonial New England
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...
Curated OER
Jamestown Changes
Students examine how the Jamestown settlement changed the first few years after it was founded. They take a virtual field trip of Jamestown, read primary source documents, discuss census information, and write a summary of changes in...
Curated OER
Reasons for Settling the New World
After studying the reasons settlers entered the New World, primary learners try to persuade others to enter this new land. Class members present their arguments in a variety of ways including posters, writings, and charts. Richly...
Curated OER
Mapping Colonial New England: Looking at the Landscape of New England
Students understand the similarities and differences between English and Native American conceptions of the land and town settlement. They understand how the colony of Massachusetts developed and expanded. Students understand the...
Curated OER
The Architecture of New England and the Southern Colonies as it Reflects the Changes in Colonial Life
Students 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
American Colonies
Students record information in a database about the three American colonies. They are comparing and contrasting them. They are to log into a given database and fill in the corresponding sections. Once it is filled in the similiarities...
Curated OER
American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s: Distant Cousins
Students research how early colonists lived. They investigate late 17th century colonist's lives from Massachusetts and Delaware. Using their research, students write historical fiction in the form of friendly letters between the two...
Curated OER
Comparison of American Colonies
Learners explore the lifestyles of the American colonies. They conduct various activities according to their grade level including jigsaw research and creating a poster. Lesson includes primary source readings related to the topic.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Understanding the Salem Witch Trials
Students describe some of the important elements of life in Puritan New England. They create a timeline of the events of the Salem Witch Trials. They work in groups to explore the concept of multiple interpretations of history.
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
How Did Relations between Britain and the Colonies Change after the French and Indian War?
What does the French and Indian War have to do with the American Revolution? Following the war, Britain issued the Proclamation of 1763 in an attempt to limit the colonists' western expansion. To understand how the proclamation, the...
Curated OER
What They Left Behind: Early Multi-National Influences in the United States
Students research the impact of European voyages of discovery and colonial influence on different aspects of American culture. They access a number of online sources and reference maps to trace the influences of England, France, Holland,...
Curated OER
A Flip of Life in the 13 Colonies
Fourth graders create a flip book illustrating the 13 original colonies. They study the growth and development of each of the three groups of the original colonies. They use maps to observe and interpret geographic information and...
Curated OER
Settling the Plymouth Colony
Students label blank maps with the names of the New England Colonies. They explain the difficulties that the Pilgrims had and how hard they worked to survive in Plymouth.
Curated OER
Getting to Know the Thirteen Colonies
Fifth graders analyze information about the thirteen colonies. Using the information, they can manipulate and identify a region in which the colony is located. As a class, they make generalizations about the various regions and time...
Curated OER
British Colonization-Settling the Thirteen Colonies (1607-1733)
Students study the thirteen colonies: geography, economics, politics, and religious groups. They explore early colonial life, and create a travel brochure, travel guide of the 13 Colonies, and word search.
Curated OER
Changing Images of Childhood in America: Colonial, Federal and Modern England
Students compare and contrast maps of New Haven, Connecticut from today and the past. After taking a field trip, they draw sketches of the types of architecture and discuss how the buildings have changed over time. They read journal...
Curated OER
Colonial Hornbook
Students examine the schools in colonial New England. They discover what a hornbook is and how it was used. They create their own hornbook and share them with the class.
Curated OER
Affects of Geography on Colonial Cultures
Sixth graders examine the effects of geography on the development of culture. They discuss how geography can affect the lifestyles and development of a society's culture. Students examine the geography and climate of New England and the...
Curated OER
American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s: Distant Cousins
Students explore daily life and its influences in the late 1700s for two families in different colonies- Delaware and Massachusetts by becoming historical detectives. After gathering information from artifacts to make inferences about...
Scholastic
Voyage on the Mayflower for Grades 3-5
Following an online activity, scholars complete a Grafitti Wall in which small groups write words and phrases on chart paper pertaining to Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and Thanksgiving. Pupils perform a close reading then answer a series of...
Curated OER
English Settlement
Students study the development of the New England colonies, their rationale for settlement, and the importance of Puritan theology in this development. They research towns in England and their copies in Massachusetts.
Curated OER
Guide to Writing Your Letter Back to England
Fifth graders write a letter back to England from Jamestown. They describe their trip and how they are fairing in the New World. They also discuss how they feel about John Smith.
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.