While Benjamin Franklin enjoyed fame and success in colonial Philadelphia, that was not the experience of all coming to the British colonies. Young scholars trace the life of an indentured servant using a scholarly biography and reading exercise. Then, they create visuals to represent the world of an indentured servant to compare it to Ben Franklin's experiences.

Concepts

early american history, american history, benjamin franklin, indentured servitude, philadelphia, poverty, the american colonies, the british colonies

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Use reading and activities to ask your learners to create drawings of two Philadelphians during colonial times: one experienced by Franklin and one experienced by the less fortunate
• Create a read-aloud or scaffolded reading activity with scholarly source for lower-level reading groups

Classroom Considerations

• Part of a collection of lessons in celebration of The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
• Scholarly article included with activity may be above the reading level of many middle/junior high school learners
• A multi-day lesson plan

Pros

• Reading questions and vocabulary exercise make the lesson ready to use
• Resource explores the role of social history America's founding

Cons

• Some links do not work on resource, but all materials are accessible

Common Core

RH.6-8.1 RH.6-8.2 RH.6-8.6 RH.6-8.7 RH.6-8.10