If You Lived in the 13 Colonies… 

A Social Studies Unit

 
 
 
Standards 
Social Studies Standards:
5 – U2.1.1 Describe significant developments in the Southern colonies.
5 – U2.1.2 Describe significant developments in the New England colonies.
5 – U2.1.3 Describe significant developments in the Middle colonies.
5 – U2.1.4 Compare the regional settlement patterns of the Southern colonies, New
England, and the Middle Colonies.
5 – U2.2.2 Describe the life of enslaved Africans and free Africans in the American colonies.
5 – U2.3.1 Locate the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies on a map. (G)
5 – U2.3.2 Describe the daily life of people living in the New England, Middle, and Southern
colonies.
5 – U2.3.4 Describe the development of the emerging labor force in the colonies (e.g., cash
crop farming, slavery, indentured servants). (E)
Common Core Standards:
W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
MI Arts Standards:
ART.T.II.5.1 Appraise artistic choices regarding character, environment, and situation that
support the creation of a classroom dramatization.
Anti-Bias Standards:
Diversity 10 DI.3-5.10 I know that the way groups of people are treated today, and the way they
have been treated in the past, is a part of what makes them who they are.

Big Powerful Ideas: 

Geographic location affects the way that people use and live on the land.
People take pride in their nation and their values.
Some people exploit others for their own personal gain.
Choices and events that occurred in history affect the present.

Essential Questions:  
How were the 13 colonies established?
What are similarities and differences between the colonies?
 
 
 
Lesson Plans
Week 1: New England Colonies
Lesson Puritans on Parade
Focuses: drama, group task, reading and recording, maps

Date 1/22/19

GLCE’S 5 – U2.1.2 Describe significant developments in the New England colonies.

5 – U2.3.1 Locate the New England colonies on a map. (G)
5 – U2.3.2 Describe the daily life of people living in the New England colonies.

Lesson Objective I can explain and identify characteristics of the New England colonies using a
graphic organizer.

Materials Needed New England graphic organizer

13 Colonies Map Diagram
Social Studies World Atlas
Green colored pencils
Colonist costume
Posters with dialogue for guided improv

Lesson Procedure 1. With colonial music playing in the background and wearing a colonial
hat, greet students and welcome them to the 1600s.
10 Minutes a. Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4wM-VZqRf8&t=1114s
2. Interact with the students in a guided dramatization.
a. “​Welcome colonists​.​ The year is 1635,​ and you, my fellow
Puritans, are traveling with me aboard this splendid sailing vessel
headed to the New World, where our story begins.
b. I would like you to think of a time when maybe your parents, a
teacher, or another student told you that you had to act or do
something a certain way. Was there ever a time when it made
you upset? Did you ever worry that you would get in trouble if you
didn’t follow the rules? Did you ever feel like it was not fair? Well,
we Puritans felt that way in England.
c. You see, as Puritans, we searched for something I like to call
‘freedom of religion.’​ That means that we can practice in a way
that is different than how our King tells us we should believe and
practice. We didn’t agree with how the King ran everything in
England, and because we spoke out it was a tough time for us.
We felt similar to how you might feel if someone in your family
told you something to do that you didn’t want to!
d. Because of this, we got permission to sail across the big Atlantic
Ocean and establish a new home we call the ​Massachusetts
Bay Colony​. Even though we still have to follow the King’s rules
here, we have some more freedoms and don’t feel as trapped as
 we felt in England.
e. Our colony, and the colony of Plymouth that was settled by those
2 Minutes Pilgrims (who may have eaten a turkey or two), was the start of
the ​New England colonies​.”
3. Explain to students that we will be studying the 13 colonies over the next
few weeks. The 13 colonies were the building blocks of the United
States, and the colonists’ choices and decisions still affect how we live
today.
4. Pull up the ​New England Colonies Powerpoint​. Make sure that all
materials are out on the students’ desks before students walk in from
recess.
6 minutes 5. Have students read the objective with you. Introduce our goal for today:
investigating the New England colonies.
6. Activity 1: Introduce the New England Colonies Map diagram
a. The four NEC are Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode
Island, and Connecticut.
b. Show the students the slide with the NEC map, and have
5 minutes students use a GREEN colored pencil to color in the four states
and label the states.
7. Activity 2: Have students go to page 25 in their Atlas and find the
categories of the New England economy.
a. Students will record these in the ECONOMY section of the
graphic organizer.
b. Give students time to go through the Atlas with their partner, and
3 minutes then have students share out the different categories that they
found.
8. Activity 3: Explore the geography slide with the students. What do each
10 minutes of the pictures represent? How do you think this connects with the
economic factors that we just discovered?
9. Activity 4: Talk to students about how we can read and pull from our
reading to take notes about people, places, events, etc. Students will
read the article on the inside of the Studies Weekly newspaper titled the
“New England Colonies.” Using what they read about each colony, they
will write 1 sentence describing each historical person in the PEOPLE
AND PLACES section of the graphic organizer.
a. Give them the example of the Massachusetts Bay Colony: John
Winthrop.
5 minutes b. Let students read with a partner or individually, but they will not
be moving around the room for this activity.
c. Have students share out what they found about each historical
person.
5 minutes d. Show the information for each, giving students a minute to write
down anything that they missed.
10. Activity 5: Have students look at the primary sources pictures of the
Puritans, and turn and talk with a partner about what they notice.
a. Picture 1: Mix of women, men, and children. Seem to be very
religious (heads and arms pointed towards the sky, praying,
 laying on the ground)
b. Picture 2: Notice the ships, fruit being traded, looks like people
are discussing business along the dock, mix of people
c. Picture 3: Maybe in a church. Have books open, look very
serious, all wearing the same clothes, looks like a preacher up in
the front, elevated above others. Guns next to the men, maybe
for hunting or for self defense?
11. Watch the video Puritan Faith:
a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcCBv6tf5qA
Extension if 12. Have students complete the exit ticket.
needed

Differentiation ● Meets a variety of learning styles: visual, auditory, and musical

● Working with a partner for activities, as well as having the opportunity to
turn and talk

Formative Students will complete an exit slip..what did they learn, and what questions to
Assessment they still have?
I will observe while walking around to make sure that students are on task and
are filling out the necessary information.

Lesson Time Travel

Focuses: Drama and art

Date 1/23/19

GLCE’S 5 – U2.3.2 Describe the daily life of people living in the New England
Colonies.
ART.T.II.5.1 Appraise artistic choices regarding character, environment,
and situation that support the creation of a classroom dramatization.

Lesson Objective I can create tableaux that demonstrate daily life for people living in the New
England colonies.
I can create a poster to display the positive pull factors of the New England
colonies.

Materials Needed Colonial job cards

Blank white paper
Markers/crayons
New England graphic organizer

Lesson Procedure 1. Welcome students back to the 1600s. Tell students that today we
are going to explore some of the daily activities that colonists would
have been responsible for.
2. Distribute job cards to students, and give them a minute to read the
card and think about how they might try and act out their job as if
 they were a colonist.
3. Have students spread out around the room, and explain to them
that we are going to engage in tableau. Tableau means that we are
going to create frozen pictures with our bodies and facial
expressions to display the colonial job.
4. Model and have students practice this by creating a tableau of
“playing baseball.”
5. Let students move around the room, and then count off for them to
begin their tableau. (play some music in the background)
6. After about a minute, have students switch their role cards with a
student close by to them. Repeat the same process.
7. Have students freeze, and then go over and tap on a student. Ask
them what their job was and how they were showing their job. Move
around until you have asked 3-4 different colonial jobs.
8. Bring students to the back meeting place, and have them reflect on
the activity. How did they decide on how to show their job? Why
would there job have been important back in colonial times? What
would they have been responsible for?
9. After a creative discussion, introduce students to their activity for
today. They will be working with a group to create a poster
advertisement for their given colony. Using what we learned
yesterday, and some of the jobs that we learned about today, they
will need to make a poster that will appeal to other colonists and
persuade them to move to their colony for new work and a new life.
They must include 2-3 facts from their graphic organizer
represented on their poster.
10. Have the materials needed out on the kidney table, and then
dismiss students by reading their group and their colony. Students
should spread out around the room and brainstorm together how
they would like to design their poster.
11. Give students 20-30 minutes for work time, walking around and
observing to see if students need any assistance.

Differentiation/Support Students will be provided with a description of their job on the job cards to
help identify unfamiliar vocabulary.
Students will be grouped together in order to assure whole group
participation.

Formative Assessment Posters will serve as the formative assessment. Students need to pull 2-3
facts from their graphic organizer to use on their poster.

Week 2: Middle and Southern Colonies

Lesson Meddling with the Middle Colonies
 Focuses: Drama, reading maps, writing, recording, creative writing

Date 2/4/19

GLCE’S 5 – U2.1.3 Describe significant developments in the Middle colonies.

5 – U2.3.1 Locate the Middle colonies on a map. (G)
5 – U2.3.2 Describe the daily life of people living in the Middle colonies.
W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events
using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Lesson Objective I can explain and identify characteristics of the Middle colonies using a
graphic organizer.
I can write a letter from the perspective of one of the historical figures we
learned about.

Materials Needed Middle Colonies graphic organizer

13 Colonies Map Diagram
Social Studies World Atlas
Purple colored pencils
Colonist costume
Lined paper

Lesson Procedure 1. With colonial music playing in the background and wearing a
colonial hat, greet students and welcome them back to the 1600s.
a. Music: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAchRgtDQa0
2. Interact with the students in a guided dramatization.
a. “Welcome back colonists. The year is 1682, and here we
are in a colonial tavern in the heart of Philadelphia.
b. By now the New England colonies are off and running. Now
be a good lady or gentleman and remind me what those four
colonies are? Right! New Hampshire, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
c. Now from what you remember, the New England colonies
were founded for religious freedom from England..but they
didn’t grant religious freedoms to their colonists. The New
England colonies were mostly formed of Puritans, and if you
weren’t a Puritan you got kicked out!
d. But here in fabulous Pennsylvania and the other middle
colonies, we are accepting of others and encourage
freedom of religion in all our colonies, so we are the most
diverse.
e. Do any of you like bread? Well good thing, because we
grow a LOT of it. Some might even call us a
breadbasket..but that’s for later. Time to start the tour. Grab
those black folders and let’s get started!
3. Pull up the ​Middle Colonies slideshow.​ Make sure that all materials
are out on the students’ desks before students walk in from recess.
 4. Have students read the objective with you. Introduce our goal for
today: investigating the Middle colonies.
5. Activity 1: Coloring the Map diagram
a. The four Middle colonies are Pennsylvania, Delaware, New
York, and New Jersey.
b. Show the students the slide with the map, and have
students use a PURPLE colored pencil to color in the four
states and label the states.
6. Activity 2: Have students go to page 25 and 27 in their Atlas and
find the categories of the New England and Middle economies.
a. Students will compare the two, and record the top three
economies of the Middle colonies in their ECONOMY
banner on their graphic organizer.
b. Give students time to go through the Atlas with their partner,
and then have students share out what they found.
7. Activity 3: Explore the geography slide with the students. What do
each of the pictures represent? How do you think this connects with
the economic factors that we just discovered?
8. Activity 4: Discuss our major people and places with the class,
making notes about William Penn and Philadelphia.
9. Have students write a letter from the perspective of one of the
colony founders (based on their group), explaining what they have
created and why. Show students the model letter and give them
work time.

Differentiation ● Meets a variety of learning styles: visual and auditory

● Working with a partner for activities, as well as having the
opportunity to turn and talk

Formative Assessment Quick thumbs up on how they feel about the middle colonies. If there is
time, do a Kahoot.

Lesson The Stunning Southern Colonies

Focus: Observation and discussion, recording, comparing and contrasting

Date 2/5/19

GLCE’S 5 – U2.1.1 Describe significant developments in the Southern colonies.

5 – U2.3.1 Locate the Southern colonies on a map. (G)
5 – U2.3.2 Describe the daily life of people living in the Southern colonies.
5 – U2.1.4 Compare the regional settlement patterns of the Southern
colonies, New England, and the Middle Colonies.
5 – U2.2.2 Describe the life of enslaved Africans and free Africans in the
American colonies.
5 – U2.3.4 Describe the development of the emerging labor force in the
colonies (e.g., cash crop farming, slavery, indentured servants). (E)
Lesson Objective I can identify and explain characteristics of the Southern colonies using a
graphic organizer.

Materials Needed 13 Colonies Map Diagram

Southern Colonies graphic organizer
Orange colored pencils
Investigation materials: jeans, cotton balls, leaves, geography pictures,
handcuffs, vocabulary notecards, and chart paper
Compare and Contrast Venn Diagram

Lesson Procedure 1. Wear a colonist costume and have music playing on the screen
when the students walk in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUjUhZ1Yy7Y
2. Have students grab their clipboard, a pencil, and the Southern
Colonies graphic organizer and meet you in the back/meeting area.
3. Have a 4 square diagram made out of masking tape on the floor. In
each quadrant, have elements representing each of the main topics
for the Southern colonies:
a. Economy: cotton balls, jeans, rice, and leaves
b. Geography: pictures of wetlands and southern plantations
c. Slavery: fake handcuffs
d. People and Places: large vocabulary notecards
4. Have students sit in a circle around the diagram, and ask them what
they think each item represents. When a student has explained an
object, write that on the chart paper and have students copy it in
their graphic organizer. Walk through each topic with the students,
explaining each and how they impacted the Southern colonies.
5. Once students have everything recorded from the class
observations, send students back to their seats. Bring up the
Southern Colonies PowerPoint​, and have them color the five states
in orange: Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia.
6. Have students fill in the Compare and Contrast venn diagram with a
partner.
7. To review and wrap up the lesson, show students the 13 colonies
rap: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkgXvmj227U

Differentiation ● Meets a variety of learning styles: visual, kinesthetic, auditory, and

musical
● Working with a partner for activities, as well as having the
opportunity to turn and talk

Formative Assessment Quick check and observations while walking around.

Week 3: 13 Colonies Infographic
Lesson Picture This: The 13 Colonies
Focus: creating, research, group work

Date N/A

GLCE’S 5 – U2.1.1 Describe significant developments in the Southern colonies.

5 – U2.1.2 Describe significant developments in the New England
colonies.
5 – U2.1.3 Describe significant developments in the Middle colonies.
5 – U2.1.4 Compare the regional settlement patterns of the Southern
colonies, New England, and the Middle Colonies.
5 – U2.3.2 Describe the daily life of people living in the New England,
Middle, and Southern colonies.

Lesson Objective I can work with a partner to create a picture board of one of the 13
colonies.

Materials Needed 13 Colonies infographic templates

Student resources
Markers, crayons, colored pencils

Lesson Procedure 1. Explain our next project: students will be paired up and will create
an infographic design for their assigned colony. They will be
allowed to each design it their own way, but can work together to
research the content they will need to use.
a. Top three ways they used the land
b. Important founders or places
c. Types of laborers: slaves, indentured servants, freed
slaves?
d. Drawing of the colony
e. Geography/weather
f. Any fun fact they can find
2. Give students a quality amount of work time to get as much
research and drawing done as possible.

Differentiation ● Working with a partner to help ease any problems with reading or
researching
● Ability to represent their work and thinking with pictures

Formative Assessment Observations and help as needed

Lesson Picture This: The 13 Colonies Part 2

Focus: creating, research, group work, presenting

Date N/A
GLCE’S 5 – U2.1.1 Describe significant developments in the Southern colonies.
5 – U2.1.2 Describe significant developments in the New England
colonies.
5 – U2.1.3 Describe significant developments in the Middle colonies.
5 – U2.1.4 Compare the regional settlement patterns of the Southern
colonies, New England, and the Middle Colonies.
5 – U2.3.2 Describe the daily life of people living in the New England,
Middle, and Southern colonies.

Lesson Objective I can work with a partner to create a picture board of one of the 13
colonies.

Materials Needed 13 Colonies infographic templates

Student resources
Markers, crayons, colored pencils

Lesson Procedure 1. Have students continue working on their infographic from

yesterday. Help as needed for students who are stuck on certain
elements.
2. After 40 minutes, have students clean up their materials and return
to their seats.
3. Students will then go up with their partners and share their
infographic with the class.

Differentiation ● Meets a variety of learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic

● Working with a partner for activity

Formative Assessment Presentation to the class, and collecting the infographics at the end of the
class.

Lesson Reviewing the 13 Colonies

Focus: group work, interactive whole group activity

Date 2/13/19

GLCE’S *Covers all GLCE’s that we have been studying

Lesson Objective I can work with team members to review what we have learned about the
13 colonies.

Materials Needed Jeopardy Review Game:

http://www.superteachertools.us/jeopardyx/jeopardy-review-game.php?ga
mefile=2546040#.XFCcw2RKimFc
Whiteboards and dry erase markers
Score sheet

Lesson Procedure 1. Welcome students back from the weekend, and give them a
 chance to finish up any parts of the Compare and Contrast venn
diagram that they missed (show them the teacher example)
2. Have students move around so they are sitting with their assigned
Jeopardy groups. Tell students that we will be playing Colonial
Jeopardy to help us review what we have learned.
3. Explain the rules to students:
a. Each team gets a turn to choose a category and a number
in that category.
b. All groups have one chance to answer the question, and 30
seconds to talk with their group members to come to one
answer.
c. For each round, only one team member can write down the
answer on the team board. For each round, the whiteboard
rotates so that every student has an equal chance to record
the answer.
d. If the team gets it correct, they get that number of points. If
they get it incorrect, they do not earn any points that round.
e. For final Jeopardy, students can vote how many points they
would like to wager. They can not wager more than the
number of points they currently have.
f. The Final Jeopardy answer must be written down on the FJ
slip and turned in by the team captain to be counted.
g. The team with the most points at the end wins!
4. Give students a study guide with questions to help them study for
their test. If students answer the questions, they get extra credit on
their test!

Differentiation Students have the opportunity to talk about the question with diverse
groups that support equal participation.

Formative Assessment Observation from Jeopardy game

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” 

-Benjamin Franklin