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Kids in the Colonies (Grade 1-2)

Master Teacher

Bobbie Huntsinger

Time Allotment

Two 40-minute periods

Overview

This lesson will give students a good idea of what life was like back in the 1700s including how they dressed, what school was like for them, where they lived and what type of chores the kids were responsible for. Not only will they learn about the lives of the colonists, but they will also compare colonial times with life today.

Subject Matter

Social Studies

Learning Objectives

The student will be able to:

compare and contrast family life in colonial America with life today
describe what communities were like in colonial times and how they varied from life today

South Carolina Standards

These Standards can be found online at Office of Curriculum Standards.

2.1.2 Compare and contrast family life in various places, in the recent past and long ago.

1.1.3.Describe what communities were like long ago and how they varied from one another.

Media Components

Web Site

Colonial Kids Web site by Think Quest. This site contains several different pages with ideas about colonial life including how people lived, clothes that they wore, school life and even Native American life in those days. It is written for kids by kids.

Materials

For the class:

overhead
overhead markers
overhead transparency of the answers to the picture book document
overhead transparency Venn Diagraph

For each student group:

computer
pencils
copy of Activity Sheets 1, 2, 4, 5, 6
sheets of blank paper for each group for dictionary

Prep for Teachers

Prior to teaching this lesson:

Bookmark the Web site on a computer for each student.

For a vocabulary picture book activity, group the students into cooperative learning groups with mixed ability groups of 2 to 3 students. Make sure that there is a strong reader in each group.

Prepare the hands on element of the lesson by making copies of the vocabulary sheets, picture sheets, and Internet questions sheets, one per student group.

Make an overhead transparency of the answers to the picture book document and the Venn Diagraph.

Make a copy of the assessment, one for each student.

When using media, provide students with a Focus For Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Introduce the vocabulary by having students, working in cooperative learning groups, put together a picture dictionary. The students will cut out the words with definitions from Activity Sheet 1: Vocabulary. The students will match the words with the definitions to the pictures on Activity Sheet 2: Pictures.

Step 2: After working for 10_15 minutes the teacher will bring the class back together to discuss which pictures were matched with what terms. The teacher will direct the discussions, using the answer sheet on an overhead, and make sure that students have the words matched to the correct pictures and a clear understanding of the terms. Students will glue the correct word with definition by the correct picture.

Step 3: The students will cut the picture word cards apart and then arrange them in alphabetical order. The teacher will check that each group has ordered the word cards correctly. The students will then glue the words and pictures on paper in abc order to create a picture dictionary.

Learning Activities

Step 1: Students will work in their cooperative learning groups again, going to the computers and accessing the bookmarked site: Colonial Kids, that should already be bookmarked on the computer. Provide a Focus for Media Interaction by telling students to look for what kids' daily lives were like.

Step 2: The students, in their groups, will complete the Activity Sheet 3: Internet questions by reading different pages on the Web site.

Step 3: The teacher will bring the class back together in a large group.

Step 4: A spokesperson from each group will present a verbal report on what the students learned about colonial times from their Internet research.

Culminating Activity

Step 1: The class will complete Activity Sheet 4: Venn Diagraph comparing and contrasting colonial life with life today including elements of clothing, food, chores, etc.

Step 2: The students will complete Activity Sheet 6: Assessment.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Literature: Students may visit their local library to research books, both fiction and nonfiction, written about the colonial period.

Art: The class may visit a local art museum to find artwork from this period in history.

Community Connections

Visit a local farm to see how the tools used there differ from the colonial tools found in the barn on the Web site. You might visit one that has sheep and see how shearing today is different from shearing in colonial times.

Take a visit to a restored colonial town if there is one in your area such as Old Salem, NC or Williamsburg, VA.

Student Materials

pencils
computers (one for each group)
copy of Pictures Activity Sheet (one for each group)
Internet Questions Sheet (one for each group)
sheets of blank paper for each group for
dictionary