5th Grade Social Studies – Lesson 1
Carole Crocker
Subject Area:
Social Studies
Grade Level:
Grade 5
Unit Title:
Life in the Colonies
Lesson Title:
Original 13 Colonies
Standard:
Time
Allotment:
5.4.1
Understand the influence of location and physical setting on the
founding of the original 13 colonies, and identify on a map the locations
of the colonies and of the American Indian nations already inhabiting
these areas.
60 minutes
(may use some Language Arts time to finish vocabulary)
Objectives:

Anticipatory
Set:
Activities:
Materials:
Guided
Lesson:
Identify the thirteen original colonies, the three regions, and draw a
map
 Identify what types of people came to the colonies
The original thirteen colonies is the basis for our country today. We are
going to explore the various regions, what types of people came to this
new land, and many of the founding principles. During the next two
weeks, we will learn how European colonists began their settlements in
North America, focusing on the English colonies. You will understand
colonial governments and economic systems, as well as the religious
and social movements taking place at that time.
 Complete cover page and colonies map
 Write graphic organizer on what types of people first made up the
colonies
 Colonies cover page
 Colonies map
 Fetzer #1 – What types of people first made up the colonies?
 Blank copy paper
 Pencils (both regular and colored)
(Distribute blank cover pages and maps and two blank printer papers
during anticipatory set and introduction. Teacher copy is placed under
the Elmo to model what and where each item is to be written or
colored.)
Let’s start with the cover page for our Life in the Colonies unit. Take out
your pencils, both regular and colored pencils. Write your name on the
cover page; you may color this when you finish your work early. Place
this in your folder.
Now, let’s look at the map. As you can see by the list on the right, there
are three regions. Take out three different colored pencils as we color
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5th Grade Social Studies – Lesson 1
Carole Crocker
and identify the regions and the colonies within each region.
Starting with New England, color in the square and then the areas for
those four colonies. Next, color the square and the areas for the Middle
Colonies. Finally, color the square and areas for the Southern Colonies.
Now, we will list the colonies for each of those regions. The New
England Colonies are New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and
Rhode Island. Next, we will identify each of these colonies on the map:
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Turn
to your shoulder partner, and name the New England Colonies.
The Middle Colonies are New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and
Pennsylvania. Next, we will identify each of these colonies on the map:
New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Turn to your
shoulder partner, and name the Middle Colonies.
The Southern Colonies are Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Georgia. Next, we will identify each of these colonies on
the map: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia. Turn to your shoulder partner, and name the Southern
Colonies.
Place this in your Social Studies folder. Now let’s talk about the people
who first made up the colonies. Let’s draw on one of the blank papers.
The big idea is “What types of people first made up the colonies?” They
came over on a boat or ship. There were five basic types of people:
merchants, indentured servants, prisoners, people seeking religious
freedom, and African slaves. (This is stated while drawing and waiting
to ensure students to complete each step.)
Let’s define the vocabulary we used. Merchants; a merchant is a person
who buys, sells, and trades goods for a profit. Indentured servant; a
person who works for someone for a set time period, usually five to
seven years, in exchange for the ocean voyage. I think we all know
what prisoners are, so we won’t need to include that in our vocabulary
here. Religious freedom; people seeking to practice their own way of
religion. Lastly on this ship, African slaves; a person forced to leave
their home and sold to settlers to work. Turn to your shoulder partner
and tell them the types of people who first made up the colonies.
Place these pages in your social studies folder.
For homework, read and complete the questions in Lesson #1, and take
your 13 colonies map home to study.
Independent
Practice:
Students will verbally summarize the thirteen original colonies, what
types of people first make up the colonies, and the additional
vocabulary with their shoulder partners at the conclusion of the guided
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5th Grade Social Studies – Lesson 1
Carole Crocker
practice.
Homework is read and complete workbook for Lesson #1 – What
influenced where Europeans settled in North America?
Differentiated For this lesson, the EL, SN, and AR students will be provided with copies
Instruction:
of what was written to ensure they have the information. Gate
students will assist these students in completing the work.
Informal assessment during key-points discussion.
Assessment:
Informally assess students’ comprehension by the comments
and/or questions made during the discussion and listen to
summaries given to shoulder partners.
Reflection:
I had 60 minutes allotted, but it took slightly more than an hour. Since
Language Arts follows Social Studies, time was used from L.A. to
complete the vocabulary and summarization. The students seemed to
enjoy it, and I was impressed with how well they completed their
worksheets.
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