A LOOK AT COLONIAL
AMERICA
A Second Grade Unit
Grade 2: Connecting History to our
World Today:
Colonial America and the Early Nation
 Colonial Laws and Rules
 Diversity Within the Colonies and
Colonial Ways of Life (families,
homes, foods, gender roles,
education, etc.)
 Colonial Leaders
 The Geography of the Colonies
 The Colonial Economy (Jobs,
Goods and Services, Surpluses and
Shortages)
Key Perspectives Addressed:
 Cultural Heritage
 Students will learn about Early
Americans and their ways of life.
 Time, Place and Space
 Students will learn about the
geography of the colonies and the
time period in which the United
States was founded.
 Diversity and Difference
 Students will learn about diversity
within the colonies as well as societal
differences between past and present
times.
Background Information:
What do we know about Colonial
America?
 It relates to the 13
original British
colonies in North
America before their
independence in
1776.
Background Information:
Where was Colonial America?
 The 13 original
colonies were
located on the
Eastern coast of
North America.
Background
Information:
 The 13 original
colonies consisted
of:
 Connecticut (1635)
 Delaware (1638)
 Georgia (1733)
 Maryland (1634)
 Massachusetts (1620)
 New Hampshire (1622)
 New Jersey (1618)
 New York (1624)
 North Carolina (1653)
 Pennsylvania (1623)
 Rhode Island (1636)
 South Carolina (1670)
 Virginia (1607)
Background Information:
Who came to the colonies and lived there?
 Puritans from
England came to
America because
they wanted
religious freedom.
 They traveled on
long voyages by
ship.
 Native Americans
had already been
living there.
Connecting Colonial America to our
Community Today
 Cultural perspective can be given to where our
nation is today by allowing students to explore the
lives and society of our ancestors.
 Learning about a different time period, students
are able to grasp history and envision the timeline
that has led to where our nation and society is
today.
 Children will compare and contrast their roles in
our community with the roles of children in
colonial times in their community.
Standards:
Colonial America is covered by:
 Illinois Learning
Standards for Social
Science:
 Goal 16: History
 Goal 17: Geography
State Goal 16: Understand events, trends, individuals
and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the
United States and other nations.
 16.A.1a Explain the
difference between
past, present and
future time; place
themselves in time.
 16.B.1 (W) Explain
the contributions of
individuals and
groups who are
featured in
biographies, legends,
folklore and
traditions.
 16.C.1a (W) Identify
how people and
groups in the past
made economic
choices (e.g., crops
to plant, products to
make, products to
trade) to survive and
improve their lives.
 16.C.1b (W) Explain
how trade among
people brought an
exchange of ideas,
technology and
language.
State Goal 17: Understand world
geography and the effects of geography on
society, especially in the United States.
 17.A.1b Identify the
characteristics and
purposes of geographic
representations including
maps, globes, graphs,
photographs, software,
digital images and be able
to locate specific places
using each.
Rationale
 Part of the
Curriculum.
 Integrates well with
literature.
 Can be approached
in an inventive
manner.
Instructional Strategies and
Rationale for Strategies:
 Teach students map skills. This
will benefit them in locating not
only the early colonies, but also in
reading present day maps.
 Immerse students in different
customs/costumes of the times so
that they can experience the cultural
differences.
 History is made more relevant when
students learn about the people and
their ways of life.
Literacy Link:
Pilgrims of Plimoth By Marcia Sewall
Pilgrims of Plimoth
takes a historical look at
the daily life of the
people commonly
referred to as Pilgrims.
This book will be used
to introduce students to
the real-life children of
Colonial America.
Daily activities,
community life, chores,
outfits, and families can
be looked at.
Literacy Link:
Your Travel Guide to Colonial America
By: Nancy Day
 A research book providing
background on the time period
and information on culture,
geography, economy, and
history.
 Optional classroom activities
are included as recipes, games,
time lines, and biographies
found in the book.
 This can be the introduction to
maps and how they will be
used to chart Colonial
America.
Unit Sketch
Lesson 1: Colonial Ways of Life
 Instructional Style: Teacher-Directed
 This lesson will introduce students to the topic of
Colonial America. The teacher will read a book aloud
to students, Home and Child Life in Colonial Days by
Alice Earle (for example) and then lead a discussion
where children’s lives in Colonial America are
compared to today.
 Teacher will direct students’ attention to family life and
expectations.
 There are more children in each family and they are
expected to do many many chores to help out. They
start their real jobs by age 8.
 ISBE Standard:
16.A.1a
Unit Sketch
Lesson 2: Colonial Ways of Life cont.
 Instructional Style: Teacher-Directed
 Students will compare education and toys by observing from last


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lesson’s literature.
Education was far less important, especially for poor children or
girls. Many schools were taught by ministers and only covered
practical topics.
Their toys are made of corn or hopscotch or cat’s cradle.
Students can make their own cornhusks dolls to compare the
colonial toys to their toys today.
Cornhusk doll directions:
www.teachersfirst.com/summer/cornhusk.htm
 ISBE Standard:
16.A.1a
Unit Sketch
Lesson 3: Colonial Laws and Rules
 Instructional Strategy: Guided Inquiry
 Students will look at the laws and rules for Colonial America.
 They will compare what was expected of colonists and what is
expected of us today.
 The laws found at: www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h315t.html
can be discussed and how these slave/discriminating laws are
different from life today.
 After laws are presented to the students, a comparison should be
led by classroom discussions that can be recorded on the board
by the teacher.
 ISBE Standard:
16.A.1a
Unit Sketch
Lesson 4: Colonial Leaders
 Students will learn about famous colonial leaders that made contributions to
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




society during their time.
Students will also explore the importance of how their contributions have
affected America even today.
Description: In groups, students will choose a famous leader and make an
informative poster. They will use computers and library books for research.
Students will share their posters with the class (oral presentations).
Examples of some leaders: John Cotton, Benjamin Franklin, Anne Hutchinson
Instructional strategy: Teacher directed
Materials: websites (http://cpcug.org/user/billb/hutch.html,
http://earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/index.html )
Assessment: Rubric for group poster (content, appearance, group
participation), oral presentation- participation from entire group
 ISBE Standard
16.B.1
Unit Sketch
Lesson 5: Geography of the Colonies
 Students will learn the geography of the early colonies and
compare them to the states now.
 Description: Students will be given large pieces of paper that are
pieces of a large puzzle of the thirteen colonies. They will be
given directions on where to place the pieces that will eventually
show the colonies. After this, they will have a worksheet that
they will label using the large puzzle map as a guide.
 Materials: worksheets with the map of the colonies, large pieces
of paper to make a puzzle map
 Assessment: individual assessment on following directions, maps
are properly labeled
 ISBE Standard
17.A.1b
Unit Sketch
Lesson 6: Colonial Economy
 Students will learn to connect the geography of the colonies to its
economy.
 Description: After discussing major aspects of the colonies’
geography, students will label their colony maps and color them.
Discuss important points like: waterways and their importance,
geographical barriers, and climate. Students will write these
important points and what they learned on another sheet of paper.
On a larger piece of construction paper, the map and their writing
will be pasted on as a final project.
 Materials: maps of colonies, construction paper, writing paper,
markers, pencils
 Assessment: final product: following directions, content
 ISBE Standard
16.C.1a, 17.A.1b
Unit Sketch
Lesson 7: Trading During Colonial Times
 Students will learn about the importance of trade during colonial times and
how it affected the culture in terms of new ideas, technology, language, etc.
 Description: Students will role play and have parts to play in order to
understand the concept of trade. Each student will play a particular part, and
the class will have a time to trade with one another. After this, there will be a
discussion on how trade can affect ideas, language, etc. Students will then
write things they learned, especially about the role they played. This will be
done in their journals.
 Materials: materials for costumes, index cards with roles & descriptions,
journals, Pilgrims of Plimoth By Marcia Sewall
 Assessment: monitor children’s role playing, journals- content, relevance to
the lesson.
 ISBE Standard
16.C.1a, 16.C.1b
Unit Sketch:
Bibliography
 Websites:
 www.teachersfirst.co
m/summer/cornhusk
.htm
 www.pbs.org/wgbh.
aia/part1/1h315t.htm
l
 http://cpcug.org/user/bill
b/hutch.html,
 http://earlyamerica.com/l
ives/franklin/index.html
 Books
 Pilgrims of Plimoth
by Marcia Sewall
 Your Travel Guide
to Colonial America
by Marcy Day
 Home and Child
Life in Colonial
Days by Alice Earle
Unit Sketch:
Unit Assessment Plan
 Formative:
 Group
Poster/Participation
 Oral Presentation
 Maps Correctly
Labeled
 Summative:
 Journals Throughout
the Unit
 Role Playing is
Accurate of
Information Attained
Throughout the Unit
Colonial America Lesson Plan
“Trading During Colonial Times”
Colonial America Lesson Plan
 Essential Question:
How did trade
affect colonial
culture, language,
ideas, etc.?
 Key Concepts:
Diversity and
Difference,
Cultural
Heritage, Time,
Place and Space
 Enduring
Understandings:
 In this lesson,
students will be able
to describe how
trade affected the
lives of the colonial
people in America.
Colonial America Lesson Plan cont.
 Standards Alignment: Illinois Learning
Standards for Social Science
16.C.1a (W) Identify how people and groups in
the past made economic choices (e.g., crops to
plant, products to make, products to trade) to
survive and improve their lives.
16.C.1b (W) Explain how trade among people
brought an exchange of ideas, technology and
language.
Adaptations:
Lower proficiency levels: These students may
be given simpler parts to play during the
“trading time.” They can also be given more
time to write in their journals.
Higher proficiency levels: Challenge students
to write as the character that they played.
This will challenge them to think deeply as
well as challenge them with their creative
writing skills.
Materials:
 Teacher literature:
Wealth of a Nation to Be by Alice Hanson
Jones
The Economy of British America by John J.
McCusker and Russell R. Menard
 Children’s literature:
Pilgrims of Plimoth by Marcia Sewall
 Other materials:
Simple costumes for children, index cards
w/ roles & descriptions, journals, pencils
Colonial America Lesson Plan cont.
 Procedures:
 Begin the lesson by asking the students what they have learned
about the economy during colonial times. Have a short
discussion about trading and ideas they may have about it.
 Read Pilgrims of Plimoth and discuss the book. Let the students
know that they will be colonial people acting out the trading
process during colonial times.
 Hand out index cards.Let the children choose their costumes.
 Students will then act out their parts and “trade” with one
another.
Colonial America Lesson Plan Cont.
 Procedure cont.
 Walk around the classroom to make sure students are on
task. Help them with playing out their roles if needed.
 After the role playing, have the students sit at the rug and
share their experiences with the class. this is a good time to
ask them questions about how trade affected the culture
during colonial times. Allow them to think deeply about this
particular topic. Have them think as if they were living in
colonial times.
 Students will return to their desks and write reflections about
what they learned in their journals.
Colonial America Lesson Plan cont.
 Assessments:
 Observe and make notes while walking around
the classroom to see if students are on task,
following directions, and playing their roles the
best they can.
 Look at the reflections made in their journals. Is
what is written related to the lesson? Is it wellwritten? Is it creative?
Reflections:
 Process
 Content
 The process of developing this
 The subject of Colonial
unit was more involved than we
thought it would be.
 There were so many people and
resources to investigate and talk
about to mold the shape of our
unit, that the process could’ve
taken much longer if we had
time.
 One of the hardest parts of the
process was picking out books
that were accurate, especially in
the ways talked about in our
class.
America is a very fun topic
to teach in elementary
grades.
 Since this topic is the
everyday lives of our
ancestors, there are many
aspects of life that can be
relived and acted out to
improve learning.
 It was fun to research
different parts of colonial
life that weren’t taught to
us as children.
Reflections cont.
 Future
 In the future when preparing units on any topic and for
any grade, it will be important to leave a lot of time for
researching content as well as instructional options.
 There are many books available on a lot of topics and it
is important to consider many books and choose the best
one to portray an accurate view of historical events to
students.
 There are so many opportunities to engage students in
Social Studies lessons in active and involved ways.
These ways are worth the extra work if information will
remain with students for years to come.