Introduction to Early america
Essential Question:
How did human activity shape the early United States?
Guiding Questions:
What do you see? What do you think about that? What does it make you wonder? (Gallery Walk)
How is independence gained?
How did European settlement change the land and people of North America?
Why did colonists come to America?
Lesson Development (activities, discussion, and vocabulary):
Vocabulary:
Colonists - people who came to America from other countries to settle the colonies
Religious persecution - being criticized for their religious beliefs
Parliament - British government
Standards:
5.H.1 Analyze the chronology of key events in the United States.
5.H.1.1 Evaluate the relationships between European explorers (French, Spanish and English) and American Indian groups, based on accuracy of historical information (beliefs, fears and leadership).
5.H.1.2 Summarize the political, economic and social aspects of colonial life in the thirteen colonies.
How did human activity shape the early United States?
Guiding Questions:
What do you see? What do you think about that? What does it make you wonder? (Gallery Walk)
How is independence gained?
How did European settlement change the land and people of North America?
Why did colonists come to America?
Lesson Development (activities, discussion, and vocabulary):
- *iPad Gallery walk: We will spend the first 5-10 minutes of class doing a silent gallery walk of the three pictures below. The questions "What do you see? What do you think about that? What does it make you wonder?" will be posted on the board, and the three pictures (below) will each be on an iPad around the room. This will serve as a pre-assessment for me, but also a way to get students interested and making predictions about what these pictures are specifically from. After they have time to look, reflect, and write, have students share with the whole class or in small groups, depending on comfort levels and time.
- Why did they come to America?: In small groups, have students brainstorm a list of ideas that might answer this question before exploring it further. Have the students share their top 2 or 3 ideas with the whole class and see if they are all on a similar page or have drastically different ideas. This will also help guide instruction.
- To find the answer to the previous question, students will do a small bit of research using this website, which uses a timeline to give a brief description about colonial times and the beginning of America. The timeline is set to the part that explains the early colonists settling to escape religious persecution in England. Students will look at this on their group's iPad and, again in the same small group, discuss if it matched their brainstorm answers.
- Chart: Students will break off independently and use their North Carolina Harcourt textbook to fill in the chart below. They will find out information about the Northern colonies, Middle colonies, and Southern colonies. Students who need additional scaffolding can work with a partner on this.
- Map it: After completing the chart that gives the description of each of the colonies, students will use the book to complete the map below and color in which states belong to which section. They will color and label each colony based on the textbook. This will help them visualize the colonies after learning about them. This map will also be a reference for them throughout the unit.
Vocabulary:
Colonists - people who came to America from other countries to settle the colonies
Religious persecution - being criticized for their religious beliefs
Parliament - British government
Standards:
5.H.1 Analyze the chronology of key events in the United States.
5.H.1.1 Evaluate the relationships between European explorers (French, Spanish and English) and American Indian groups, based on accuracy of historical information (beliefs, fears and leadership).
5.H.1.2 Summarize the political, economic and social aspects of colonial life in the thirteen colonies.
*Arts-integrated lesson
Main source in this lesson: Wake County C-MAPP Grade 5 Social Studies unit
Main source in this lesson: Wake County C-MAPP Grade 5 Social Studies unit