Colonial America | 13 Colonies Unit

This Colonial America unit covers the history of the Southern, Middle, and New England colonies. These activities prove that learning about the 13 colonies doesn't have to be boring!

I’ve made these Colonial America activities as easy as possible for busy teachers to implement. From thorough lesson plans to answer keys – it's all there. This unit will prepare you to teach about complex topics like slavery, reasons for colonization, the Salem Witch Trials, and Colonial Fur Trading.

Even better, I've made it fun! The 15 lessons are filled with exciting 13 colonies lessons, and students will never do the same activity twice in a row. This unit will help your students fall in love with history.

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Here's what's included:

Week 1: The Southern Colonies

• Colonization Introduction—PowerPoint presentation & KL worksheet
• Jamestown Gallery Walk—activity where students explore primary and secondary sources to learn about life for Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan people
• History of the Southern Colonies—article about the history of each Southern colony and comprehension questions
• Life in the Southern Colonies—task cards about aspects of Southern life (religion, education, social classes, etc.), student recording sheet, and reflection
• All About the Southern Colonies Game—student information booklet, jeopardy questions, and jeopardy board (covers the Southern Colonies’ economy, geography, important people, Native Americans, & religions)

Week 2: The New England Colonies

• The Mayflower and Plymouth Colony—facts about New England, article about the Mayflower and Plymouth Colony, interactive timeline, and reflection
• Early American Constitutions—activity analyzing The Mayflower Compact and The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, simulation where students create their own constitution
• Puritan Life—artifacts about Puritan life (religion, education, social classes, etc.) and student recording sheet
• The Salem Witch Trials—article about the Salem Witch Trials, evidence activity, and student booklet about the important people in the Trials
• All About the New England Colonies Game—student information booklet and jeopardy questions (covers New England’s economy, geography, important people, Native Americans, & religions)

Week 3: The Middle Colonies

• New Amsterdam to New York—facts about the Middle Colonies, article about the British taking over New Amsterdam, two reader’s theater scripts, and comprehension check
• Colonial Fur Trading—article about colonial fur trading, materials to play a fur trading game (name tags, goods for trading, rules, awards, etc.)
• The Quaker Way of Life—article about Quakers in the Middle Colonies, articles about different aspects of Quaker life (religion, education, social classes, etc.), rubric for student posters and presentations, and note taking sheet
• All About the Middle Colonies—student information booklet, and jeopardy questions (covers the Middle Colonies’ economy, geography, important people, Native Americans, & religions)
• Comparing and Contrasting the Colonies— sorting mats and cards to compare and contrast the Southern, New England, and Middle colonies

Help For The Teacher

• Table of contents (also available in the preview)
• Suggested pacing guide
• 15 lesson plans
• Answer Keys (Of course!)
• Editable end-of-unit test and study guide
• Easy printing file with all student worksheets and articles

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This unit also includes DIGITAL ACCESS via Google Slides.*

• I have created a Google Slides resource for each lesson. Each resource contains student instructions, student worksheets with editable text boxes, and articles/task cards if applicable.
• Google Slides can be assigned by teachers via Google Classroom. I hope this update will help teachers who are implementing distance learning. 

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Why I created this unit

1. I believe that social studies should be your students’ favorite part of the day.

2. Teachers deserve excellent social studies resources (Can someone please tell our school districts?)

3. Planning complete units is tedious and time-consuming (um... I won’t even tell you how long it took me to create this). I want to save teachers precious time so they can focus on doing what they love—teaching!

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What people are saying about this unit:

“This Unit has been a LIFESAVER!!  I have loved every single inch of this and will use it over and over!  I honestly cannot praise this enough!!  My Academic life skills class has LOVED this!!!!” —Cara W.

“Fantastic resource! Going to save me a bunch of time. I love that I can use it for both my 5th and 8th graders with some simple modifications. ” —Emily A.

“Love that the unit is clear and straight to the point! Bought previous units and love the layout and that all the materials one will use are included. Easy to use with students and can be easily differentiated if needed. ” —Diana B.

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How can this unit be for grades 5th-8th?

The articles are written at a 7th-8th grade reading level. If you teach one of those grades, your students will be able to complete the activities more or less independently. If you teach 5th or 6th grade, I recommend reading and analyzing the articles with your students. They will do great! Check out the reviews to see how teachers at your grade level have successfully used and loved this unit.

Where can I find more history units?

I have already created units for the following topics:

• Age of Exploration
• 13 Colonies
• Declaration of Independence
• US Constitution
• Early Republic
• Revolutionary War
• Westward Expansion
• Civil War

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Customer Tips:

For samples of what is included, download the preview file. I would love to answer any and all questions about this product. Ask a question by clicking on “Product Q & A”

All of my products are digital and non-refundable. This is a digital file. A physical product will not be shipped. Please make sure you have a way to open: a zip file, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, and a word document before purchasing.

This product is not editable. The only part of the unit that is editable is the end-of-unit study guide and test. The other elements (like lesson plans, student worksheets, PowerPoint presentations, Google Slides, etc.) are not. The PDFs are password protected. This protects my work as well as the work of graphic and font artists I've purchased from.