Teaching the 13 Colonies to students is a subject you can’t skip in 5th grade. Your students need to learn about this important topic before you jump into the Causes of the American Revolution. So how do you make this topic fun and engaging? Here are some lesson plan ideas to get you started.
Provide Background Knowledge about the Regions of the 13 Colonies
Teach your students first about how the colonies were divided up into different regions: New England, Middle, and Southern. We discuss the geography, economy, and climate of the region.
I also show students videos to provide a brief overview because nothing beats ” seeing” history. Also, videos provide great background knowledge before your students begin to do some reading about the 13 colonies.
Be sure to put on the Closed Captioning for your EL students. Here are some videos that I think are great:
Kids Academy provides a quick overview of the regions and is geared toward younger students.
Learn Bright goes into more detail about how the colonies were formed, the people who settled there, and the geography.
Flocabulary is a music rap video of the 13 Colonies
Learn the Names of the 13 Colonies Lessons
Most of your students have never heard of the names of the states that were part of the 13 colonies. For many students, the names are completely new to them so it’s a good idea to incorporate some fun activities so they can practice using the names of the colonies.
Knowing the names of the colonies will just make it that much easier when they are learning about the American Revolution and all the names of the 50 states.
Here are a few fun ways to get them practicing and using the names.
13 Colonies Acronym FREEBIE
My FREE 13 Colonies Acronym makes it super easy to memorize the names of the 13 Colonies. There are three acronyms that students need to memorize for each region: New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. The free download also comes with two sizes, 1 for a 3-ring binder and a smaller size to glue into a notebook. Read this blog post about how I get my students to memorize the names of the 13 Colonies.
Word Scramble
Word scrambles are fun for kids and this word scramble not only has them spell out the colonies correctly, but it has an image of the map outline of the colony.
Word Search
Word searches are great to have handy for your early finisher. This particular one is challenging and meant for upper-grade students because many of the words are spelled backward.
Memory Game
This is a simple game that gets your students practicing the names of the colonies. It only takes 15 minutes and it’s a fun and engaging game.
The rules are simple, students take turns turning over two cards. If the cards match, they keep them and go again. If they don’t match, they need to return them to the same position. Students who have the most cards at the end of the game, win.
My students sit on the floor with a partner to play this game, and then I keep it out on a table for them to do if they finish an assignment early throughout the week.
You can get all these 13 colonies lesson pack HERE.
Comparing and Contrasting the Regions
Once students have some background knowledge about the different regions, it’s time to do some reading and compare and contrast them. Have your students read a short article and complete a simple graphic organizer.
Many teachers try to make Social Studies completely hands-on but there is no way to get around doing some reading. Students must process what they are learning through reading and answering comprehension questions.
Create a Billboard Advertisement
One project idea that my students enjoy is creating a billboard to encourage people to move to your colony. In this project, divide your students up into a group of 4 and choose a colony for each group to research.
The assignment is to create a billboard on a large poster that says the name of the colony and has images and symbols to represent the geography and industries.
Students are to create a slogan and then think of a fun way to persuade people to move to their colony during their presentation. Here are some examples:
Here are more project ideas for the 13 Colonies that students can choose from.
Read a 13 Colonies Reader’s Theater Script
Students enjoy acting out Reader’s Theater and this 13 Colonies Reader’s Theater skits are a fun way to incorporate history and language arts together. These skits are funny and engaging because students huddled up into a small group of 3-4 students to read them.
There are only about 3-4 characters per skit, so you won’t have students tuning out because it isn’t their turn. They are also a great way to practice fluency. Get ready for some laughs because this skit is funny and light-hearted. Click HERE to learn more.
Play Games to Learn about the 13 Colonies
Kahoot
Kahoot is a game-based learning platform online. If you haven’t played, give it a try. It is free if you have a basic membership. Be sure to click Basic, when the pop-up for paid versions comes up. There are different games that you can play based on the 13 Colonies subject. What I love is that you can edit the games. So if there is a question you haven’t covered in your classroom, you can easily delete it.
Jeopardy
Jeopardylabs.com has some FREE and amazing games to review any topic. We play the 13 Colonies game once students have completed
So there you have it. Make sure to save some of the image pins to your Pinterest board so you can return to them later when you’re teaching your 13 Colonies unit. You got this! Giselle