Colonial America (Grades 4 - 6)

"A Day in the Life” for Kids: Colonial America

 

Museum Websites for Students

H.I.P. Pocket Change™ Web Site—Time Machine.  http://www.usmint.gov/kids/timeMachine/.

This website is created by the United States Mint.  Students can choose from several historical periods, including colonial and American Revolution eras, and learn about currency and history through interactive games.

 

Colonial Williamsburg—Kids Zone. http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/kids/games/.

Games and activities are available that illustrate colonial life and provide history lessons in a fun manner.

 

George Washington’s Mount Vernon—Be a Mount Vernon Kid! 
     http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/teachers_students/index.cfm/ss/112/.

A few games are available for students here.  They say more are coming.

 

George Washington’s Mount Vernon—Meet George Washington 
     http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/meet_george/index.cfm/.

Biographical information about George and Martha Washington, along with images, can be found here.  Other information that would support homework or reports is available here, too.

 

Kids—Welcome to the Monticello Classroom!

     http://classroom.monticello.org/kids/home/.

This page is a portal for children to the world of Monticello.  The “Learning Resources” link provides homework help; the “Image Gallery” offers images of Monticello, its people and its property, which would be a good image resource for reports; and the “Activities” page has games and activities.

 

Monticello Explorer.  http://explorer.monticello.org/index.html.

Explore Monticello in this virtual world.  The Monticello Explorer provides “an in-depth, multimedia look at Monticello with 3-D models of the house, narrated tours, special animations, and an interactive map.”

 

Old Sturbridge Village—Kids Zone.  http://www.osv.org/kids_zone/.

Games, puzzles, jokes, quizzes and more highlight the online activities around life in the late 18^th century.

  

You Be the Historian.  http://americanhistory.si.edu/Kids/springer/.

This is an activity created by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.  Students view images of actual items used in daily life and guess what they were used for.  They are then asked to relate this to their own daily life.

 

 

Museum Websites for Teachers

Colonial Williamsburg Multimedia Pages.  http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/media/.

Slide shows are available here on a wide range of topics including games, popular culture, trades, and  the animals.

 

Colonial Williamsburg—Life During the 18^th Century.
     http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/Almanack/life/life.cfm.

Links provide detailed information about different facets of colonial life, including the African-American experience, food, gardening, manners, politics and religion.

 

George Washington’s Mount Vernon—Explore Mount Vernon. 
     http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/explore_mv/index.cfm/.

Tour the mansion, gardens and farm.  Other buildings can be explored that would provide insight into colonial life.

 

History Is Fun—Curriculum Materials.

     http://www.historyisfun.org/Curriculum-Materials.htm

This site combines information from Jamestown and Yorktown.  Podcasts are available.

 

History Is Fun—Educational Video & Audio Links. 
     http://www.historyisfun.org/educational-videos.htm.

Videos are available to view about Jamestown and Yorktown.  Topics are historical and biographical.

 

Old Sturbridge Village—Explore and Learn. 
     http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/village_tour.html.

This page opens with an online tour of some of the buildings in the Village.  However, the menu on the left of the screen include links to information about gardening, historic documents, their graphics database, recipes from the past and waterpower and mills.

 

Old Sturbridge Village—School Programs.  http://www.osv.org/school/resources.html.

Teacher resource links are abundant on this portal page.  Curriculum plans and classroom activities; multimedia tours and presentations about the Village, New England, and mills and powersources; and a reward of merit to be printed for successful students can be found here.

 

Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia. 
     http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Thomas_Jefferson_Encyclopedia.

The main page is organized alphabetically by subject.  Links include encyclopedic descriptions, images, and hotlinks within the articles.  This can be a source for recipes, job descriptions and life of the gentry.

 

U.S. National Park Service—Colonial National Historical Park Photos and Multimedia.  http://www.nps.gov/colo/photosmultimedia/index.htm

Images of Jamestowne and Yorktown are available here in a slide show.

U.S. National Park Service—Historic Jamestowne History & Culture.   
     http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/index.htm

Links on this page include fact sheets and web resources covering people, places and stories.  Images are prevalent.

 

U.S. National Park Service—Yorktown Battlefield History & Culture.  
     http://www.nps.gov/york/historyculture/index.htm.

Links on this page include fact sheets and web resources covering people, places and stories.  Images are prevalent.

 

U.S. National Park Service—Yorktown Battlefield Nature & Science.  
     http://www.nps.gov/york/naturescience/index.htm.

Links from this page cover the impact of nature and science of the Yorktown area.  Images are prevalent.

 

 

Web Resources for Students

Colonial Kids.  http://library.thinkquest.org/J002611F/.

This website was created by students as a learning project and won the Gold Medal for 2000 in the ThinkQuest competition.  Links take students through an exploration of daily colonial life using video, audio, written descriptions and still images.  A glossary is included.

 

History Globe—The Jamestown Online Adventure.  http://www.historyglobe.com/jamestown/.

This is an online flash game.  Students make decisions about their settlement of Jamestown, such as finding a location for their village, what kind of crops to plant and what jobs the settlers should participate in.  This provides a fun lesson in the reality of discovering new colonies.

 

Liberty’s Kids.  http://www.libertyskids.com/nowthen/index.html.

Based on the PBS television series, Liberty’s Kids, this link includes a multimedia presentation on a variety of subjects which compares life now and then.  Highlights include comparisons of dolls, music, instruments, clothes, dessert and dinner.

 

Liberty’s Kids.  http://www.libertyskids.com/lnn.html.

Based on the PBS television series, Liberty’s Kids, this link allows students to create their own newspaper pages.  Images are provided and students write about what they’ve learned about colonial life.

 

 

Professional Web Resources

Colonial Williamsburg.

     http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/history/teaching/classroom_plans.cfm.

This link provides classroom tested lesson plans.  Topics range from Christmas in Williamsburg to music, predicting the weather, and travel.  Subjects include history, math, and science.

 

George Washington’s Mount Vernon—Biography Lesson. 
     http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/teachers_students/index.cfm/pid/1152/.

Although there is a fee for this lesson plan, activities and materials for the classroom are included.  It is only $9.00 for the entire packet and materials are included for a class of 30 students.

 

History Is Fun—Curriculum Materials. 

     http://www.historyisfun.org/Curriculum-Materials.htm

This site combines information from Jamestown and Yorktown.  PDF’s can be downloaded with lesson plans, reading materials and activities about colonial life, colonial medicine, a soldier’s life and Revolutionary Virginia.

 

History Is Fun—Kids Museum Guides. 

     http://www.historyisfun.org/Kids-Museum-Guides.htm.

The PDFs for “Pastimes and Pleasures” and “Planting a Settlement” would be appropriate for “A Day in the Life” activities.

 

Monticello School Resource Packets.

     http://www.monticello.org/education/resource.html.

Materials and activities to be carried out in the classroom—no need to visit Monticello in person!  These packets are for a fee (reasonable at $10-$25 per packet).

 

Monticello—Lesson Plans from Monticello.

     http://classroom.monticello.org/teachers/lessons/lesson/377/Journal-Writing/.

This lesson plan uses the life of Thomas Jefferson, his wife, Martha, and life at Monticello, as described in their journals.  The lesson can cover social studies and language arts.

                                           

Old Sturbridge Village—School Programs.  http://www.osv.org/school/resources.html.

Curriculum plans and classroom activities links are here.

 

ProTeacher! Colonial Activities.

     http://www.proteacher.org/a/31234_colonial_activities.html.

This offers a teacher-suggested project for making books about different aspects of colonial life.

 

ProTeacher! Colonial Unit.

     http://www.proteacher.org/a/31234_colonial_activities.html.

Another teacher-suggested project for making books about colonial life, this project includes a presentation of the books and some activities for families at school.