5th Grade Integrated Early American History SS050403
Unit 4: Life in Colonial America Lesson 3
Lesson 3: Life in the Southern Colonies
Big Ideas of the Lesson
The Southern Colonies had fertile soil and a long growing season.
Cash crops like tobacco, indigo and rice were grown.
Enslaved Africans were forced to do the work on plantations in this region.
There were fewer towns and schools in this region.
Plantations and farms were fairly spread out.
Lesson Abstract:
In this lesson, students examine the region of the Southern Colonies. The lesson begins with a
review of what students have learned about the Southern Colonies in the previous unit. Students
then practice the reading skill of making connections with a short piece of informational text. Next,
students read a textbook selection on the Southern Colonies and complete a chart showing
connections they have found in their reading between this colonial region and the other two
regions studied in previous lessons.
Content Expectations
5 U2.3.1: Locate the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies on a map.
5 U2.1.1: Describe significant developments in the Southern colonies, including:
development of colonial representative assemblies (House of Burgesses)
development of one-crop economies (plantation land use and growing season for
rice in Carolinas and tobacco in Virginia).
(portions omitted)
5 U2.3.2: Describe the daily life of people living in the New England, Middle, and Southern
colonies.
Common Core State Standards:
RI.5.3: Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events,
ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific
information in the text.
Key Concepts
culture
economic activities
government
regions
slavery
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5th Grade Integrated Early American History SS050403
Unit 4: Life in Colonial America Lesson 3
Instructional Resources
Equipment/Manipulative
Chart paper
Overhead projector or document camera/projector
Student Resource
Bower, Burt, et al. Americas Past, Social Studies Alive Program. Palo Alto, CA: Teachers
Curriculum Institute, 2010 or a similar fifth grade social studies textbook. Pp. 91-93, 95.
Colonial People. 1 December 2011 <http://www.history.org/kids/visitUs/#colonialPeople>.
Web links for the Southern Colonies. 1 December 2011
<http://www.kidinfo.com/american_history/colonization_s_colonies.html>.
Teacher Resource
Egbo, Carol. Supplemental Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 3). Teacher-made material. Michigan
Citizenship Collaborative, 2011.
Thomson, Melissa and Ruth Dean. Life in the American Colonies. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1999.
Lesson Sequence
1. Using Word Card #11, and the same colonial map region you used in Lesson 1, review the
location of the Southern Colonies and the five colonies that made up that region.
2. Briefly review the New England Colonies and the Middle Colonies by asking students to
describe important characteristics relating to geography, economics, civics, and culture for each
region.
3. Ask students to think about what they have already learned about third colonial region, the
Southern Colonies, in the previous unit. Have students turn and talk to a partner regarding
what they already know about the Southern Colonies.
4. Display the Southern Colonies Chart #1, located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4,
Lesson 3). Engage students in a whole class discussion of what they know about the Southern
Colonies. List students ideas on the chart. Note that a chart showing possible answers has
also been included in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 3). Explain that in this lesson
students will be reading the section on the Southern Colonies in their textbook to learn more
about this region.
5. Give each student a copy of Reading to Find Connections, located in the Supplemental
Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 3). Tell students to read the short passage on the top of the sheet
and look for connections between the Southern Colonies and the other two regions. Explain
that the connections should relate to differences or similarities between the Southern Colonies
and the other two colonial regions. Have students describe the connections by completing the
chart on the bottom of the page.
6. Give students time to complete the activity and then have them share their charts in the large
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5th Grade Integrated Early American History SS050403
Unit 4: Life in Colonial America Lesson 3
group. Note that a completed chart showing possible answers has been included in the
Supplemental Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 3).
7. Give each student a copy of Reading to Find Connections chart, located in the Supplemental
Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 3). Explain that students should read the textbook section on the
Southern Colonies and describe connections between this colonial region and each of the other
two regions on the chart as they read. Encourage them to look for connections relating to
geography, economics, civics, and culture.
8. If necessary, read the first page or so of the textbook section on the Southern Colonies together
and guide students in finding a connection between this region and one of the other two
regions.
9. Give students time to read independently and complete the chart. Then, place students in
groups of four and have them share their charts. Encourage group members to add ideas to
their charts based on what they learn from other group members.
10. Guide a discussion on what students learned about the Southern Colonies and connections to
the other two colonial regions from their textbooks as well as their group discussions in Step 8.
Use The Southern Colonies Chart #2, located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4, Lesson
3) to record students ideas. Note that a teacher reference sheet, Important Ideas about the
Southern Colonies has been included in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 3) to use
as a guide in your discussion. Additionally, the following questions may be useful to guide your
discussion:
In what ways were the Middle Colonies like both the Southern Colonies and the New
England Colonies?
Do you think people identified most with the colonial region in which they lived or the
colony in which they lived? Why?
Do you think differences among the colonial regions ever led to conflicts between the
regions? Why or why not?
Do you think the king treated the three colonial regions differently in any way? Why or
why not?
In what ways were the three colonial regions dependent on each other?
11. Note, if time permits, you may wish to extend the research portion of this lesson by having
students gather information from other sources besides their textbook. The Internet site listed
in the Student Resources contains links to many useful websites for this.
12. As an enrichment activity, have students visit the Colonial People section of the Colonial
Williamsburg website at the following web address:
http://www.history.org/kids/visitUs/#colonialPeople. At this website, students can explore the
life of various families including a Farm Family of Seven, a Burgess and His Family, and the
Enslaved Farm Family of Two.
Assessment
The charts students create in Step 9 can be used as an assessment.
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