CK_3_TH_HG_P146_194.QXD 4/11/05 10:47 AM Page 192 III. The Thirteen Colonies: Life and Times Before the Revolution Middle Atlantic, and Southern. Instruct students to cut out each colony, and then write facts about the colony on the back and the name of the colony on the front. Use shorter yarn to hang the New England colonies together, longer yarn to hang the Middle Atlantic colonies together, and the longest pieces of yarn to hang the Southern colonies together. Share these with the class and hang them in class- rooms. This activity can be a springboard for organizing ideas and outlining para- graph writing. A good extension for this activity would be to have students cre- ate “tourist” brochures about each region, giving facts about each colony and illustrating their brochures. The purpose of the brochure could be to convince other Europeans to move to the colonies. Ask students to think about the strengths and relative weaknesses when deciding on what to include in their brochures. • Invite a historian to the classroom to talk about the original 13 colonies, Name Date particularly if the class lives in one of these areas. University professors or Venn Diagram librarians may also be available to talk about the history of the colonies. Before the visit, have the class write letters to the presenter, asking one ques- tion that they would like answered about the colonies. Instruct the class to use the letter-writing format for a friendly letter. • Use a Venn diagram to help students see the differences and similarities in climate, physical geography, and food production among the three regions. Discuss with students how people have culturally adapted to the physical environments they occupy in order to make a living. e Knowledge Foundation Directions: Venn diagrams are useful for showing how things are alike in some ways, but different in others. Where the circles overlap, write or draw how • Have the class become pen pals with students who live in the areas of the both things are alike. Where the circles don’t overlap, write or draw how two things are different. Copyright ©Cor Master 62 Grade 3: Teacher Material original colonies. Have the class write letters about what they have learned about that area’s history and then ask questions about the area now. Use Instructional Master 62. • You may also ask the following questions at the end of this section: 1. What did Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, and Charleston have in common? All four cities were located on good harbors and close to farming areas, so the cities became important trading centers. 2. What was the first English colony in North America? Jamestown was the first English colony in North America. 3. Why did people who grew tobacco, rice, and indigo use enslaved Africans? Growing tobacco, rice, and indigo required large amounts of land, labor, and equipment. Indentured servants who were Europeans left at the end of their term of indenture and were more expensive to take care of than Africans. It seemed as though there was a steady supply of Africans in Africa, and once they paid for a slave, plantation owners believed that they did not need to spend very much to provide an African with food, clothing, and shelter. 4. What was the Middle Passage? The Middle Passage was the voyage that brought enslaved Africans from Africa to the Americas. The people who were transported often suffered terri- bly during the Middle Passage. 5. Why did Pilgrims and Puritans come to America? Puritans and Pilgrims wanted to be able to practice their religion, which they could not do freely in England. 192 Grade 3 Handbook CK_3_TH_HG_P146_194.QXD 4/11/05 10:47 AM Page 177 Cross-curricular Connections Language Arts Visual Arts Poetry Elements of Art • “First Thanksgiving of All” (Nancy • Early American quilts Byrd Turner) • Edward Hicks, The Peaceable Fiction Kingdom (Pilgrims) Stories • “The People Could Fly” (slavery in the colonies) At a Glance The most important ideas for you are: Q Climate and physical geography were two reasons that the English colonies developed differently. Q Towns located on good harbors and in proximity to agricultural areas developed into market centers and ultimately into thriving cities. Q While the economy of the Southern colonies was based on large-scale plantation agriculture, most Southern farms were small. Q The first Africans came as indentured servants, not as slaves. Q Religion was the most important influence on the founding of the New England colonies. Q The Middle Atlantic colonies were founded for financial and religious motives. Teaching Idea What Teachers Need to Know Discuss the colonies in New England. Background Why is this region called “New England”? What do you notice about Although students may have heard the word colony, it would be useful to the names of the colonies and the define the term with students and to discuss reasons why nations have estab- names of the states there today? lished colonies in the past. Help students to see that the 13 English colonies (Students should notice the names were not identical. First, different groups of people came to the colonies with are the same, but the regions them- different motivations (hoping to get rich, looking for religious freedom, and so selves differ—for example, Maine on), and these motives had an effect on how the colonies developed. In addi- was part of what was then called tion, the climate and the physical environment of each region affected its devel- New Hampshire.) Follow a similar opment. discussion with the Middle Atlantic and Southern colonies. (How did A. Geography these regions get their names, etc.) Each group of people culturally adapted to the climate and terrain of their Ask students to compare and contrast colony, finding different ways to produce food and use resources available to life in the three colonies simply them. Each region had a variety of terrain, from coastal plain to mountainous based on geography. backcountry with corresponding climates. History and Geography: American 177 CK_3_TH_HG_P146_194.QXD 4/11/05 10:47 AM Page 178 III. The Thirteen Colonies: Life and Times Before the Revolution Teaching Idea New England Colonies Make an overhead from Instructional Agriculture in the New England colonies was hampered by both the climate Master 31, Map of the Thirteen and the physical environment. New England experiences long, cold, and very Colonies, to orient students to the snowy winters and short, warm summers. Crops that grow well in the other names and locations of the colonies in regions, such as rice and wheat, do not thrive in this climate. In addition, the soil each region. Use this overhead as a is rocky or sandy, and generally poor for growing crops. way to introduce or review each region As a result, farming in New England was limited to small farms on which as you teach the section. Extend this families managed to grow enough to feed themselves and not much else. These activity by having groups of students subsistence farmers grew vegetables, apples, and possibly a field of grain crops make puzzles of the colonies. You will (often oats that were fed to livestock). need to enlarge the map using a copier. Fortunately for the colonists, New England was heavily forested and those Have one group make the puzzle pieces forests became the basis for thriving maritime industries. Cities like Boston, of the New England colonies by gluing Massachusetts, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, became major centers for ship- the map onto cardboard and then cut- building. Coastal towns were home to fleets of fishing boats that fished in the ting out the pieces. Then have two coastal waters for cod, lobster, and other shellfish. By the mid-1600s, fish was other groups make the puzzle pieces of New England’s most important export. International trade also depended on New the Middle Atlantic and Southern England shipbuilding and sailors. Colonial ships based in New England ports like colonies. Instruct students to write a Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, sailed to England and the Caribbean. Some fact about each colony on the back of ships participated in the slave trade between Africa and the Caribbean and North each puzzle piece. Then, challenge America. groups to assemble the puzzle. Middle Atlantic Colonies The climate in the Middle Atlantic region is more moderate, with milder, Name Date shorter winters than in New England and a longer overall growing season from Map of the Thirteen Colonies spring to fall. Because of the more advantageous climate and fertile soil, cereal Study the names and locations of the thirteen English colonies. Then use the map to complete the chart below. crops—wheat, oats, corn—and many vegetables and fruits grow well in this region. New Hampshire Salem Farms in the Middle Atlantic colonies varied in size. There were some very Boston New York Plymouth Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut Pennsylvania large estates on which tenant farmers worked for wealthy owners, but most farms New Jersey Delaware Virginia Maryland N Jamestown were owned by a single family. The proprietors of Pennsylvania made land avail- North W E Carolina ATLANTIC South S Carolina OCEAN Georgia able cheaply to anyone willing to work it. As a result, the average farm in these Charles Town Savannah 250 Miles 0 250 Kilometers colonies was approximately 100 acres. New England Colonies Middle Atlantic Colonies Southern Colonies Southern Colonies Middle Atlantic Colonies New England Colonies Southern Colonies Maryland New York New Hampshire Virginia New Jersey Massachusetts Pennsylvania Rhode Island The Southern colonies had a warm climate with a long growing season, abun- North Carolina Delaware Connecticut South Carolina e Knowledge Foundation Georgia dant rainfall, and fertile soil.