Though most middle school students are familiar with a current map of the United States, a map of the original thirteen colonies is a bit more foreign and may be difficult to understand. A map project encourages students to create realistic versions of the original colonial map. To engage students, invite pairs of students to use alternative materials to create their maps. Students might opt to create their maps on tea-stained paper to make the paper look old, while other students might create maps of fabric. Challenge students to not only replicate original boundaries and geographical features, but also to include state capitals or fun facts about each colony on their maps.
From the first pilgrims to the signers of the Declaration of Independence, several key figures emerged during the colonial period. Instead of a research paper, invite middle school students to choose a famous colonial figure and then play their figure during a classroom colonial party. Students should choose a figure of particular importance, like Paul Revere, Betsy Ross or Pocahontas, or a representative of an important colonial group, like the Quakers or the Puritans. Students conduct research regarding their figures' role in colonial history and prepare a brief introduction to read before the party. During the event, students dress like their figures and remain in character throughout the party.
Though patriotism and unity are often themes of middle school colonial history units, colonial history is also filled with contention and controversies. A colonial-themed debate allows middle school students to conduct research, role play and practice their persuasive skills in a realistic recreation. Provide students or student groups with several possibilities for colonial controversies. Students might choose settlers versus the English throne, colonists versus native people or Puritans versus secularists. Students choose a side, conduct research and organize an oral argument for their side of the cause. The teacher then conducts a formal debate between opposing sides of the argument. Other students in the class vote on which side presented the better argument and compare the outcome of the in-class debate with the outcome in colonial America.
American colonists relied on simple tools and their own ingenuity to survive in the harsh, wild conditions. Challenge students to recreate some of the tasks colonists undertook in their effort to establish the original colonies. One option for the activity is to assign groups of middle school students to a particular colonial task. Groups might be responsible for preparing food, making clothes or building shelters. Each group conducts research regarding the types of things colonists did to meet their basic needs and then recreates the task in the classroom. The food group might plant seeds to grow traditional colonial crops while the clothing group might collect raw wool from a local farm and attempt to clean and spin it. Each group then presents a report regarding the challenge and how it relates to colonial America.