At a Glance:

Grades:5
Subject:Social Studies
Topic:Colonial Regions
Lesson Length:25 - 30 mins

Standards / Framework:

What will students learn in this activity?

Students will learn how the colonial regions; northern, middle, and southern differed economically by exploring the advantages of their locations and what they exported.

What should students know before this activity?

Students should have a good understanding of where the colonial regions; northern, middle, and southern are located on both a physical and political map.

How can teachers introduce this lesson?

  • Read and discuss the sample comic.

    • How do you think having a lot of forests helped the northern colonies prosper? 

  • Show a map of the original thirteen colonies separated by region.

  • Have students brainstorm what they believe the colonial regions exported based on their location.

What will students do?

  • Present these three prompts to students:
    • Which colonial region do you think had the most access to waterways? 
    • Which colonial region do you think was known as the breadbasket?
    • Which colonial region do you think had the most wildlife?
  • Using the sample comic as a guide, have students respond to one of the prompts in a three-panel comic.
  • Have them not only answer the prompt with the colonial region; northern, middle, or southern, but also use the comic to explain why they believe they are correct.
  • Panel 1: Restate the prompt/question.
  • Panels 2 and 3: Respond to the prompt and explain your reasoning.

How can teachers wrap up the lesson?

  • Divide the class into groups based on the prompt they chose. Have them discuss their comics within their group.

How can teachers differentiate this activity?

  • Allow students to use speech-to-text feature.
  • Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
  • Assign one of the prompts to each student.

Related Resources:

  • Comic to print or display: Comic.

Related Content: