In December the 2nd-4th graders were able to begin a Unit Plan on the 13 Colonies. The students were very excited to be learning about the United States history, but first it had to be explained to the students that the United States started off as the 13 Colonies. They were very shocked to learn that New York was part of the 13 Colonies and it was controlled by Great Britain. The students learned where Great Britain was and that a trip across the Atlantic Ocean was not easy and something most people did only once. They also learned that life in the Colonial times was vastly different from the life we are living today. If the Colonists wanted something back then they had to make it themselves.

The students were able to fill in a KWL (K-what they know, W-what they want to know, L-what they learned) after reading passages in partners about life in the colonies. They learned about schools, roads, taxes, laws and they were very excited about everything they could put in the L column. At the end of the Unit they learned about events that made the Colonies want to gain their independence from Great Britain and that a war was used to achieve this. To wrap up the Unit They made brochures about the 13 Colonies, advertising what it was like to live there and what they learned about it.