Technology-based lesson on colonization in America targeted for grades 6-8. Completed for Quinnipiac University MAT 100

1. American
Colonization
Keri Agresti
Targeted for Grades 6-8

2. Rationale For
Technology Integration
• American History is an important part of
education – not only because it provides
information for where the country grew its roots,
but also because it can show the advancements
we have made as a society over time. Students
grow up learning about different aspects about
the birth of the United States, from learning
about the first Thanksgiving in Kindergarten, to
understanding how and why the settlers colonized
in the areas in which they did.
• Technology plays an important role in learning
about the history of the United States because it
can give students the opportunity to step back in
time in ways that might otherwise be impossible.
Technology bridges the gap of time between then
and now, providing a stepping stone for learning.
• Rationale Video

3. Internet Content
• The following websites are dedicated to
the information needed to teach and
understand colonization in America.
• This information comes from reputable
sources such as educational of
government-based organizations.
• Sites have been fact-checked to ensure
material presented is current and correct.
• The links to the material presented will
be cited and included where needed.

4. Blog & Podcast
• The Junto
• The Junto is a blog and connected podcast series
made up of “Junior Americanists” – graduate
students and junior faculty who use the space to
discuss Early American History.
• The most recent post in the blog, posted February
11, 2017, discusses the fashion wear of Bostonions
from the 17th century.

5. Podcast
• Stanford University published this podcast about
traditional American history.
• The free lectures include information on James
Madison, Religion in the Colonies, Puritans, and
much more.
• Many schools have similar podcasts dedicated to
early American history, so it would be easy to find
exactly what subject you are searching for.

6. YouTube
• Thirteen Colonies
• Mr. Zoller is a seventh grade
Social Studies teacher from
Cincinnati, Ohio who posts
informational videos on his
channel.
• His “Thirteen Colonies” series
gives in-depth details about
each of the colonies and what
makes them unique, such as
who founded them and under
what principle.

7. Khan Academy
• Early English Settlements
• This video is the fifth in
the series detailing the
English settlement in the
New World, and it
discusses the earliest
successful settlement in
America – Jamestown,
Virginia.
• Khan Academy is a free
online education system
that strives to provide
information for all
(whether they be
students, educators,
parents, or just
interested in a subject)
anywhere, at any time.

8. Internet Resources
• Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
• The Gilder Lehrman Institute hosts a
collection of numerous primary sources having
to do with American History with information
beginning in the late 15th century to today.
• Linked above is the specific location of
“Colonization and Settlement” which hosts
numerous links and abundant information
about the specific era of the late 15th century
spanning until the late 18th century.

9. Internet Resources
• Alexander Street Press
• Alexander Street Press presents “Early
Encounters in North America” which contains
an abundance of letters, diaries, memoirs,
and firsthand accounts of relationships of the
early North Americans from the mid 16th
century until the mid 19th century.
• These accounts include both published and
previously unpublished accounts.

10. Internet Resources
• Library of Congress
• The Library of Congress provides an
exhibition detailing information on
“Religion and the Founding of the
American Republic” looking at how
religion has transformed from the
oppression that drove the English settlers
to the New World to how religion was
defined in the founding days of America as
a country.

11. Graphic Organizer/Diagram

12. Teaching
Materials
• “Greetings From…”
Worksheets
• Range from
Northeastern,
Chesapeake, and
Southern
• Can be used as an
introduction activity
whether alone or in
groups because it is
typically focused for
students at a slightly
younger gradepoint.

13. Teaching Materials
• Informational Pamphlets
like this one can be
printed for each
individual student to
include in their folders
or blown up and printed
on poster boards for
hanging up around the
classroom.

14. Teaching Materials
• Archiving Early America
• This app for either an
iPhone or an iPad that
allows you to “discover
early America’s historic
sites as you tour the 13
original colonies”
• It is useful for trips
through the original
colonies, whether it be in
real life or virtually
• Virtual tours could be
considered for
presentations or projects.

15. Teaching Materials
• This “Colonial America” crossword is a
great addition to the classroom as
something that students can work on
after they finish their independent
work.

16. Subject-Specific Website
• PBS
• PBS’s “Liberty! The American Revolution”
website includes vital information about
the moments leading up to the American
Revolution.
• There are timelines, interactive games,
and a TV series that goes in-depth to
many sub-subjects of the Revolution era.

17. Supporting Website
• Yale Library Guide
• The Yale Library Guide provides links of
primary source databases that focus on
the study of Colonial America along with
newspapers, government documents,
microfilm, and other resources.

18. Supporting Website
• Teaching History
• This website hosts not one, but two
separate purposes:
• Teaching materials: The teaching materials
section has information on lesson plans, a
place to ask a question to a “master teacher,”
guides for a successful lesson, and other
teacher-oriented links
• History content: this section is more content-
based and includes resources, a place to ask a
question to a historian, and information that
goes beyond the textbook.

19. Collaborative Applications
• Google Classroom
• A place where the class can stay
connected with the teacher. It is a place
where educators can create classes, and
distribute assignments, keeping everyone
on track and everything in one place.

20. Collaborative Applications
(ctd.)
• Padlet
• This website acts like one large
whiteboard on the computer. It can be
shared with students before a lesson as a
place where they can write questions and
interesting information they have learned,
or could be used to distribute extra
information after school (while being able
to check if students are viewing or not).