Social Studies Resources for Early Settlements and Revolutionary War

What used to be my favorite social studies units are either in progress or coming up in the next couple of months in my district. There is a lot of curriculum to fit in and only two days a week to teach it. That's not a lot of time to get our students excited about American History.

So, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, I've located some engaging resources that you can use with the lessons/objectives you already have. These can also be easily put into Google Classroom to do at home, as enrichment, or made into QR codes for centers.

Colonial America

A TOUR OF WILLIAMSBURG
https://www.history.org/almanack/tourTheTown/indexKids.cfm
This site can be taught during the early settlements unit. Students can use Chromebooks to tour the town themselves or you can use the tour with the whole class to discuss the culture/traditions of Colonial America.

COLONIAL JOBS
http://www.history.org/kids/games/brickmaker.cfm
http://www.history.org/kids/games/toolTrouble.cfm
Play these two games on the Chromebook to learn more early occupations. The first is about how bricks were made and the second is about the tools the blacksmith used in his forge.

TODAY IN THE 1770'S

http://www.history.org/history/todayin1770s/index.cfm
What happened on this date in the 1770s? You can find out here. You can change the date manually or just use today's date to read newspaper excerpts about events occurring at this time in history.

INTERACTIVE 13 COLONIES MAP
http://mrnussbaum.com/13int/
Students can click on each colony in the map to learn more about it including when it was founded, who moved there and why, and other historical information. It also include clickable points for five major cities.

DOING RESEARCH?
http://www.kidinfo.com/american_history/colonization_colonial_life.html
This is a great site for all information on what life was like during colonial times. If students are doing a presentation or project, this is the place to go for research. Another great site for research is 

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/wwww/us/13coloniesdef.htm 

@MRBETTSCLASS
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%40mrbettsclass
Like to show your students videos of popular songs with the lyrics changed to help them remember history? Click on the link above to see song titles for both Colonial America and Revolutionary War topics. A really engaging way to get kids to remember their history. 

Revolutionary War

ANIMATED MAPS
http://historyanimated.com/verynewhistorywaranimated/?page_id=29
This site has playable maps that you can stop and start wherever you want for discussions/Q&A, etc. You can play the entire Revolutionary War from beginning to end or pick specific sections to focus on.

THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/road.html
This interactive Q&A activity gives students a chance to make decisions that will either lead them to independence (with correct answers)... or not.

BRAINPOP
https://educators.brainpop.com/bp-topic/american-revolution/
Brainpop actually has quite a few resources for the Revolutionary War. Not only videos with quizzes but games and other tools as well. This link will take you to the list of options available.

MISSION US: FROM CROWN TO COLONY
http://www.mission-us.org/pages/landing-mission-1
Great game to go along with the Rev War unit. Students can create a quick, random username and password and then go on the mission.

BILL OF RIGHTS
http://constitutioncenter.org/billofrightsgame/
Help to restore the Bill of Rights by navigating through the fictional town of Freeville to find the missing freedoms.

iPad Resources

EARLY JAMESTOWN APP
This is an interactive textbook that students can read in addition to History Alive. Many pages have videos to play or pictures they can enlarge to learn more about a specific person or event. 

AMERICAN REV HISTORY
This is an interactive timeline of artifacts. Students can move across the timeline on the bottom of the screen and tap on any of the artifacts to learn more about them and their importance to the time period.

THINKFAST: ROYCE 1770
This is a quiz game where students have to find a dog named Thimble in the colonial town. They have to answer questions to move through the map and learn more after each correct answer.

LOOKING FOR A PROJECT IDEA?

Easel.ly is a great tool for creating digital posters or infographics for these units. It is super easy to use and you can create class groups, send out a link, and use a class code to join.