1. Before introducing the content to be covered in this unit, the teacher should ask students to reflect on what they already know about the history of the North American continent up to the year l607 (mini-review of Units I and II). This review will set a purpose for Unit III, and will help students learn to conceptualize and connect ideas and knowledge of what they have already learned with what they don't know.

2. This lesson will introduce students to the colonial period in American history. Thepurpose of the following activities is to arouse student interest and curiosity in the unit. This can actually be done in a numbers of ways--films, film strips, read-alouds, character portrayal, etc. (See Resource section at end of unit.) As was mentioned earlier, however, there is an abundance of good literature about the colonial period, so it is recommended that teacher set the stage for the unit by engaging students in a read-aloud that will require them to use active listening skills in order to identify essential information pertaining to the unit. Before the read-aloud, teacher will remind students that at the conclusion of the last unit, explorers had returned to their homelands, bringing news of a country "rich with milk and honey." The result was a steady stream of ocean voyages carrying passengers eager to lay claim on land in North America. The book recommended for the teacher read-aloud is entitled Voyage to America: Colonists At Sea, by James E. Knight, a vivid fictional account of the British ship Treadwell's voyage across the Atlantic. The author tells us that the text of the book is drawn from the journals and reports of actual voyages which took place during the l600s. The text is accompanied by excellent illustrations depicting the ship, the people, and the contents of what the passengers were bringing to the colonies. Students should be told that they should be actively listening for details that will answer the questions:

• Why did Europeans come to the colonies?
  
• What was the voyage like?
  
• What kinds of belongings did people bring with them?
  
• How did people manage to survive the hardships of the voyage?
  
• How would you have felt if you had been on the ship?
  
• Would you want to leave your home to live in a country you know nothing about?

Since the terms colony and colonist are mentioned during the reading of the above book, definitions of these terms should be established at this time. When the teacher is satisfied that students have a good understanding of why colonists came to North America, focus should shift to the geographic areas that were claimed by the countries of England, France, Holland, and Spain.

3. Teacher will introduce two accompanying maps at this time. The first map will show the North American continent in l754. Following directions on the map, students will identify several geographic features and bodies of water. They will also identify the regions known as New England, New France, New Spain, and New Netherland. Teacher may want to use an overhead projector to help students with this activity. Students will use the information they have recorded on this map to fill in an identical bulletin board map that teacher and students can refer to during the unit. (Teachers may want to contrast this map with a current map of North America to demonstrate the influence of the colonial period on countries that surround the United States--Mexico is a Spanish speaking country that was originally part of New Spain.)

Teacher will tell students that for the remainder of this unit, they will be focusing on the development of the thirteen colonies by England.

4. On a second map showing the eastern seaboard of the United States in the l7th century, students will identify the thirteen New England colonies. Once again, an identical bulletin board map should be filled in when students have completed their individual maps. Teacher should contrast this map with a current map of the United States so that students will understand that the origin of our present fifty states began at this time, and that everything west of the Appalachian Mountains was complete wilderness.

5. During this last part of the lesson, students can use their textbooks or other resource materials to complete the accompanying chart showing how geographic and climatic features influenced the development of the colonies. Students should discover the following key facts:

• Rivers provided easy transportation through heavily wooded areas.
  
• Rivers and other bodies of water were a source of food.
  
• River valleys provided fertile land for farms.
  
• Rivers and other bodies of water provided a habitat for animals that provided food and fur.
  
• Rivers provided water power.
  
• The eastern seaboard provided natural harbors for ships.
  
• Forests provided timber for houses.
  
• Mild climates (in the southern colonies) made living easier and provided for crops that could not be grown elsewhere.
  
• Mountains prevented western expansion.

Knight, James. Voyage to America: Colonists at Sea. (Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates).