Teaching with Colonial America Organizers

Colonial America Organizers

Students are much more likely to remember information when it is presented in graphic organizer format. These three Colonial America organizers provide information for the Southern, Mid-Atlantic, and New England Colonies. 

Students research to find three sets of information.

  • the colonies from each region
  • the name of the settlement, leader, date settled, and the reason why the colony was established
  • products and occupations

Colonial America Organizers – The Southern Colonies

Colonial America Organizers - The Southern Colonies

The first successful colony in the New World was Jamestown. When you ask students about Jamestown, many will be able to relay details because of the popularity of the Disney film. Make students aware that Disney took liberties with the real-life Pocahontas when they created their film.

The other Southern Colonies were established later. 

Maryland -1634
Carolina – 1653
South Carolina – 1670 
Georgia – 1733 

The Southern Colonies are known for their large plantations. They were worked by cheap labor. These plantations turned out turpentine, indigo, and tobacco.

This chart provides many of the answers students need to complete the organizer.

Colonial America Organizers – The Middle Colonies

Colonial America Organizers - The Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies were settled by the Dutch, Swedes, and British who came to America for trade.

New Netherlands settled. – 1623
New Netherlands became New York. – 1626
Delaware – 1638
New Jersey – 1664

A few years later in 1682, the Quakers came to America for religious freedom. They settled in Pennsylvania.

The Middle Colonies became known as the Bread Colonies. This area had good soil and several rivers for water and transportation. The chief products of this area included grain and livestock.

This chart provides many of the answers students need to complete the organizer.

Colonial America Organizers – The New England Colonies

Colonial America Organizers - The New England Colonies

Pilgrims settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. – 1620
Puritans came to Boston, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.  – 1630
Connecticut and Rhode Island were settled.  – 1636

The land in this area is rocky, and the climate is cold. Since the land was not favorable for raising crops, people living in the New England Colonies worked in fishing, shipbuilding, and trading.

This chart provides information on the first colonies. Students can find information to complete their organizers using this chart.

Update Digital Organizers

Colonial America Organizers in Google Slides

Students are spending more and more time with digital materials. Because of this, I converted the printable organizers to a digital format. You can get these organizers as Google Slides. The link for them is included in the handout along with the printables. If you missed the link above, here it is again.

See the product that inspired this post.

Lapbook
Lapbook

Do you need additional teaching materials for Colonial America?

Check out the Colonies Lapbook at Teachers Pay Teachers. Students can create a traditional lapbook  on a file folder or go completely digital. The resource includes articles in Google Docs. It also has organizers created in Google Slides. Finally, students can take quizzes on Google Forms.

Colonial America Printable Lapbook
Gay Miller

Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=2153

10 comments

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    • mon on May 25, 2016 at 2:02 pm

    thank you so much for sharing!!!

    • Sonja on November 7, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    Is there a website that goes with your colony graphic organizer?

    1. Yes, just click on the image to download it.

        • Janet Martinez on November 30, 2016 at 3:25 pm

        What image do we click for the website that goes with the colony graphic organizer? When I click on the image it takes me straight to the pdf.

      1. Here is the link to the Colonial America webpages: http://www.bookunitsteacher.com/colonial_america/colonial_america.htm

    • Natasha Norins on November 1, 2017 at 12:00 pm

    This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your resource!

    • Dina on January 17, 2018 at 8:04 pm

    The graphic organizers on the 13 Colonies is amazing. I appreciate you sharing this so much! I plan on using them for interactive notebooking. My students are going to love these.

    1. You’re welcome. Enjoy!

    • samantha esqueda on February 7, 2018 at 11:19 pm

    WOW! Thank you for this awesome free resource!

    • Linda Rosa-Torres on April 9, 2018 at 8:02 am

    Amazing pages! Thank you so much for sharing!!!

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