11th Grade Semester One

Unit 1: Colonial Foundations

Stage 1: Desired Outcomes
Topic / Unit Title:Colonial Foundations
Common Core Skills
Reading-Social Studies (RH)
1. Use relevant information and ideas from documents to support analysis
2. Determine the main idea of a document
5. Identify and analyze arguments/ideas presented in documents
8. Identify and analyze evidence
9. Compare and contrast primary and secondary source information
Writing (W)
1. Write an argument to support claims
4. Produce writing appropriate to task, purpose and audience
9. Draw evidence from informational text
Speaking and Listening (SL)
1. Initiate and participate in collaborative discussion
2. Accurately use multiple sources of information
4. Clearly present appropriate information and evidence
6. Demonstrate command of formal English
NYS Content Standards
11.1 COLONIAL FOUNDATIONS (1607– 1763):
(Standards: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Themes: MOV, TCC, GEO, GOV, ECO, EXCH)
11.1a Contact between Native American groups and Europeans occurred through cultural exchanges, resistance efforts, and conflict.
  • Students will trace European contact with Native Americans, including the Dutch, the English, the French and the Spanish.
  • Students will examine the impacts of European colonization on Native Americans, who eventually lost much of their land and experienced a drastic decline in population through diseases and armed conflict.
11.1b A number of factors influenced colonial economic development, social structures, and labor systems, causing variation by region.
  • Students will examine the impacts of geographic factors on patterns of settlement and the development of colonial economic systems.
  • Students will examine the factors influencing variations in colonial social structures and labor systems.
  • Students will analyze slavery as a deeply established component of the colonial economic system and social structure, indentured servitude vs. slavery, the increased concentration of slaves in the South, and the development of slavery as a racial institution.
11.1c Colonial political developments were influenced by British political traditions, Enlightenment ideas, and the colonial experience. Self-governing structures were common, and yet varied across the colonies.
  • Students will examine colonial political institutions to determine how they were influenced by Enlightenment ideas, British traditions such as the Magna Carta, and the colonial experience.
  • Students will examine colonial democratic principles by studying documents such as the Mayflower Compact and the Maryland Toleration Act of 1649, colonial governmental structures such as New England town meetings and the Virginia House of Burgesses, and the practice of the right of petition in New Netherland.
/ Essential Questions:
11.1a Contact / conflict with Native Americans
Why did the Europeans leave England?
Why did the Europeans go to the New World?
How were the experiences of groups different?
11.1b Geographic / Social
What were the differences between the 13 colonies?
How did geography contribute to these differences?
What were the experiences like of the colonists in different regions of the New World?
How did the French and Indian War affect the colonists?
Why did the British tax the colonists?
11.1c Colonial political developments
How did the colonists react to British taxes?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of going to war?
How did the colonists justify seeking independence?
What are the parts of the Declaration of Independence?
To what extent did the Declaration of Independence reflect Enlightenment thought and colonial experiences?
What are the grievances the colonists had?
WERE THE COLONISTS JUSTIFIED IN REVOLTING?
Understandings:
Understand why Europeans came to the New World and society during this time period
Geographic features of the thirteen colonies
Identify and label New England, Middle, and Southern colonies
Explain the advantages and the disadvantages of life in the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies
Define Salutary neglect and Mercantilism
List the effects of the French and Indian Wars
Explain the taxes the British imposed on the American colonies
Analyze multiple perspectives of the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party through image analysis
 Explain how Enlightenment philosophers influenced the Founding Fathers
Explain the grievances the colonists had to specific problems they had with the British
Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of going to war
Evaluate if the colonist were justified in seeking independence / 
Stage 2: Assessments and Tasks
Common Core Literacy Task
Exit tickets with questions based on the American Revolution:
Letter to the King: Explain the colonists opinions of British “Acts” and taxesand on the colonists?
Create a Dialogue: Two sides, should the colonies go to war?
Newspaper Article: Write an article about the importance and meaning of the Declaration of Independence.
Analyzing documentsfor main ideas based on the American Revolution.
Prepare and outline written arguments for DBQ essay. / Performance Task(s) – Other Evidence
Exit tickets with questions based on the American Revolution:
Did the British have the right to tax the colonists?
Who was responsible for conflict in the colonies?
Should the colonies go to war?
Did the Declaration of Independence address the needs of the colonists?
Analyzing documents based on the American Revolution.
Prepare and outline written arguments for DBQ essay.
How will students reflect upon and self-assess their learning?
Exit tickets
DBQ essay with feedback
Grade worksheets
Multiple choice in-class quizzes
Stage 3: Learning Plan
Instructional Activities and Materials (W.H.E.R.E.T.O.)
Aim: Was it worth leaving the Old World to go to the New World?
Discuss push/pull factors of Europeans migrating from the Old World
Compare and contrast the motivations and experiences of different groups.
Define: Puritans, Pilgrims, Push/Pull Factor, Merchants, Indentured Servants, Slaves, Voluntary, Involuntary
ACTIVITY: Make a map of the colonies and label the different geographic features of each region (Atlantic Ocean, Appalachian Mountains, 13 colonies, crops/plantations).
Aim: Did the colonist find what they were looking for in America?
Compare and contrast the different social and political and economic conditions of the colonies
Analyze how geography impacted the colonies
Define:13 colonies, New England Colonies, Middle Colonies, Southern Colonies, Regions, Trading, Agriculture
ACTIVITY: Students visit stations about the social/political/economic condition in the colonies. Write a letter encouraging or discouraging family in Europe from coming to a particular region using push/pull factors such as social, economic, and political opportunities in the new world (religious freedom, job opportunities, and self rule).
******Geographic impact on settlers
Teacher Reflection for Future Planning
Peer editing of DBQ drafts
Students write a self-assessment about the feedback they received on their writing and what their goals are for the next unit