LIFE IN THE THIRTEEN

COLONIES

Teacher Guidelines ▶ pages 1 – 2

4-6
Instructional Pages ▶ pages 3 – 6
Activity Page ▶ page 7
Practice Page ▶ page 8
GRADE Homework Page
Answer Key
▶
▶
page 10
pages 9 & 11
 Classroom Procedure: Lesson Title: Colonial Times:
Life in the Thirteen Colonies
1. Introduce the lesson by asking students to name some Subject: Social Studies
modern conveniences that were not available two
hundred years ago. Ask the students if living in modern Approximate Grade Level: 4 - 6
times is better than back then. Explain to students Objectives: Students will learn what life
that life was different in colonial times, and they will be was like in the early colonies. Students
will compare and contrast life in the 21st
learning about what those times were like. century to life in the 18th century in America.
2. Distribute Colonial Times: Life in the Colonies content Students will compare and contrast the roles
of colonial men and women in society.
pages. Read and review the content pages with
students. Supplement the content pages with the State Educational Standards*
NCSS.HIS.2.6-8,
Additional Teacher Resources. NCSS.HIS.D2.HIS.1.6-8,
LB.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3 – 6.3
3. Distribute the Activity Page. The activity can be done in
pairs or as an individual exercise. Class Sessions (45 minutes):
3 Class Sessions.
4. Distribute the Practice Page. Assist students with
Teaching Materials/Worksheets:
completing the Venn Diagram. Allow students time to Content Pages (3), Activity Page (1),
research the media center, library, or on the internet. Practice Pages (2), Homework Pages (2)

5. Distribute the Homework Page. Read the exemplary Student Supplies:

Pencils, pens, highlighters
stories to the class aloud. As an enrichment exercise,
combine different stories into one long story creating a Prepare Ahead of Time:
journal or diary. Copies of worksheets
Options for Lesson: One fun activity
6. In closing, ask students: How was life different in for students is to have students research
colonial times than today? How were the roles of men colonial fashions. Have students recreate
and women different from colonial times than today? colonial styles and wear them to class. It’s
What was life like for children in the colonial period? a fun activity and a great way to kick off the
lesson in the colonial period.
How did the colonists use natural resources to survive?
*Lessons are aligned to meet the education objectives and goals of
most states. For more information on your state objectives, contact
your local Board of Education or Department of Education in your state.

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 Teacher Notes
This lesson introduces the early colonial period and is a brief overview of what life was like for men, women,
and children. Students will learn how their experience differs from the colonial period, how the role of men
and women have changed in society since that time, and how the colonists used natural resources to supply
them with their basic needs.
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Colonial Times:
Life in the Colonies
When you look outside and think about
the city you live in, have you ever thought
that life is way different than when the first
colonies appeared in America in the year
1607? Inventions like cell phones, cars,
television sets, or video games didn’t exist.
Electricity wasn’t yet invented!
It makes you wonder what life
was like back then.
Did children play games like
you? What were the clothes
like? How did people travel?
Did children go to school?
Let’s journey back in time to
the mid-1700s. America was
under British rule. We were yet to
declare independence, and the
daily lives of the colonists were
very different than it is today.ld
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Children in the Colonies
Some children had a chance to go to school.
School usually was held in the church or some
public building. It was a one-room school, and
children from the age of seven to sixteen would
be in the same class. In most of the early schools,
the minister taught the class. Ministers would be
the best-educated person in town. Nearly all of the
lessons were taught from the Bible, as books were
very scarce and expensive. Only wealthy colonists
owned books. Students would sit on hard wooden
benches and write on tablets. The school year was
very short. It was held between the planting and
harvesting season as every child worked on farms
alongside the adults.
There were also boys as young as six or seven
years old, who would spend nearly seven years
learning a trade such as a blacksmith, tailor,
wheelwright, or shoemaker. These young boys
were called apprentices. Once they learned the
trade, they would become journeymen, but they
would still work for a master and earn regular
wages. During busy times, they might work up to
16 hours a day, six days a week.
In the larger cities in primarily in the New England
colonies, wealthy parents might hire a tutor or
send their male children to private academies.
The male students would learn Latin, Greek, and
some basic math. Females did not have the same
opportunities for learning as the boys, and many
of them never learned to read or write unless
someone at home taught them. Some families who
could afford it might send their daughter to finishing
schools where they were taught what was called
the domestic arts – how to maintain a household!
During the colonial period, education was not
considered necessary to work on a farm or to learn
a trade like being a carpenter. When the children
weren’t working, they played games outside just
like you do!
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Farm and City LIfe
The roles of men and women were quite
different during colonial times. Most everyone
during colonial times lived on a farm. Everyone,
including children, worked six days a week
and sometimes all of Sunday. The day’s work
began when the sun first appeared in the
morning sky and stopped when it was too dark
to see. Sixteen hour days were not uncommon,
especially during the planting and harvesting
season. While the males tended to much of
the farm, females when they were not helping
to plant or harvest made clothing, soap,
candles, and other goods the family needed.
If you lived in the city and worked in a trade
such as carpentry, blacksmith, or wheelwright,
life was not much different than that of farmers. had to be careful where they went, who they were
Most of your day was spent working in your shop, seen with, and the kinds of activities they could do.
fixing and repairing or building things for local Women stayed home and took care of the children.
people living in the town. If you were a professional They made their clothing, soap, candles, and many
like a lawyer, merchant, or someone who owned other goods and products that their families needed.
their own business, your business was open nearly Also, they had to prepare, cook, and serve the
every day of the week. meals sometimes with food from small gardens
they tended. While living in the colonies was hard
Earlier it was mentioned the roles of men and for everyone, women had to work incredibly hard to
women in colonial America were very different. maintain the family and home.
Men were expected to work at a trade or farming.
Women were responsible for taking care of the
home. Men had certain rights that women did not. Housing
For example, men could own property, participate in
public town meetings, and vote. Women could not Building supplies were hard to come by in the
do any of those things! Even women living in cities colonies. Making do with what was available meant

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that as the land was cleared to make farms, the
trees would be repurposed into a log or wood
homes. Most of the housing was small single room
homes. Families would share the living space. The
frames of the houses were wooden, roofs made
of dried grasses, dirt floors, and windows usually
opened or covered with wooden shutters. There
was a fireplace inside for cooking and heat during
the winter. Because there was little space, most
homes had only a table, a few chairs, and possibly
a small cupboard. Oil lamps lit the rooms at night.
As the cities began growing, building supplies make
more available. City colonists were able to enjoy
home with lead glass windows, stylish furniture,
and separate rooms. Rooms in the houses were
built with multiple fireplaces and several windows.
One interesting aspect of homes in the city was that
people would move to different rooms depending on
the season of the year. For example, in the winter
they might stay in the front of the house where
the sun was shining because it was warmer there.
During the hot summer, they would move to the back
away from the heat of the sun.
Clothing
The colonists had
very little material
to work with
when it came to
clothing. Just like
what they used
to build homes,
the colonists used
what they found in
nature. The men wore loose linen shirts tucked into
their pants that reached to the knee. Socks were
long and made of wool. They wore a sleeveless
jacket, plain leather shoes, wide-brimmed hats,
and coats or capes for protection from cold or rain.
Women usually wore a long loose dress. Over that,
they wore a long gown made of wool or linen. Aprons
were on worn as well, and their clothes were held in
place by tying them. Women would wear bonnets
or tuck their hair into tightly knit hats. Like the men,
they wore long wool sock and shoes made of leather.
When it was cold, like the men, they wore a cape or
coat to protect them from rain or bad weather.
Both men and women in the city wore more
fashionable attire than the colonists living on
farms. Regardless of where they lived, colonial
fashion can be described as very practical, modest,
durable, and easy to care for.
Slavery
The first slaves appeared in the colonies in 1609 at
the Jamestown Colony. From 1609, slavery became
a common practice in all of the thirteen colonies. Most
of the slaves came from the African Coast, South
America, and the Caribbean. They were forcibly
removed from their native homelands and transported
to the Americas by Dutch, Spanish, or British slave
ships. Because many of the slaves were so tightly
packed into the ships’ cargo bay, many slaves would
not survive the journey or arrive very sick. Once they
arrived in America, the slaves were transported to large
slave auction houses and sold to the highest bidder.
Slaves remained part of the manual labor force until the
Civil War in 1865 ended the practice. Slavery is one of
the most tragic events in American history.
 Activity Name __________________________ Date _________

Instructions: After the questions. You may refer to the reading passage to help you.
1. The author writes, “The roles of men and women were quite different during colonial times.” Explain
what the author means by this statement. Give some examples.

2. What was life like for children during colonial times?

3. What year and where did the first slaves appear in America?

4. In describing colonial clothing, the author writes, “colonial fashion can be described as very practical,
modest, durable, and easy to care for.” Explain what the author means by this statement.

5. How is your life different from people living in colonial times?

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 Practice Name __________________________ Date _________

Instructions: Use the Venn Diagram to compare and contrast your life with the people living in
colonial times.

VENN DIAGRAM

Different Same Different

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 Practice Answer Key
Name __________________________ Date _________

Answers will vary.

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 Homework Name __________________________ Date _________

Instructions: Write a story from the point of view of a child living during colonial times.

Things to Include in Your Story

• What life was like from a child’s point of view.
• Things you might do or see during the day.
• Be sure to include descriptions of the clothing, where you live, and what kind of chores or job
you might have.

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 Homework Answer Key
Name __________________________ Date _________

Instructions: Write a story from the point of view of a child living during colonial times.

Answers will vary. Check for understanding. A complementary assignment is for students to write a compare and contrast of
life in colonial times to life today!

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