Substitute Guide: Comparing the Three Colonial Regions
Learning goal (plain language)
Students learn that the early American colonies formed three regions — New England, Middle, and Southern — and that the geography of each region (its land, weather, and water) shaped how people there made a living. They read three short summaries, look at a simple map and a table, then compare the regions and write a short evidence-based explanation. You do not need a history background to run this. Everything students need is printed in their packet, and you may read any part aloud.
Standards alignment
Framework: 19 TAC Chapter 113 (Grade 5 Social Studies).
- Primary (geography / early United States): comparing the New England, Middle, and Southern colonial regions and explaining how physical geography and climate influenced settlement and ways of life.
- Skills (social studies skills): reading and interpreting a simple map and a table, and comparing regions using evidence.
Provisional — pending educator verification against the current official TAC source.
(Standards are paraphrased here, not quoted, and no specific section number is asserted. Please confirm the codes and wording against your official source. Prompts are kept non-partisan and in historical context.)
Setup Before class (5 min)
- Count and hand out one student packet per student.
- Confirm each student has a pencil. No calculators, computers, or textbooks are needed.
- Write the date on the board and remind students to fill in the name line.
- Keep the answer key with you — it is a separate file and is not in the student packet.
Materials What's needed
- Printed student packet (4–6 pages) per student.
- Pencil per student.
- This guide and the separate answer key (teacher only).
- No technology, no calculator, no textbooks, no safety hazards.
Timing Suggested pacing (~45–60 min)
| Segment | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Start — Look & Notice | 5 min | Q1–Q2 warm-up |
| Build — Read the region profiles | 10 min | Read the three profiles, word bank, map (Figure 1), Table 1 |
| Apply — Read the map & table | 20 min | Q3–Q8 (map, table, compare, cause/effect, fact/opinion, evaluate) |
| Explain — CER | 10 min | Q9 claim/evidence/reasoning comparing two regions |
| Close — ACE | 5 min | Articulate / Connect / Extend |
| Continue — early finishers | optional ~15 min | "Which region fits the job?" |
Script Read aloud to start
"Today's work is a paper reading activity called Comparing the Three Colonial Regions. Long ago, the early American colonies formed three regions: New England, the Middle colonies, and the Southern colonies. You will read three short summaries, look at a map and a table, and answer with a pencil. Work by yourself — no computers or books. Read the parts in order; if one question is tricky, skip it and come back. Write in full sentences when it asks you to explain. Everything you need is in the packet, so you do not need to know any outside facts. You may quietly read aloud to yourself. Put your name, class, and date at the top now. You have about 45 minutes; raise your hand if you need help with a word."
Support When students ask for help
- You may read any part aloud to a student or the class.
- If they are stuck comparing, point them to Table 1 — the three regions sit side by side there.
- For cause and effect (Q6), point to a region's profile: the land/weather is the cause, the job is the effect.
- For "fact or opinion" (Q7), point to the Word Bank: an opinion says what someone feels or likes (like "best" or "exciting").
- Encourage the printed sentence stems and starters for Q6, the CER (Q9), and ACE.
- Do not give answers; prompt with "What does the packet say?" or "What was the land or weather like there?"
- It is fine if a student cannot finish the optional early-finisher task.
Access Accommodations & language support
- Read-aloud of any passage or question is allowed for all students.
- Point students to the sentence stems and the Word Bank (region, geography, climate, soil, colony, plantation, port, fact, opinion are all defined for them).
- Glossary tip: if a word is hard, read its Word Bank meaning aloud and give a quick example ("a port is like a place where boats stop to drop off things").
- Extended time is fine; the core can stop after Q9 if time runs short.
- Students may answer in short phrases if writing full sentences is a barrier, as long as the idea is clear.
- The packet is grayscale-safe — it prints and reads clearly in black and white, with roomy writing space.
Tools Allowed & not allowed
Allowed: pencil, the printed packet, quiet self-read-aloud. Not needed / not allowed: calculator (no math required), phones, computers, textbooks or outside sources (everything needed is in the packet).
Teacher follow-up (for the returning teacher)
Watch for students who assume the three regions were the same (Q5/Q8) and for fact/opinion mix-ups in Q7. A quick next-day sort of the three climate/land descriptions, plus reviewing the "geography → how people lived" link for each region, would reinforce this well. The CER (Q9) responses show who can compare two regions and cite a profile, the map, or Table 1 as evidence. Note: the Southern profile plainly states that enslaved people did much of the plantation work; keep any discussion factual and age-appropriate.