Florida SS.5.G.1.5

Social Studies5th GradeThe World in Spatial Terms

The Standard

Identify and locate the original thirteen colonies on a map of North America.

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do

Students name all thirteen colonies and place each one in the correct location on a map of eastern North America. They use coastlines and neighboring colonies as location clues.

What Mastery Looks Like

Students correctly label all thirteen colonies on an unlabeled map. They can also point to a named colony and describe its location using nearby colonies or landmarks.

Common Misconceptions

Students often include Florida, Vermont, or Maine as separate colonies. They may also confuse New York with New Jersey or mix up the small New England colonies.

How to Assess It

Give students a blank colonial map and a word bank. Ask them to label all thirteen colonies without using notes.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

  1. Give pairs a blank map and colony name cards to place, check with an atlas, and glue in position.

  2. Ask students to write which three colonies are hardest to locate and explain one map clue for each.

  3. Play a map relay where teams draw colony cards and point to each location on a projected blank map.

  4. Compare a colonial map with a current United States map, noting which colony names became state names and where boundaries changed.

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