Oklahoma Social Studies 5.C.2.2.B
The Standard
- 5.C.2
- Compare the developments of the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies.
- 5.C.2.2
- Compare the economic development of the three colonial regions including
a labor system utilizing indentured servants in various occupations
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026) · 5.C.2.2
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how a person could agree to work for a set number of years in exchange for passage to a colony. They identify work indentured servants did on farms, in homes, and in trades.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can read a short contract and point out the work term and what the servant received. They can name tasks in more than one occupation, such as tending crops and making barrels.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think every indentured servant worked on a farm. They may also think servants could quit at any time, or that their contracts lasted for life.
How to Assess It
- Give students a contract excerpt that names a four-year term and passage across the Atlantic. Ask: What did the worker agree to do, what did they receive, and where might they work?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs farm, household, and workshop cards; have them match each place to a servant's task, such as tending crops, cooking, or making barrels.
Ask students to write why someone might accept years of work for passage across the Atlantic, then name one risk of that choice.
Read three short worker descriptions; students hold up farm, trade, or household cards and point to the clue that helped them choose.
Compare a colonial indenture excerpt with a modern seasonal job posting; have students note one difference in how long each worker must stay.
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