New England: The Birthplace of America

Objectives:

• Students will be able to name the states that comprise New England.

• Students will be able to describe the firsts that occurred in New England.

• Students will be able to describe the birth of the Industrial Revolution in America and recognize that it began in New England.

Suggested Grades:

4th Grade - 5th Grade - 6th Grade

Lesson Procedure:

Print the reading comprehension passage and questions (see below).

Students should read the passage silently, then answer the questions. Teachers may also use the text as part of a classroom lesson plan.

Lesson Excerpt:

When the British colonists first came to America in the 1600's, they settled in the northeast. The region appropriately became known as "New England." Today, six states are part of New England - Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Much of American history began in New England. Besides being the first place settled by the British colonists, New England is also where the American Revolution began. The first battle of the Revolutionary War took place in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson described its beginning as the "shot heard round the world."

When the Revolutionary War ended, the first colony to become a state was the New England colony of Rhode Island.

Continued...