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American Colonies Websites and Videos for Students
Looking for American Colonies websites and videos to share with your students? If so, this is the list for you. It is a roundup of engaging and informative websites and videos for students all about the American Colonies.
Kids have access to see, listen to, and read about more than ever before. We can leverage that to our advantage! When we partner with students as they explore the digital realm of the world, we can provide the guidance and tools they need to learn to safely navigate it. You can read more about using websites and videos in the classroom here.
If you’re ready to dive into this list of websites and videos, you can click through the navigation below or keep scrolling. Click on the images to access the resources listed. Be sure to preview all resources to determine age-appropriateness before sharing them with your students.
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Videos
National Geographic’s "Colonial Artifacts…. or Fiction?” video
This video shows explorers uncovering colonial artifacts.
”From the Education Resource Library! Historical archaeologist Philip Levy is unearthing artifacts from George Washington's boyhood home. What can broken pipes, ceramics, and bones tell us about what life and society was really like in colonial America? And what about that alleged cherry tree?”
National Geographic’s “What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke?” video
“A prominent American mystery, the lost colony of Roanoke has captivated historians and archaeologists for generations. Learn the facts behind the disappearance of the settlement and its inhabitants and how modern technology continues to uncover new clues as to what happened on Roanoke Island.”
Smithsonian Channel’s “How Roanoke Vanished into Thin Air” video
“Just outside North Carolina's Outer Banks is Roanoke Island, the scene of one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in U.S. history: the disappearance of an entire colony of English settlers.”
Colonial Williamsburg’s collection of videos
“Explore, commemorate, and celebrate freedom with the largest living history museum in the world”.
American Battlefield Trust’s “What makes me American? The United Colonies”
“The colonies that formed the United States were diverse. Despite their many differences, they came together to form one country. This acceptance of other cultures, ideas, and people is what makes us truly American.”
TED-Ed’s “What really happened during the Salem Witch Trials?”
“Dig into how the infamous Salem Witch Trials began and why they remain a cautionary tale of the dangers of groupthink and scapegoating.”
The Pilgrims: Alliance With Massasoit’s People and the First Thanksgiving
“Discover what led Massasoit, the leader of one Wampanoag village, to form an alliance with the Plymouth colony and learn about the harvest feast now called the "First Thanksgiving," in this video adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: The Pilgrims. In March 1621, a Native man named Samoset entered Plymouth and greeted the Pilgrims in English. Six days later, he returned to Plymouth with Massasoit and 60 armed men. Massasoit and Governor John Carver concluded an alliance of mutual defense. During the late summer or early fall, 52 colonists and some 90 Wampanoags celebrated Plymouth’s first successful harvest.”
Liberty’s Kids “We the People”
“America’s leaders meet at a convention in Philadelphia and decide to write a radical new Constitution. Ben Franklin, in his final moment on the world stage, helps forge the “Great Compromise” on legislative representation. James Madison writes much of the Constitution, the lawful embodiment of the promise of the Revolution (9/17/87). It includes the “odious compromise” on slavery that maintains the practice’s legality in the United States. George Washington is inaugurated as the first President (4/30/1789). Moses resolves to open a school for free black children. Sarah’s father joins the family from Ohio. Everyone looks forward to their new lives in the United States of America.”
Scholastic News’ “Pilgrim Life”
This video explores the chores and games of Pilgrim children in the 1620s.
MAPS
This National Geographic map shows Wampanoag territory around 1620.
This map shows colonies in Connecticut in the 1640s.
This map shows colonial trade routes.
This map shows the growth of colonial settlements.
Jamestown
From the Jamestown Settlement and American Revolution Museum at Yorktown comes the Legacy of Jamestown Interactive.
“Explore the legacies of Jamestown and their impact on America. History is comprised of the stories of people and events connected over space and time. In 1606, the region that would come to be known as Jamestown was inhabited by an eastern woodland tribe – the Powhatan Indians. In 1607, the English arrived and established the first permanent English settlement in North America. The legacy of Jamestown continues in our lives today. Learn more through the Legacy of Jamestown Interactive.”
“Artifactually Yours” Interactive
“Determine which 17th-century artifact you’d match with in this personality quiz. Artifacts have personalities just like people. If you were a 17th-century artifact from Powhatan, Angolan or English cultures, which would you be? Take our “Artifactually Yours” quiz to find your perfect match! Players select one of four possible responses to each of 10 questions and are then “matched” with one of 16 artifacts from the era – reflecting the diversity of the three cultures that lived in Jamestown in the early 17th-century – with a description detailing who used it and what it was used for appearing alongside an image of the artifact.”
GAMES
You Are the Historian: Investigating the First Thanksgiving
Plimoth Patuxet Museums has created "You Are the Historian: Investigating the First Thanksgiving", a popular interactive game that has entertained school-aged children and families since 2002! The game explores Wampanoag life prior to European settlement and the year leading up to the 1621 harvest feast, today known as the “First Thanksgiving." The game investigates the interactions between the Wampanoag people of Patuxet and the earliest colonists known as the Pilgrims by exposing players to archaeological artifacts from the museum’s collections, primary source documents, and oral stories told from generation to generation.
"You Are The Historian" directly responds to the increased demand for nuanced and fact-based history told from both an Indigenous and Colonial perspective. The Museum has created an experience that will transport visitors to Patuxet, the pre-European homeland of the Wampanoag, and immerse them in a story of cultural change and persistence that spans 12,000 years. Students will be able to further explore the rich historical context of the Indigenous and Colonial experiences during their earliest encounters through magical time travel, an anonymous tipster, mysterious riddles, historic artifacts and archives, and plain, old-fashioned smart thinking!
