Grade 2 - Early Americans
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Video Storyline: Families long ago used to live on farms and grow their own food. Transportation was slow and life was hard. Settlers began to arrive and everyone had to obey the rules of the King of England. People felt he was unfair and decided to fight for their freedom from him. They won, and created a new country with new leaders.
Video length: 7:45 minutes.
Learning Resources with this Video*
Quizzes – PDF & Online
Who Were the Early Americans? – Worksheet
I Am Thankful
Draw a Scene
Universal Resources
National Standards
*Links are active on Full Video page.
Classroom Ideas
Early Americans
Art and Social Studies
Use various materials to create a small-scale home for a group of Native Americans, e.g. a wigwam. Can be done in groups.
Cloze Practice
A cloze piece has full sentences used in the virtual field trip with blanks where students can write in the information that is missing. This task requires close listening to the trip in order to complete it.
Coral reefs are the _______ type of ecosystem in the world. They’ve been around for over _____ million years.
Answers: oldest; 240
Alternatively, you could have students create 5-10 cloze statements and they could share those with the class.
A third alternative is to distribute the cloze worksheets before watching the video. Students can fill them in as they watch.
Explore Vocabulary
Identify key vocabulary terms while previewing each video. Prompt students to find the meaning of each word as they watch the video. Example: What do the words bartering and artifact mean? Think about the meaning of this word as you watch this video.
Visual Learning
Offer videos to struggling learners as another form of accessing information and creating knowledge.
Art
Draw a scene from the video you just watched.
Classroom Ideas for ALL Videos
Here are dozens and dozens of ideas that you can use in your classroom along with our videos!
Topics Covered In This Video
Native Americans were the first people to live in America
They belonged to different tribes and lived in different types of housing
Native American hunting, fishing, & clothing
After some time the Pilgrims and other settlers arrived
Life was not easy for these settlers
Eventually 13 colonies were built
Conflict with England resulted in the Declaration of Independence
This led to the Revolutionary War and the new country of the U.S.A.
Some time later a great president, Abraham Lincoln, freed the slaves
Civil War led to greater choices for everyone
Some chose to move west to get away from the crowded cities
Pioneers had a hard life and getting around wasn’t easy
Things are much easier now with emails and easy transportation
Videos in this Series
Grade 2 - Our Government At Work
Grade 2 - Land and Water Around Us
Grade 2 - Work and Money
Grade 2 - Living Together
Related Videos
Grade 1 - Life Long Ago
Grade 3 - The First Americans
