Catherine Root

Lesson #3 (of 5)
Subject Matter Research 2
Topic: Massachusetts Bay Colony

Part One (Adult Explanation)

Through my research, I learned about the founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony in

1630, the most successful and profitable colony in New England. Governor John Winthrop and
Deputy Governor Thomas Dudley led a group of 1,000 Puritan refugees from England to settle
colony in the Americas. King Charles I granted them a charter allowing the company to trade
and colonize in New England. The Puritans established a theocratic government limited only to
church members. The Puritans were highly intolerant of other religions and came to the New
World specifically to escape religious persecution and create their own community where they
could live only among like-minded people. Winthrop believed that England deserved divine
punishment due to the unfaithfulness of the Anglican Church (the official Church of England).
John Winthrop delivered a sermon before he and his fellow settlers reached New England. The
sermon stated that the society formed should be “a city upon a hill,” or a model for the rest of the
world. The colony’s laws and government were based upon biblical law and established by men
such as John Cotton.

Part Two (Prior Knowledge)

 Prior Knowledge: Most students will be familiar with the idea of the 13 colonies and
England’s role in the American Revolution/formation of the United States of America.
Students will have a working understanding of the American Revolution and our
country’s separation from England as a result of unfair taxation.
 Day One: Students learned about the formation of the 13 colonies, the King of England,
the Navigation Acts, and Mercantilism.
 Day Two: Students will learn specifically about the Plymouth Colony, established in
1621. They will learn that Plymouth Plantation was located on the coast of Massachusetts
and that the Pilgrims came with nothing, loving and trusting in the providence of God.
 Disease and unfamiliarity with the land led to many deaths, but a Native American man
named Squanto befriended the colony, teaching them to grow corn and fish. As the
Pilgrims worked hard and planted their crops, they were able to have a bountiful harvest
and thank God for His provision, establishing the American tradition of Thanksgiving.
Part Three (Future Knowledge)

 Day Four: The students will learn about The First Great Awakening, which was a
religious revival that emerged in the colonies. Jonathon Edwards preached his famous
sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” at this time, and George Whitefield
drew 50,000 hearers to Boston Common. He publicly condemned John Wesley’s doctrine
of “free grace” and was acknowledged from that time on as the leader of “Calvinist
Methodism.” Whitefield is now described as the great master of pulpit oratory.
 Future Learning: In the future, the students will be able to use the knowledge gained
from these lessons to aid in their understanding of the formation of the United States, as
well as their comprehension of certain economic theories and systems of thought
(mercantilism, Calvinist Methodism, etc.)
Part Four (Resources Used)

 https://www.britannica.com/place/Massachusetts-Bay-Colony
 https://historyofmassachusetts.org/history-of-the-massachusetts-bay-colony/
 https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/colliding-cultures/john-winthrop-dreams-of-a-
city-on-a-hill-1630/
 Catherine Root/Lesson #3 (of 5)

I. Topic: The topic of this fourth-grade social studies lesson is the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
one of the most successful and profitable of the 13 colonies.

II. Objective(s):

A. Given direct teacher instruction and an assisted note-taking guide, TSWBAT answer
questions about the Massachusetts Bay Colony to 90% accuracy in the form of an exit
ticket.

B. Given notes taken on the different colonies from prior lessons and question prompts
from the teacher, TSWBAT create a colony, explaining its laws, leadership, and
economics, adhering to the assignment sheet provided by the teacher.

III. Standard(s):
PA Civics and Economics - Standard - 5.1.4.B: Explain rules and laws for the classroom,
school, community, and state.
IV. Teaching Procedures:

A. Anticipatory Set – (5 minutes) – Ask students to remind me what we learned about

two lessons ago (13 colonies). Have students share information about the different
colonies, referring to their notes if necessary. Have students who researched
Massachusetts Bay Colony share information with the class, and ask if any other students
have predictions/knowledge about the colony they would like to share. Tell students that
each colony had different rules, goals, and structures, and that today we are going to be
focusing in on the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and then using it as a model to create our
own colonies.

B. Development – (10 minutes)

Walk the students through the note-taking sheet, having students guess what they think
the answers are to the blanks. Students that guess can come up to front of the room and
tape corresponding images (Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop, John Endicott,
and the Puritans).
 First established in Salem, Massachusetts by a group of Puritans, who were
English Christians who did not agree with the practices of the Church of England
and wanted to “purify” the Church of England. Students have prior knowledge on
this purification – have volunteers share information.
 John Endicott led the first group of Puritans to New England in 1628, then John
Winthrop led 1,000 more Puritans to Boston in 1630.
 John Winthrop:
o Believed that England deserved divine punishment due to the
unfaithfulness of the Anglican Church (the official church of England).
o Hoped to build “a city upon a hill” (a society that was a model for the rest
of Europe) Ask students to think of someone they look up to and ask why
they look up to that person/want to be like them.
 Laws and government were created that were based on biblical law and were
established by men like John Cotton.

C. Guided Practice – (5 minutes)

Once the note-taking guide has been completed, point to the images on the board and
have students raise their hands to share information that they know about the images with
the class. (Ex. Massachusetts Bay Colony – formed in 1630; rules based on biblical law;
John Winthrop – led 1,000 Puritans to Boston; John Endicott – led first group of Puritans;
Puritans – group that wanted to “purify” the Church of England).

D. Independent Practice (5 minutes)

Have students put their note-taking sheets away. Distribute exit tickets to the students and
read the directions aloud.

E. Development II – (5 minutes)

Tell students that in order for each colony to function properly, they must have structure
and rules that govern the colony. Pass out John Winthrop’s speech A City Upon a Hill (1
per every 2-3 students). Read through the passage with the students and have students
raise their hands if they notice something they learned about the colony’s rules/values
based on the speeck (i.e. followed the Bible, respected one another, must “walk in
brotherly love”). Tell students that they will now have an opportunity to create their own
colony, and thus its rules, laws, and values. Pass out handout to students and explain
 assignment, giving examples and explaining each individual component. Tell students
that they will be working with the person next to them to complete the assignment.

E. Guided Practice II – (15 minutes)

Give students time to work with their partners, complete assignment sheet, and design
their posters.

E. Closure (5 minutes)

I will review the exit ticket with the students and have students share their colonies with
one other group each.

V. Materials:

 Images (Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Endicott, John Winthrop, Puritans)

 Assisted note-taking guides
 A City Upon a Hill speech (one per every 2 students)
 Assignment Sheets
 Construction Paper for posters
 Example Colony Poster (made by teacher)
 Exit Ticket half-sheets

VI. Adaptations/Plan Modifications: All lesson directions will be read aloud and modeled to
the students. The visuals that are displayed on the board will also be on the note-taking guides so
they are visible to everyone. Teacher(s) will be walking around the room assisting students as
they need the entirety of the class. If there is too little time, students will not design their colony
posters but instead will just complete the worksheet. If there is extra time, I will have students
present their posters to their peers.

VII. Evaluation:

A. Formative: Throughout the lesson students will be assessed formatively as I ask them
to think-pair-share with each other and answer questions I pose during the Development
and Guided Practice. Their colony posters will also be assessed by the teacher to see how
they are grasping the lesson concepts.
 B. Summative: The students will be assessed through the exit ticket given at the end of
the lesson. The cooperating teacher requested a “mini quiz” for each individual lesson, so
the exit ticket will be this lesson’s method in summative assessment.

VIII. Evaluation:

A. Write an assessment of the students’ performance and mastery in terms of each

stated objective. List each objective’s evaluation separately.

Given direct teacher instruction and an assisted note-taking guide, TSWBAT answer
questions about the Massachusetts Bay Colony to 90% accuracy in the form of an exit
ticket.

Many students were not able to achieve 90% accuracy on their exit tickets, but this was
due to a typo on my end and unclear directions.

Given notes taken on the different colonies from prior lessons and question prompts from
the teacher, TSWBAT create a colony, explaining its laws, leadership, and economics,
adhering to the assignment sheet provided by the teacher.

Many students weren’t able to finish the assignment but the work that they did
accomplish met the above standards.

B. Write a self-evaluation including explanation for the success or lack of it. Discuss:
What changes might have produced better results and could be used in subsequent
lessons?

This lesson went well and I believe that I was able to have better control over the class
than I did last time (however, this very well could have been because Mrs. Schulter was
in the room!). The students really enjoyed the “Create Your Own Colony” assignment
and were doing really quality work. They seemed to grasp the content very well during
the guided instruction portion (had students share information about the pictures on the
board). They struggled with the exit ticket, but I entirely contribute this to my typo and
unclear directions on the exit ticket. For better results, I would check my exit ticket for
typos! Also, there were a lot of Johns in this lesson (John Endecott, Winthrop, Cotton). If
I were to do the lesson over again, I would find a way to highlight the differences
between these men (maybe act them out, acronym, song) so the students would better
understand who did what. I also would break the lesson up into two days so the students
have more time to complete their projects. Also, they were really distracted by the
different spelling in the “A City Upon a Hill” speech, so I probably would just have
students listen to the speech or find a transcript with modern day spelling.

C. Explain what specific changes were implemented from your professor’s

suggestions prior to teaching and the results (if suggestions were not taken, explain
your rationale).

I had students walk around with the images I printed and tape them to the board instead
of doing it myself. This helped keep the students engaged and they loved being able to
participate/help the teacher. I also had students share real world/modern day examples for
some of the concepts (City Upon a Hill, purify the church) which helped students to
better understand those concepts.

D. Explain what specific changes were implemented from your cooperating

teacher’s suggestions and the results (if suggestions were not taken, explain your
rationale).

My co-op didn’t provide any suggestions.

 Massachusetts Bay Colony

1930

 First established in Salem, Massachusetts by a group of ________________, who were

English Christians who did not agree with the practices of the Church of England and
wanted to “______________” the Church of England.
 ____________________ led the first group of Puritans to New England in 1628, then
____________________ led 1,000 more Puritans to Boston in 1630.
 John Winthrop:
o Believed that England deserved ____________________________ due to the
unfaithfulness of the Anglican Church (the official church of England).
o Hoped to build “_____________________________” (a society that was a model
for the rest of Europe)
 Laws and government were created that were based on _________________ and were
established by men like _____________________.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

1930

 First established in Salem, Massachusetts by a group of ________________, who were

English Christians who did not agree with the practices of the Church of England and
wanted to “______________” the Church of England.
 ____________________ led the first group of Puritans to New England in 1628, then
____________________ led 1,000 more Puritans to Boston in 1630.
 John Winthrop:
o Believed that England deserved ____________________________ due to the
unfaithfulness of the Anglican Church (the official church of England).
o Hoped to build “_____________________________” (a society that was a model
for the rest of Europe)
 Laws and government were created that were based on __________________ and were
established by men like _____________________.
 John Winthrop’s “City upon a Hill,” 1630
Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke, and to provide for our posterity, is to
followe the counsell of Micah, to doe justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our
God.

For this end, wee must be knitt together, in this worke, as one man. Wee must entertaine
each other in brotherly affection. Wee must be willing to abridge ourselves of our
superfluities, for the supply of other’s necessities.

Wee must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekeness, gentlenes, patience
and liberality. Wee must delight in eache other; make other’s conditions our oune; rejoice
together, mourne together, labour and suffer together, allwayes haueving before our eyes
our commission and community in the worke, as members of the same body.

Soe shall wee keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our
God, and delight to dwell among us, as his oune people, and will command a blessing
upon us in all our wayes. Soe that wee shall see much more of his wisdome, power,
goodness and truthe, than formerly wee have been acquainted with.

Wee shall finde that the God of Israell is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist
a thousand of our enemies; when hee shall make us a prayse and glory that men shall say
of succeeding plantations, “the Lord make it like that of New England.” For wee must
consider that wee shall be as a citty upon a hill. The eies of all people are upon us.

Wee are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another, to
walke in his wayes and to keepe his Commandements and his Ordinance and his
lawes, and the articles of our Covenant with him, that wee may live and be
multiplied, and that the Lord our God may blesse us in the land whither wee goe to
possesse it.
Therefore let us choose life that wee, and our seede may live, by obeyeing His voyce and
cleaveing to Him, for Hee is our life and our prosperity.
 Create Your Own Colony

Colony Name

Top 3 Rules/Laws 1)

2)

3)

Who holds the power?

How are the people’s views taken into

account? (Does your government respect
peoples’ opinions? How?)
How does your colony make money? What do
they spend money on?
Characteristics/Fun Facts about your colony
(at least two)

One benefit of your colony

One drawback of your colony

Assignment: With a partner, create a colony using the above prompts. Once the above chart is
complete, design a poster for your colony, including all the above information as well as a map
and other pictures.
Exit Ticket

____. Led 1,000 Puritans to Boston

____. Puritans believed that it deserved divine punishment

a. John Endicott

c. Puritans

d. Church of England

e. “A City Upon a Hill”

f. John Cotton

Exit Ticket

____. Led 1,000 Puritans to Boston

a. John Endicott

c. Puritans ____. Puritans believed that it deserved divine punishment

d. Church of England because of its unfaithfulness

e. “A City Upon a Hill” ____. Established laws for the colony based on the Bible
f. John Cotton
____. John Winthrop wanted the colony to be

_____________, or a model for Europe

____. English Christians who did not agree with the practices

of the Church of England