The Colonial World Middle School Video
In this middle school history lesson, travel back to 1620 to examine how early American colonists took their first steps toward self-government. Using the painting Mayflower Compact 1620 by John Leon Jerome Ferris, students explore how pilgrims and other settlers aboard the Mayflower created a social contract that laid the foundation for democratic rule in the New World.
How did different groups in the American colonies establish and practice self-government? Through guided historical thinking, students begin to craft a thesis and support it with reasoning, key skills they'll apply in the unit’s scaffolded Document-Based Question (DBQ) assessment.
Guiding Question:
In what ways did different groups in the American colonies establish and practice self-government?
About the Video Series:
Our video resources in the Building a Self-Governing People middle school curriculum integrate primary source analysis with Document-Based Question (DBQ) skills to deepen student learning. Use them to launch your assessment lesson or to support students who need a refresher on DBQ strategies.
Each video features two young professionals: a museum curator leading a gallery tour and an educator accompanying students on a field trip. The curator models how to analyze primary sources such as historical documents and artwork. Then, the educator demonstrates how to use that analysis to answer a compelling historical question.
For guidance on how to use the videos within your lessons, refer to the unit’s Deconstructed DBQ Lesson Plans.
Discussion Questions:
If you are using the video as a standalone resource, consider using the following questions to guide student inquiry or spark class discussion.
- What does this primary source tell us about the time period in which it was created?
- Why do you think the creator made this source? What message were they trying to send?
- How does this source connect to the larger theme of self-government, rights, or civic participation?
- Who is represented in the source—and who is missing? Why might that matter?
- What surprised you or challenged what you thought you knew about this topic?
- How did the educator use the source to build a thesis? Could you restate their thesis in your own words?
- What clues did the educator or curator use to analyze the source? How could you use those in your own writing?
- Why is grouping documents important when answering a DBQ question? How might you group the sources shown in the video?
- What background information (context) helped make the source more understandable or meaningful?
- If you had to answer the DBQ question yourself, what would your claim be—and what evidence from the video would you use?
