TITLE: The Original Thirteen Colonies AUTHOR: Larry Nickell, Karval, CO GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: 7-8; civics, geography OVERVIEW: Many students dislike learning rote material, but some basic information is necessary in any discipline upon which later structured lessons can be developed. Further, most students are helped in learning if memory tricks are utilized. PURPOSE: The purpose of this activity is to reinforce the importance of the ratification process which was required to make the Constitution viable. The activity familiarizes students with the states involved and gives them a tool for expanding their memory in use for other subjects. OBJECTIVES: As a result of this activity, the students will know and be able to list the thirteen original states and the order in which they entered the Union. The students will enjoy learning these 13 states. This is best used when discussing the Constitution and its ratification. After learning such a list the activity should speed up discussion on the large and small state compromise and should help identify which states are southern, middle, or northern as they gain name familiarity. ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES: At the beginning of the class period announce that the class is going to play a game. 1. Starting with a person in any row, ask that person to repeat and imagine the structure you are going to build. Challenge the rest of the class to see if they can visualize these things as each student repeats them. 2. Tell the first students to visualize (and repeat) a Corningware dish. 3. Move the second student and have him imagine many chopped-up pencils in the Corningware dish. Tell him to repeat the information. 4. Have the third student visualize a new-born Jersey calf standing on the pencils. The student should recite that there are a Corningware dish, chopped-up pencils, and a new-born Jersey calf standing on the pencils. 5. Everyone knows a "George." Have the next person imagine a friend named George riding the new-born Jersey calf. The student should then recite the whole list starting from the first (the Corningware dish, chopped-up pencils in the dish, a new-born Jersey calf standing on them and George riding the calf). 6. The next student is told to imagine that George is holding onto a disconnected radio (the teacher or the students may embellish this or any other part of the exercise, just as long as they remember the essential part of each step). This student should be able to remember all that has been accumulated, namely, the Corningware dish filled with chopped-up pencils, the Jersey calf standing on the pencils, and George riding on the calf and holding a disconnected radio. 7. The sixth student is told to imagine that on the disconnected radio is a mass of tangle wires. Have him repeat from the beginning that there is a Corningware dish holding chopped-up pencils supporting a new-born Jersey calf being ridden by George who is holding a disconnected radio with a tangled mass of wires on top. 8. The seventh students is told to think of someone they know named Mary. The student must imagine this person with her feet all tangled up in the mass of wire and that she is looking all around trying to find a place to land in case George drops her. The student must again repeat what has accumulated. 9. The eighth item requires the students to imagine a friend named Carol. Carol is sitting on Mary's shoulder and wearing a bikini. Again, have the student recite the list. 10. The ninth student must imagine that Carol is not too clean in her hygiene as she is holding in her hand a new, bloody ham that is very slick. Have the student recite the list. 11. The tenth student must envisage that on the slick ham is standing a girl named Ginger (or Virginia) who is trying to maintain her balance. Have the student recite the whole list. 12. The eleventh student must imagine that Ginger (and Carol and George) is tough enough to carry the Empire State Building. The student then recites the list. 13. The twelfth student must imagine that Carol is a magician and that this time is sitting on top of the Empire State Building. However, because she is so high, this time she is wearing a fur coat. Once more, the student must reiterate the list. 14. The thirteenth and last student must imagine that, at the very top of this structure, a big Rhode Island Red rooster is sitting on Carol's head. The student must repeat the entire list. If any other students would like to repeat the list, allow him or her to do so. After the game is over, ask if anyone in the class would be interested in learning the 13 original states and the order in which they entered the union. Most will not, saying it is too hard. Then tell them that they already have learned it. See if any student can figure out the code. If none are able, then give them the translation below: 1. Corningware dish - Delaware 2. chopped-up pencils - Pennsylvania 3. new-born Jersey calf 4. George - Georgia 5. disconnected radio - Connecticut 6. mass of wire - Massachusetts 7. tangled Mary - Maryland 8. Carol in a bikini - South Carolina (south is hotter) 9. new bloody ham - New Hampshire 10. Ginger (or Virginia) - Virginia 11. Empire State Building - New York 12. Carol in a fur coat - North Carolina (north is colder) 13. Rhode Island red rooster - Rhode Island TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: After becoming familiar with the states involved, one might ask why Delaware was first (a small state), while New York (a large state) was nearly last, and then the smallest state Rhode Island was last. Students could start to visualize sectional differences and the importance of local concerns. After discussion, ask each person to see if they can recite the list again. Challenge the students to ask their parents if they can name the original 13 states. This is intended to be a fun exercise, and as such, students readily learn something that might otherwise be generally distasteful.