Social studies has always been one of my absolute favorite subjects to teach. I get so excited about United States history, and I do my best to make a potentially boring topic come alive for my students! There are a lot of opportunities for hands-on, get out of your seat lessons and projects in the classroom (especially on those hot and extra wiggly days!)
So, on this particular day, I decided to throw out my original lesson, and get my students up and moving instead for one of my favorite lessons, The King’s M & M’s (or our version of it at least)! This lesson is not my original idea, but it is most definitely one of my all-time favorites!
The object of the activity is to get students to understand why American colonists were upset with British tax laws, like the Stamp Act, after the French and Indian War. The activity will also help students understand the idea of Taxation Without Representation. Since this activity involves role play, students will have the opportunity to simulate a scenario of what happened when the colonists were being taxed by Great Britain. It definitely gives them a better understanding of what the colonists felt during that time.
Here’s what you need to do to prep for this activity:
1.) Choose one person to be the King.
2.) Choose two people as parliament members/tax collectors.
3.) Print out the role cards/signs that say King and Tax Collectors. Hole punch them, and tie string around the signs for students to wear around their necks. (printables available to download at the end of this post)
4.) Print and cut out the tax cards.
5.) Give each student a paper plate (or cup!) with 10 pieces of candy, and instruct students not to touch them.
Luckily, I had some red plastic cups in my cupboard and a huge batch of gumdrops from a science experiment we did the week before! ;)
Before you start the activity, you may want to pull your King and tax collectors to the side and explain their roles:
When the tax collectors go around the room to collect the candy pieces, I typically divide the room in half and let each tax collector collect the candy from their side of the room only. I have the tax collectors collect the candy from each student in an individual cup. Then, once they collect the candy in their individual cup, they pour all of the pieces out on a plate so students can see all of the candy that accumulates throughout the activity.
Once you have all of your materials ready, invite the King and his/her tax collectors to the front of the room. Introduce them to the class as the King and his tax collectors, and then tell the rest of your class that they are the colonists. I typically make a big fuss over the difference between the two groups.
Have the King explain to the class that he/she will be taxing everyone for various reasons.
*The man above is actually my dad! :) He would come in to my class and help every once in awhile, and my kids adored him! What better person to play the king, right?! They all got such a kick out of it!
Once the class is ready, the King can start reading the tax cards, and the parliament members can start collecting the taxes. Watch how upset your students get! It’s kind of hilarious!
Make sure the King points out all of the tax money (or candy) that is piling up!
I typically only read about four or five tax cards. This seems to be the perfect number that leaves many students with no candy pieces and some students with just two or three of their original candy pieces.
*Once all of the taxes have been collected, have the King tell the colonists that the tax money now needs to be dispersed. For their work, each of the tax collectors will get 10% of the tax money (or candy), and the King will get the rest for him/herself. Now your students will probably go bonkers! Typically my students show some definite feelings of displeasure, and the students who are the King and parliament start gloating a bit,
At this crucial point in the lesson (and to calm them all down!), I talk to students and them to understand how the colonists reacted to the tax collectors and the various tax laws from different acts. In small groups, I had students discuss these questions:
It’s amazing how many lightbulbs go off during this activity, and how many big smiles are plastered on their faces!
Then, to finish out this activity, I found this awesome video on TeacherTube called, Too Late to Apologize – King George.
The video is hilarious, educational, and very relevant. Your students will love it! Mine even shared with me that as soon as they went home, they got online to watch it and show all of their family members! Score! And of course (the most important part), hand out the leftover candy pieces for them to eat!
Side note: If your students are going to be handling food, and later eating it, make sure they use gloves or some type of utensil.
Click HERE to grab all of the freebies to use in your own classroom! Enjoy!