Mission US is always a favorite activity in fifth grade. Students in Mrs. Hamman’s class first wrote about the game way back in August of 2011! Since this year’s class started playing the game today, we are republishing an excerpt of that older post.
Exploring the the American Revolution
In fifth grade, we study the geography and history of the United States in social studies. We’ve been learning about life in the colonies just before the American Revolution. We found a great way to experience what life was life back then through Mission US, an interactive, multimedia adventure.
Mrs. Hamman taught us some background information to explain the first mission of the game, which is called “For Crown or Colony?” After that we all got on our netbooks to explore the game. In the simulation, you play the part of Nathaniel Wheeler, a printer’s apprentice in Boston in 1770. Through the tasks Nathaniel has to perform, you get to meet real people who lived in Boston. You learn about the Loyalists and the Patriots and get to make decisions about who to trust and which side to support. The game introduced us to many primary sources, or actual documents and objects that were created during the time period. We’ve learned that when studying history looking for primary sources is important, so that you know the information you get is reliable.
We recorded our comments after playing the game:
What is one new piece of information you learned from playing Mission US?
January 27, 2016 at 3:03 pm
Dear Mrs. Hamman,
I enjoyed playing Mission US since you could make choices for yourself and you got a look at what their lives were like at that time. I also thought it was interesting how they created characters and put them in the game with real people. I think this was a good way to learn since you saw many possibilities.
Sincerely,
Diana
January 27, 2016 at 3:05 pm
I liked Mission-US because it teaches you about the Revolutionary war, slavery and others things as well.
January 27, 2016 at 3:05 pm
I learned that they are are primary sources and Paul Revere was one of them.
January 27, 2016 at 3:06 pm
What was fun in mission us is you get to learn about real people and get to explore the map and you get to get those 4 circles to go to a different mission it was so fun.
January 27, 2016 at 3:07 pm
One thing I learned is that on the liberty tree they put posters on the tree.
January 27, 2016 at 3:09 pm
In the game you get to meet Phillis Wheatley and Paul Revere. Phillis Wheatley makes poems and Paul Revere makes pictures with ink.
January 27, 2016 at 3:10 pm
Mission US is super fun.
January 27, 2016 at 3:10 pm
I think that mission US is entertaining because the main idea is to explore Boston and its challenging to get through the game.
January 27, 2016 at 3:11 pm
I thought it was awesome because you go on an adventure and the girl you talk to in Mission 1 how she is missing her dog Thimble and your name is Nathaniel and its just so fun. And mission 2 your name is Lucy but you are a slave it gets really sad because you and your brother I think are for sale.
January 27, 2016 at 3:11 pm
Mission US was fun and exciting.
January 27, 2016 at 3:11 pm
I think mission us is a fun learning game. Like when you learned about the liberty tree. The liberty tree is where the sons of liberty first had their meetings.
January 27, 2016 at 3:14 pm
Muy divertido el juego.
January 28, 2016 at 3:25 pm
I think that mission-us is fun you learn a lot from it, like the colonists took a stand against the British army.
January 28, 2016 at 3:30 pm
Dear Mrs.Hamman,
The game was very interesting because it shows us how it was like in the past and what you had to do back then.
January 28, 2016 at 3:34 pm
I really like Mission US. It is a fun tool for students like me to learn more about American history. I am really glad that Mrs. Hamman introduced Mission US to us.
January 28, 2016 at 3:34 pm
I learned that there were people that were apprentices.
January 28, 2016 at 3:40 pm
I think that Mission US is a good game to play in history you have to make your own choices on the mission if you make a bad choice you will get in trouble. If you make a good choice you do not get in trouble.
January 28, 2016 at 3:43 pm
Mission Us is fun there is many different ways you can go in the missions. There is many differences kinds of missions. There is 4 mission there is one more it’s 5 it is coming out. You can learn things that happen in the past. You are learning new things in this game.
January 28, 2016 at 3:45 pm
I think that mission-us is good with history, and it can help with class.
January 28, 2016 at 3:48 pm
Mission US is very fun to play.
January 28, 2016 at 3:53 pm
The best simulator for teaching your students about old times.
January 28, 2016 at 3:58 pm
Mission U.S. is a game that feels like it is in real life. At first I thought it was a “game” but it was actually a very good learning game.
March 4, 2016 at 8:10 pm
Great class & good questions during the 1787 era Colonial Lifestyle “Life in the Past Lane” presentation on March 1st! Dan Johnson