Students in Mrs. Hall and Ms. O’Donnell’s fifth grade class are in their American Revolution unit in Social Studies. After learning about the Stamp Act, students participated in an M&M’s® simulation. Students were given random roles such as a colonist, tax collector, member of parliament, or King George.
The colonists’ form of currency was M&M’s®. When King George imposed new laws, the tax collectors went around the classroom collecting “money” from each student.
After the simulation, students were able to better understand how the colonists felt when the new taxes were introduced. The “colonists” even became angry with the tax collectors and tried to boycott paying their taxes, which caused King George to impose more taxes and harsh rules on them.