This activity will introduce children to the events that lead up to the American Revolutionary War. These activities will also teach the students what life was like for the colonists in this time period. The students will learn what the concept of a revolution is and it’s implications for a nation. The students will also learn who the key people of this time period are, what they did, and why they are important.
Learner’s Performance Objective:
Students will:
* Describe the background and causes of the American Revolution
* List and describe at least four major acts
* Describe some of the key individuals of this time period including why they are important to our history
* Be able to compare and contrast their lives versus the lives of people in the colonial time period
NYSED Social Studies Standards (Elementary)
Standard 1:1. The study of New York State and United States history requires an analysis of the development of American culture, its diversity and multicultural context, and the ways people are unified by many values, practices, and traditions.
Standard 1: 2. Important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions from New York State and United States history illustrate the connections and interactions of people and events across time and from a variety of perspectives.
Grade Level: 4-6
Instructional Plan(preparation)/Materials/Equipment:
* Chart paper and markers
* Handouts on the American Revolution (See Attached)
* Internet access
* Encarta
* World Book Encyclopedia
* PowerPoint Software
* Scissors
* Poster board to cut into a “Puzzle Piece Timeline”
Prerequisite Skills:
The students should have a basic understanding of how America became settled as well the students should have an understanding on how the colonies were formed. Students should have a good idea of the technical limitations of the time period; what sort of technologies they were lacking that we currently have today. Students should also have a basic geographic understanding of the colonies.
Students should also have a basic idea of how to use the internet to research topics; and how to use the school library and encyclopedia to research. Students should also have a basic understanding on how to use a computer.
Instructional Procedures and Activities:
Session 1:
Start off the unit by showing the class the Instructional Video to get the students interested in learning about the Revolutionary War. The video will consist of pictures, drawings, and sketches from the Revolutionary War time period with interesting and insightful commentary on each one. The pictures will be arranged in a chronological order and the teacher commentary will tell the tale of the events leading to the revolutionary war. The teacher will then talk about the “K W L” for this unit. The teacher will handout a KWL worksheet for the Revolutionary War unit. The teacher will lead a class discussion with the students finding out that they Know, what they Want to know, and what they plan to Learn over the course of this unit.
Session 2:
The teacher will divide the students into small groups to research the various acts that the British had imposed on the colonies. Be sure to try to use heterogeneous grouping; group one or two more able students with students who may not be quite as focused. Students will investigate how the colonists responded to the British acts and laws. Each different group will be assigned a specific act or law that they will be researching; these would include: The Stamp Act, The Townsend Act, The Sugar Act, The Quartering Act, and The Tea Act. The students will create posters with descriptions; about one or two paragraphs long to present to the class. Students will use the Internet, their textbook, the school library, World Book Encyclopedia, or Encarta as their references.
Students will create a poster depicting the act that they are researching. Each group will write a description of the act and share it with the class. These posters will be displayed on a puzzle piece which will then be placed onto a timeline in the front of the room to sequence these important events. This timeline will be ongoing throughout the unit, as future events are researched by the class, new puzzle pieces will be added to the timeline so that the class can have a complete idea of the events leading up to the revolutionary war and in exactly what order they happened.
The teacher will have a rubric to evaluate not only the quality of the research and report that each group produces but it will also be to evaluate how each student works with the other students in his or her group, as well as the quality of the presentation made to the class.
Session 3:
This lesson will be presented in order for the students to get a better idea of how exactly colonists may have felt in the times preceding the revolutionary war. A token system will be used in the class to reward outstanding work and good behavior. The token system will work similarly to the way regular currency works. The tokens can be exchanged for prizes or points on their next test, at the end of the week. When most of the students have several tokens, the teacher will start to tax the student’s tokens, the teacher will tax them to use the bathroom, leave the classroom to eat lunch, to get up from their seat, to sharpen their pencil, anything that the student normally does can be taxed by the teacher. It is important to continually add different taxes each day. So if on Tuesday it only cost one token to get up and go to the bathroom. On Wednesday it now costs one token to get up from your seat, and two more tokens to leave the classroom to go to the bathroom. On Thursday it may even cost a token to ask the question to go to the bathroom. The teacher could tax students for getting up to sharpen their pencil, for using the computers, or anything else that the teacher could imagine. On the last day of the unit, the teacher will discuss with the students how they felt about the constant taxation and the constant changes in how they were taxed. Students will compare their feelings with how the colonists felt during the times before the revolutionary war, students should compare and contrast their feelings with those that the colonists may have been feeling.
Session 4:
The teacher will divide the class into four groups. Each different group will be assigned one of these four major events that lead up to the Revolutionary War: The Boston Massacre, The Boston Tea Party, The First Continental Congress, and The Committees of Correspondence. The students will then research these events, and find out the main ideas of each event. The students need to include: What happened? Why it happened? When did it happen? Where did it happen? What was the response from the British, or were there any repercussions from the British? Students will use the internet, their textbooks, World Book encyclopedia and the school library to research these topics. The students will then answer the questions in the form of a short PowerPoint presentation or they have the option of creating a newspaper article instead of the PowerPoint presentation. Each group will also create a puzzle piece poster for their assigned event to add to the timeline. The puzzle piece only needs to include some facts about their event, the date of their event, and the name of their event. The students will need to include at least two pictures relevant to their assigned event in their PowerPoint presentation or Newspaper article. If the students cannot find pictures of the event, they are free to draw their own pictures. “The American Revolution: A Picture Sourcebook” by John Grafton is an excellent source for images regarding the revolutionary war. Please see the attached rubric for evaluation of the PowerPoint Presentation and Newspaper article.
Session 5:
For this activity students will research some of the key people during the American Revolution. They will complete a short graphic organizer outlining the characteristics of the famous person that they have chosen. Students can research their famous person in pairs or separately, it is up to the teacher and dependant on the classroom. The students will orally present their information during an activity where a moderator will ask such questions as: What is your greatest contribution to our history? What is your greatest strength? What are your weaknesses? Why should you be remembered? Are there any other important facts that we could know about you? Here is a short list of some possible important “Founding Fathers” that could be researched:
Abigail Adams
Sam Adams
John Adams
Ethan Allen
Thomas Jefferson
Benedict Arnold
Crispus Attucks
William Brown
Benjamin Franklin
Nathan Hale
George Washington
Paul Revere
Betsy Ross
Robert Morris
James Madison
John Paul Jones
Daniel Morgan
Richard Montgomery
Patrick Henry
Paul Revere
Henry Knox
Closure:
An excellent way to end this lesson would be to have a mock “Colonial Day”. This activity could be collaboration with the other teachers on the grade level. Each classroom would have five centers with activates related to the colonial period that the children could rotate to and from. The following is a list of possible activity centers.
#1: Making small colonial storage chests
#2: Making candles
#3: Making small wooden tops
#4: Basket weaving
#5: Practicing calligraphy
#6: Completing a patchwork square
#7: Frying Johnnycakes
#8: Designing Samplers
#9: Examining antique tool collections or pictures of antique tools
#10: Weaving potholders
#11: Carding Wool; when you brush wool so that it can be spun
#12: Use drop spindles to spin wool
#13: Making soap
#14: Making homemade ink
#15: Writing with a Quill Pen
#16: Construct a hornbook
#17: Butter Churning
#18: Grinding corn
Parents will need to be recruited to help assist with various stations, as well to help prepare the classrooms in order to have the colonial day. Instructions will need to be clearly displayed at each station and the supervisor at each station will need to be clear on what is to be done at each station. If time allows a brief training session will be helpful to have for the parents that will be involved with this activity.
I want the students to be able to experience what life was like for the people living in colonial days. The teacher should explain to the students that these activities were fairly common for most colonial people. This also gives the students a chance to interact with one another and experience colonial life in a much more meaningful way than reading from a book or listening to a lecture.
For an assessment of colonial day, the teacher could assign a journal article for the students to compare how colonial life was different than their lives today. Was it easier or more difficult? Are there any similarities between colonial life and present day activities?
Student Evaluation/Assessment:
One way of checking progress is to look at what the students produce. Their work not only shows that they have completed an activity but also shows their level of understanding. Talking with the students individually can reveal where they see themselves.
RUBRICS
Two rubrics are enclosed; the first is to evaluate the student’s puzzle piece timeline poster. The second is to evaluate the PowerPoint presentation or newspaper article.
Accommodation/modifications for special needs students:
The teacher should have materials on various reading levels for researching the different assignments for the special needs students. When assigning groups, the teacher should try to pair any special needs students with higher performing students who may be able to help the special needs students.
Resources:
Baicker, Karen. Colonial America. New York: Scholastic, 2002.
Rybak, Bob. Life as a Colonist. Torrance: Frank Shaffer Publishing, 1994.
Tannenbaum, Selma. People Who Made our Country Great. New York: Cambridge Book Company, 1975.
Kretzer, Marilyn. Making Social Studies Come Alive. New York: Scholastic, 1996.
Mitchell, A Young Nation Develops. St. Louis Missouri: Milliken Publishing Co., 1972.
Mitchell, The Revolutionary War. St. Louis Missouri: Milliken Publishing Co., 1972.
Murray, Stewart. American Revolution. New York: DK Publishing, 2002.
Grafton, John. The American Revolution: A Picture Sourcebook. New York: Dover Books, 1975.
Jacobson, Jennifer. The Big Book of Graphic Organizers. New York: Scholastic, 2002.
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