Revolutionary War Lesson Ideas
Lesson Ideas

Introduction to the Revolutionary War

Read a picture book like Yankee Doodle America (Wendell Minor)
(I found a copy in our school’s LLC)
Lesson idea: Students complete a predictogram to access prior
knowledge. (Lessons in Literacy p. 238)

If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution (Kay Moore)

Read about the causes and effects of Revolutionary War
Lesson idea: Students begin T-chart. They will be gathering more information during other lessons about the causes and effects of the war.

Read about Patriots and Loyalists including the roles of some famous
Patriots and Loyalists
Lesson idea: Students could choose the side of a Patriot or Loyalist or a person
who is undecided and debate the issue of revolution at a town meeting.
Patriots could argue against unfair British laws.
Loyalists could argue for the benefits of continued British protection.
- OR -
An on-the-street reporter could interview these people after the first
public reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776.
- OR -
Students write a diary entry explaining their reasons for choosing their
position and their concerns about how life will be if the other side wins.

Novels - literature circles. (I’m not certain about what novels each school has.)

And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?
Who was Benjamin Franklin?
Who was Thomas Jefferson?
The Midnight Ride of Sybil Ludington

Other related fantasy novels (not class sets):

George Washington’s Socks
Ben and Me (Robert Lawson)
Lesson idea: A jigsaw activity would give the students an opportunity to both
share what they read and learn about the roles of other influential people
of the time. After sharing their findings, each group could create a
graphic representation of common themes.

American Revolution: Magic Tree House Research Guide (Mary Pope Osborne)
Contains information relevant to our critical content
Lesson idea: Main idea/detail booklet of the Revolutionary War

Timeline lesson (“It’s About Time”) uses Library of Congress resources
Time Period: 1764-1787
Online activity (directions with handout / hyperlinks)

Lesson idea:
Assign a portion of the timeline to groups.
After students read their portion of the timeline, they create a portion of
a class timeline, using dates, short descriptions, and graphics.
Part of this lesson is also on how to “read” a photograph.

Charters of Freedom (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights)
Below-level learners:

Students may access information about these 3 documents in the Library of
Congress website – LOC.gov -> Kids, families -> America’s Library.
Thomas Jefferson link leads to the Declaration of Independence.
James Madison link leads to the Constitution.
Revolutionary War -> Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion link
leads to the Bill of Rights

On-level learners:
Declaration of Independence lesson (“This is It!”) uses Library of Congress resources

Evaluate the document
Online activity (directions with handout / hyperlinks)
Lesson idea:
Students view a copy of the Declaration and are guided in how to
“read” a document.

Constitution lesson (“We’ve Got to Have a Plan”) using Library of Congress resources

Evaluate the document and Constitutional Convention process
Online activity (directions with handout / hyperlinks)
Lesson idea:
Students view a copy of the Constitution and an article about the
Constitutional Convention to evaluate the document and the process involved in its ratification.

Bill of Rights lesson (“Bill of Rights”) uses Library of Congress resources

View printed copy of Bill of Rights – interpret meaning
Online activity (directions with handout / hyperlinks)
Lesson idea:
Students read/interpret each of the first 10 amendments and make
a collage representing the values put forth in this document.

Above-level learners

Silverlight lessons - if our district downloads “Silverlight” onto our computers, there are some interesting and challenging interactive lessons on the Library of Congress site.

Declaration of Independence
http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/creatingtheus/DeclarationofIndependence/ExhibitObjects/DeclarationInteractive.aspx


Thomas Jefferson referenced five English, Scottish, and American documents as he wrote the Declaration. Five key principles are evaluated (pursuit of happiness, Students click on a principle, “transcribe” shows the passage in print with wording that was omitted (dark print) and added (italics). They may also click on the five referenced documents to view the original wording. This supports the “common democratic values and principles” piece of our content.

Lesson idea:
Students choose one topic to research, reading the wording from each
source document and the Declaration. Students consider intent behind
adding this principle to the Declaration.

** Note – the following links to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights follow the same format as the Declaration of Independence.

Constitution: http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/creatingtheus/Constitution/ExhibitObjects/CreatingtheConstitution.aspx

Bill of Rights: http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/creatingtheus/BillofRights/ExhibitObjects/BillOfRightsInteractive.aspx

All learners:
Declaration of Independence http://myloc.gov/Education/ExhibitObjects/CreatingTheUSOnlineActivity.aspx
A copy of the Declaration is displayed with conversation bubbles. Students click on each bubble and are given a choice of wording (one that was considered and one that was chosen. Students make a choice of wording for each bubble. At the end, they click submit and print out a copy of the Declaration with their wording choices. Students discuss how decisions of the founding fathers may have been different based upon the students’ Declaration. This supports the “evaluate choices made/what they hoped and feared from revolution” piece of our content.

Declaration of Independence lesson using National Archives resources
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_sign.html
Just for fun – students sign and then print out their own copy of the Declaration of
Independence.

Founding Fathers lesson (“Meet Some of the Founding Fathers”) using Library of
Congress resources

Read about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin
Online Activity (directions with handout)
Lesson idea: Students take notes on each of these three leaders then complete
a three-circle Venn diagram. (Venn diagram Lessons in Literacy p.167)

Famous Words lesson (quotations from Celebrate Freedom – Scott Foresman)
Quotations of some of the founding fathers
Worksheet

Lesson idea:
Students work in groups to understand what the quotations meant
in the 1700s and what they mean to us today.

Sing a Song of Freedom lesson
Song titles from If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution – Kay Moore

Titles of Revolutionary War era songs
Worksheet
Lesson idea:
Sing “Yankee Doodle” and figure out what the British were saying about
the colonists in this song. Read the titles of other Revolutionary War era
songs to determine if they represented freedom of expression or protest.

Possible Culminating Activities (taking into account multiple intelligences)

Make a class newspaper (expository articles, editorials-persuasive, poetry,
drawings, advertisements)
Make a set of Broadsides (Broadsides were papers printed and posted on trees and
buildings during colonial days to keep the citizens informed. They acted
much like our newspapers today.)
TV talk show
Make models to put into a time capsule representing the era
Make a game board or card game for classmates to play
Write a parody (each topic of study in its own verse)
Write a collection of journal entries reflecting on life before, during, and after
the Revolutionary War

Library of Congress website

Library of Congress has some kid-friendly short articles with pictures and
timelines.
LOC.gov -> Kids, families -> America’s Library -> choose person or topic
LOC.gov -> Teachers -> American Memory (interesting links)
LOC.gov -> myloc.gov -> Creating the U.S. (interactive lessons and documents)

The National Archives

The National Archives has some interesting information in their Digital Vault
link and through their Boeing Learning Center link.