Students will apply their knowledge of the causes of the American Revolution to create an interactive story via Twine. The interactive story will be based on the pre-revolutionary war period from the point of view of a loyalist or a patriot. As a warm-up students will look at an optical illusion picture and as a class discuss point of view and perspective. Students will work in heterogeneous pairs/groups to research, outline, and create a pre-revolutionary story about a patriot or loyalist.

In this lesson, students will learn about one of the most significant and successful spy rings in American History. They will also actually conduct some of the same techniques and demonstrate them to the rest of the class.

The Declaration of Independence and the words “all men are created equal” provided thousands of enslaved Africans high expectations and many were ready to fight for the Country and their own personal freedom. Thousands of enslaved Africans impacted the war right from the start at Lexington and Concord, all the way to the end at Yorktown. This lesson will explore the life of James Armistead Lafayette, an enslaved African Virginian. Working as an undercover spy for George Washington, James risked his life to gather key intelligence about the British that helped secure an American victory at Yorktown. In this lesson, we will discuss whether his efforts in service of the American cause helped or hindered his ability to achieve emancipation.

Teachers will be able to use this lesson virtually or in person! This Google Slide deck lesson can also be downloaded as a PowerPoint! Speaker notes are included which make it easy for teachers or substitutes to teach this lesson! Read Aloud: John, Paul, George, & Ben*Literacy Objective: We will discuss important people from the American Revolution and identify how they have changed over time. *Social Studies Objectives: We will identify the causes and effects of the American Revolution. We will also identify the key events and people from the American Revolution. *Art Objective: The student will use the following to express meaning in works of art:   a) Color—student-mixed hues, tints, shades, tones.Hampton Oaks Elementary School (Kari Nugent, Annie Schmidt, Lindsey Bruce, Melissa DiAscro, & Rebecca Fausett)

The Declaration of Independence and the words “all men are created equal” provided thousands of enslaved Africans high expectations and many were ready to fight for the Country and their own personal freedom. Thousands of enslaved Africans impacted the war right from the start at Lexington and Concord, all the way to the end at Yorktown. This lesson will explore the life of James Armistead Lafayette, an enslaved African Virginian. Working as an undercover spy for George Washington, James risked his life to gather key intelligence about the British that helped secure an American victory at Yorktown. In this lesson, we will discuss whether his efforts in service of the American cause helped or hindered his ability to achieve emancipation.

Students will use a letter Paul Revere wrote to learn how he worked to keep meetings secret and warn the colonists that the British army was on their way.  

During the American Revolution, the Patriots relied on sending coded messages to prevent the British from understanding the actions of the Continental Army. George Washington’s army used this cipher– though it is not a very secure system in its original form. The Patriots adapted it by using a randomized arrangement of the alphabet. This cipher was also used to some extent during the US Civil War.

In this activity students will analyze various forms of primary sources, images and text, based on differing accounts of the Boston Massacre.  Students will use this information to construct a historically accurate timeline (story) using the website twinery.org.

Fifth grade students in Michigan begin their study of American history with American Indian peoples before the arrival of European explorers and conclude with the adoption of the Bill of Rights in 1791.

Students will sort and analyze data about a historical figure from the American Revolution then create a desk depicting the accomplishments, life events and/or experiences,  positive and negative of the historical figure of that individual. Students will work in heterogeneous groups on a project where they sort data and analyze data about a historical figure during the American Revolution. Students will use the data collected to create a depiction of the historical figure’s desk.