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Freedom Is Not Free, Lest We Forget (Grades 4-8)

Master Teacher

Shannon Fike

Time Allotment

Three 45-minute class periods

Overview

Through the activities in this lesson, students will explore the events which led up to the Revolutionary War and create a timeline of the major events of the war and America’s quest for freedom. They will examine still pictures and view re-enact-ments of these events via video. They will explore Web sites to discover further details about this historic time. The students will also develop an understanding of the conditions under which the Revolutionary War soldier lived.

Subject Matter

Social Studies

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

List at least five major events that led up to the Revolutionary War;
List at least five key figures from the colonies that were influential in the freedom movement;
Create a timeline of the major events from 1760–1785 which relate to America’s freedom from England;
List five things that the Revolutionary War soldier used during the war effort;
List several items that were included in the Stamp Act of 1765.

South Carolina Standards

(These Standards are available online at
http://www.myscschools.com/Offices/CSO.)

Social Studies Standards:

Demonstrate an understanding of the major developments in the history of …the United States from 1765 through the Revolutionary War.

8.2.5 Examine the causes and course of the American Revolution …

8.3 Demonstrate an understanding of the major developments in the history of … the United States from birth of the nation.

4.1.6 Identify the developments, major events, and notable figures involved in the separation of the thirteen colonies from England.

4.1.7 Describe the key events and effects of the American Revolution on the new country.

4.3.3. Identify historical figures that shaped the values and principles of American democracy.

Media Components

Video

America’s Quest for Freedom, Lesson 2: “Growth of Pre-Revolutionary Freedoms” (Segments: The Seven Years War; Prelude to War; and The Boston Tea Party)(Note to Teacher: Runs 17 minutes if shown in its entirety.)

America’s Quest for Freedom, Lesson 3: “Ideas of Freedom in Revolutionary America” (Segments: A People’s War; Independence; and Revolutionary War)

(Note to Teacher: Runs 18 minutes if shown in its entirety.)

Web Sites

Liberty! The Road to Revolution
This is an interactive game where the students answer questions about the Revolutionary War using the computer.

Virtual Soldier
This is an interactive Web site which allows students to see the uniforms of the Revolutionary War soldier and his equipment.

Liberty! Perspectives on Liberty: Military Perspectives
This interactive Web site allows the student to compare the American soldier with the British soldier.

War Begins
This is an interactive slideshow with text that describes the events of the Revolutionary War. This Web site includes maps.

Liberty! Chronicle of the Revolution: Timeline of the Revolution
This Web site lists events that shaped the American Revolution and America’s freedom movement.

Materials

Per student:

Activity Sheet 1: America’s Freedom
Activity Sheet 2-A: American Revolution Timeline
Activity Sheet 2-B: American Revolution Timeline Rubric

Equipment

television with VCR and remote control
computers (at least 1 per 3 students)

Prep for Teachers

Arrange for VCR and television.
Prior to teaching this lesson, preview and cue video clips to be used in the lesson and review the Focus for Media Interaction points in the Introductory Activity and Learning Activities.
Preview and bookmark the Web sites used in the lesson on each computer to be used in your classroom or lab.
Preview and copy handouts for each student.
When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and /or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Insert the video America’s Quest for Freedom into your VCR.

Step 2: FAST FORWARD the video to Lesson 2: “The Growth of Pre-Revolutionary Freedoms.” Then FAST FORWARD to the segment entitled The Seven Years War where you see soldiers at a campfire just after a still shot of George Washington and hear the words, “The war between England and France will forever change America.”

Step 3: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to answer the question, “What items did the Stamp Act of 1765 tax?”

Step 4: START the video. PAUSE the video when you hear, “the Americans do not, in fact, rule themselves” and see a still shot of two colonists just after a picture of the Stamp Act document.

Step 5: Give each student a copy of Activity Sheet 1: America’s Freedom.

Step 6: Ask the students to list the type of items included in the Stamp Act. (Bibles, almanacs, legal documents, playing cards, and any printed materials) As you write them on the board, have the students write those same things on their Activity Sheets.

Step 7: Say to the students: “This is just one of several events that will help to shape America’s quest for freedom.”

Learning Activities

Step 1: FAST FORWARD the video to the segment entitled Prelude to War, where you see the redcoat soldier re-enactors and hear, “The British presence in the colonies….”

Step 2: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to answer the questions: “What actually caused the Boston Massacre to happen?” and “How many people were killed?”

Step 3: START the video and PAUSE when you see a printed document of the massacre and hear the words, “the incident known as the Boston Massacre fuels the growing fury.”

Step 4: Ask the students the focus questions again, “What actually caused the Boston Massacre to happen?” (Someone threw ice at a British Soldier.) and “How many people were killed?” (5)

Step 5: FAST FORWARD the video to The Boston Tea Party segment. You will hear the words, “Frustrations erupt again on December 16, 1773” and see tree branches in front of the Old North Church in Boston.

Step 6: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to answer the question, “Who are some of the wealthiest, most influential men of the colonies?

Step 7: RESTART the video and PAUSE when you hear the words, “give me liberty or give me death” and see Patrick Henry in a still shot picture.

Step 8: Pose the focus question to the class. Ask them to record their responses on the activity sheet. (Sam Adams, John Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Paine, and John Hancock)

Step 9: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to answer the question, “What are some of the events that led to the beginning of the actual revolution?”

Step 10: RESTART the video after the point where you stopped in Step 7. STOP the video when you see George Washington in uniform and hear the words, “He is the right man.”

Step 11: Pose the focus question and have the students write their answers on their America’s Freedom Activity Sheet. (Stamp Act, Boston Tea Party, Sugar Act, Townsend Act, Tea Act, quartering troops, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”)

Step 12: FAST FORWARD the video to Lesson 3: “Ideas of Freedom in Revolutionary America.” Then FAST FORWARD to the segment entitled A People’s War, to where you see re-enactors marching and you hear the words, “Just as ordinary people had refused.”

Step 13: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to answer the question, “How did Thomas Paine contribute to the freedom movement?”

Step 14: START the video and PAUSE when you see a still shot of men waving their hats and hear the words, “part of the worldwide expansion of freedom.”

Step 15: Pose the focus question, “How did Thomas Paine contribute to the freedom movement?” (He wrote “Common Sense”; he spoke to the Continental Congress; he used words to motivate and inspire the people.)

Step 16: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to answer the question, “What things did the Declaration of Independence do?”

Step 17: RESTART the video which should be at the Independence segment. PAUSE the video when you see people pulling down a statue of the king on a horse and hear the words, “providing some 42,000 bullets for the revolution.”

Step 18: Pose the focus question, “What things did the Declaration of Independence do?” (Made us free, started the real war, established the principles of revolution, made it possible for other Americans to claim the right to oppose the government if they felt their rights were being violated, drew the line in the sand)

Step 19: FAST FORWARD the video to the next segment, Revolutionary War.

Step 20: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to answer the question, “What are some of the hardships that the American armies faced?”

Step 21: START the video. STOP the video when you see a black soldier and hear the words, “The Revolution marks the beginning of slavery’s destruction.”

Step 22: Pose the focus question, “What are some of the hardships that the American armies faced?” (cold weather, need of food, clothing and blankets, lack of training, war lasted seven years, not all Americans were “for” the war, the Indians and black slaves joined the British armies against the Americans)

Step 23: Ask the students to go to the Web sites Liberty! Chronicle of the Revolution: Timeline of the Revolution,

http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle/timeline.html, and the War Begins at

http://dcn.davis.ca.us/vme/vo/1.html.

Step 24: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to answer the question, “Look at these Web sites and choose a minimum of five or more events that you believe are critical to America’s freedom.”

Step 25: Instruct the students to create a timeline on Activity Sheet 2-A: American Revolution Timeline. Give the students a copy of Activity Sheet 2-B: American Revolution Timeline Rubric, too, so they can use it as a guide for creating the timeline.

Step 26: Ask the students to go to the PBS Web site, Liberty! Perspectives on Liberty. Military Perspectives link. http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/perspectives/military.html

Step 27: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to answer the question, “How was the American soldier different from the British soldier?

Step 28: After looking at the Web site, pose the focus question, “How was the American soldier different from the British soldier?” (Americans: mixed armies of trained and untrained soldiers, never fought in formations, sometimes wore red coats, Pennsylvania did not have a militia, Kentucky rifles were accurate to 200 yards. British: army officers were noblemen, fought in columns or formation, fired by volley, fired and reloaded on command, usually waited to be fired on before returning fire, infantry was stronger than cavalry, did not like to fight in winter, did not always wear red coats)

Step 29: Instruct the students to write their answers on Activity Sheet 1.

Step 30: Ask the students to go to Virtual Soldier at http://www.barracks.org/thingsdo/interactive/soldier.html

Step 31: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to answer the question, “What kind of equipment did the typical soldier carry with him during the Revolutionary War?”

Step 32: Instruct the students to answer the focus question on their America’s Freedom Activity Sheet. (cocked hat, cartridge box, shoes and stockings, pick and whisk, bayonet, haversack, rifle, coat, vest, pants)

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Ask the students to go to the PBS Home Liberty! The Road to Revolution Web site (http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/game/gameindex.html).

Step 2: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to answer the question: “Do you think you now know about the American Revolution? Check out your skills by answering the questions on this Web site.”

Step 3: At the conclusion of the assessment, pose the following question, “Did you learn anything new?” (Note to Teacher: The music lets the students know if they selected the correct response or the incorrect response. You could record the number of correct responses for a reward/assessment.)

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Language Arts: Write a five paragraph biography of one of the notable figures during the Revolutionary War. For more information go to the Colonial Williamsburg Web site: http://www.history.org/Almanack/people/people.cfm

Discuss and write an essay based on the following line from America’s Quest for Freedom. “People start on what they think will be a short road and it turns out to be a very long road, indeed.”

Write a diary entry or descriptive paragraph entitled, “The Day in the Life of a Revolutionary War Soldier.”

Read the “Speech to the 2nd Virginia Convention” by Patrick Henry and discuss the literary mood and words of emotion used by the author. Go to:

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/btt/celebratingfreedom/pdfs/031.PDF

Read portions of “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine and discuss how he used this document to promote the freedom movement. Go to:

http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/northamerican/CommonSense/toc.html

Read the Declaration of Independence and discuss the implications of this document at the time it was written. Go to:

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/btt/celebratingfreedom/pdfs/036.PDF

Additional videos and Web sites available on this subject:

Independence Day—Complete the activities suggested on the following Web site:
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/indepday

Old Barracks Museum Puzzler
http://www.game-makers.com/puzzler.html
This is a puzzle that students put together to see the historical picture of the Old Barracks Museum.

Liberty! Chronicle of the Revolution: The Boston Tea Party
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle/bostonteaparty-edenton.html
This Web site explores the events of the Boston Tea Party. It includes a video/audio explanation and text.

Additional ITV Series

United States History, Lessons 7-12.

The Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip, Lessons 1-4

Community Connections

Invite one or more Revolutionary War re-enactors to come to your classroom in his/her historical attire and explain the historical importance of the clothing or weapons. These resources can be found at the following Web sites:

The Brigade of the American Revolution (http://www.brigade.org/)
American Revolutionary War Links
War Links