"The Shot Heard 'Round the World . . . "

The Road to Revolution.

A "Revolutionary" WebQuest for Fifth Grade

by

Cathy Chrisman
Introduction
The Task
Process
Extensions
Resources
Evaluation
Conclusion
Teacher Notes/Content Standards

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Introduction:

Did the Son's of Liberty have tea and crumpets at the Boston Tea Party?  Why did Thomas Paine have so much "Common Sense?"  Why was Paul Revere so excited that "the British were coming?"  How did these events and more weave the fabric of our Nation today?  Enter this WebQuest and find out!

 

 

 

The Task: 

You will use the Internet and other resources to investigate and describe the causes, key individuals and consequences of the American Revolution.

 

 

Process:

  1. Choose a significant figure from the American Revolution.  Use the Internet or other resources to find out as much about that person as you can including their greatest accomplishment and what events in their life impacted their achievements.  Also include their influence on the American Revolution. Be prepared to present a "living history" of this person to the class.  See the attached criteria for more information.

  2. Identify the main causes of the American Revolution.  Present the events leading up to the revolution in a flowchart, timeline or table.  Include dates and significant events.

  3. Use the Internet to learn about the types of "technology" used during the Revolution.  Choose a creative method to present at least two items of technology from the revolutionary era and their impact (positive or negative) on the Revolutionary movement.

 

 

Extensions:  

Choose at least 1

  1. Create a Venn diagram comparing technology from the American Revolution with present technology.  Compose a summary of your findings.

  2. Use the Internet, a digital camera or scanner to present current examples of what the Declaration of Independence looks like today.  Use PowerPoint to present your interpretation.

 

 

 

Resources:

The following Internet resources will help you complete the assignments above.

Liberty! The American Revolution

The Lives of Famous Early Americans

A Revolutionary WebQuest

American History Archive Project: American Revolution Navigation Tools

Virtual Marching Tour of the American Revolution

The American Revolution and it's Era: Related Resources

History Central

Spy Letters of the American Revolution

American Revolution Sites - Many sites for additional resources.

Additional Resources: The following resources are available through the school or public library.

Which Way to the Revolution - David A. Adler

Paul Revere: Rider for Liberty - Charles P. Graves

Paul Revere, Boston Patriot - Augusta Stevenson

La Cabalgata de Paul Revere - Henry Longfellow

American Revolution

The Real Patriots of the American Revolution - Robert Young

Yankee Doodle - Bruce Hiscock

Traitor, the Case of Benedict Arnold - Jean Fritz

 

 

 

Evaluation:

Click on a link below to see how you will be evaluated.

Task 1: Living History Report

Task 2: Causes of the Revolution

Task 3: Revolutionary Technology

Extensions: You can receive a total of 10 points for completing one of the above extensions.  Your project will be judged on: 

  • content (5 points) 

  • quality (3 points)

  • creativity (2 points) 

You may refer to the evaluation scales for the other assignments for expectations.  

 

 

 

Conclusion:

Without this great struggle, our country would not exist today.  Now use all that you have learned to travel "The Road to Revolution."

 

 

 

Teacher Notes:

Inspiration:  Free software download of "Inspiration" for your students to use to create flowcharts, timelines, etc.

Kathy Schrock's Guide to Rubrics:  This site will give you lots of information and ideas to use rubrics in your class.  There are also a variety of ready made scales for you to use.

PowerPoint:  This website will give you and your students some how-to's on using PowerPoint for presentation

The graphics contained in this WebQuest were found at the following sites:

Microsoft Clip Gallery: Paul Revere, Liberty Bell,

Absolute Web Graphics: Flag Page Border

Animated GIF Archive:  This site is featured on About.com's listing of clip art sites.

 

 

 

Standards:

Arizona Academic Standards
Social Studies 1SS-E7. Describe the causes, key individuals, and consequences of the American Revolution with emphasis on:
P.O.1 - the causes, including the Tea Act, the Stamp Act and the formation of the Sons of Liberty.
P.O.2 - Major turning points in the revolutionary war and the importance of aid from France.
P.O.3 - the influence of key personalities, including King George III, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Paine.

Language Arts

Viewing and Presenting
  • Analyze visual media for language, subject matter and visual techniques used to influence opinions, decision making and cultural perceptions.
  • Plan, develop and produce a visual presentation, using a variety of media such as videos, films, newspapers, magazines and computer images.

Language Arts

Listening/Speaking

  • Prepare and deliver an organized speech and effectively convey the message through verbal non verbal communications with a specific audience.

  • Predict, clarify, analyze and critique a speaker's information and point of view.

Language Arts

Reading

 R-E2. Use reading strategies such as making inferences and predictions, summarizing, paraphrasing, differentiating fact from opinion, drawing conclusions, and determining the author's purpose.

P.O.1 - Identify the main ideas; critical and supporting details; and the author's purpose, feelings and point of view of the text.

P.O.2 - Distinguish fact from opinion

P.O.3 - Summarize the text in own words

P.O.6 - Identify the text in chronological, sequential or logical order

P.O.7 - Make an inference using contextual clues
R-E4. Identify the author's purpose, position, bias and strategies in a persuasive selection.

P.O.1 -  Identify the author's purpose and use of details to support the purpose.

P.O.2 - Describe the author's use of strategies to convince or persuade

  • Bandwagon

  • Peer pressure

  • "loaded" words

P.O.3 - Identify the author's bias
Writing W-E1. Use correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage, along with varied sentence structure and paragraph organization, to complete effecticely a variety of writing tasks.

P.O.1 - Spell correctly

P.O.2 - Punctuate correctly (e.g. sentence endings, commas in a friendly letter's greeting and closing, commas in a series, abbreviations, quotations in dialog, apostrophes.)

P.O.3 - Apply rules of capitalization (e.g. sentence beginnings, titles, abbreviations, proper nouns)

P.O.4 - Apply standard grammar and usage (e.g. subject-verb agreement, simple and compound sentences, appropriate verb tense, plurals)

P.O.5 - Organize paragraphs with a variety of sentence structures (e.g. simple, compound)
W-E8. Demonstrate research skills using reference materials to complete effectively a variety of writing tasks.
P.O.1 - Implement a research strategy that includes:
  • selecting appropriate source for a specific research purpose
  • utilizing reference materials
  • writing a paraphrase of information from a source
  • recording relevant information (e.g. notes, graphs, tables) taken from a research source
  • organizing notes and integrating notes into a finished product
  • incorporating notes into a finished product.

National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)

Standards for Students
Social Studies Power, Authority, and Governance (Middle Grades)

g. describe and analyze the role of technology in communications, transportation, information-processing, weapons development, or other areas it contributes to or helps resolve conflicts.
Technology Performance Indicators:

1. Use keyboards and other common input devices efficiently and effectively.

5. Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.

9. Determine when technology is useful and select the appropriate tool(s) and technology resources to address a variety of tasks and problems

10. Evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness, and bias of electronic information sources.