Our Homeschooling Expedition

May. 21, 2007

The American Revolution Lesson Plan

This is our main focus in history for the coming year so it is a long unit.

This unit contains Reading, Writing, Grammar, Handwriting, Art, Some Science, and Some Math, Life skills, and of course History and Geography.

Each child will be supplied with events sheets, biography sheets, timeline figures,

Vocabulary words - revolution, boycott, tax, Parliament, colony, colonist, redcoats, smugglers, massacre, settlements, law, threatened, casualty, artillery, barrage, musket, burgess, cartridge, frigate, galley, continental, Confederation, Garrison, haversack, Hessians, militia, monarchy, Whigs, repeal, privateer, volley, veto, tyranny, protest, delegate, unanimously, intolerable, ciphers, apprentice, minutemen, ammunition, harbor, port, siege, bombardment, repel, interpreter, maneuvers, regiment, bayonet, haversack, tinderbox, amputated, fortification, * this will count as part Language arts

Events to record – Stamp Act, Quartering Act, The Navigation Acts, The Parson’s Cause, Sugar Act, Currency Act, The Boston Massacre, The Boston Tea Party, The Townshend Act, Declaratory Act, Boston Port Bill, Battles of Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill, American Post Office, Common Sense, Declaration of Independence, Crossing the Delaware River, The making of the American Flag, When French helped with war, Battle of Savannah, Battle of Cowpens, Surrender at Yorktown, Treaty of Paris, Proclamation Line, Right of the British colonies asserted and proved, Olive Branch Petition, Declaration on the causes and necessity of taking up arms,

Record a brief description of these events, when they happened, how they affected the war, and any thought you have about the event

People to record – Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Abigail Adams, Betsy Ross, Nathaniel Greene, General Anthony Wayne, George Rogers Clark, Ethan Allen, Francis Marion, Thaddeus Kosciusko, Molly Pitcher, John Hancock, John Quincy, Benjamin West, Samuel Adams, Caesar Rodney, Martha Washington, James Otis, General Thomas Gage, Charles Townshend, John Burgoyne, George Rogers Clark, General Sir Henry Clinton, John Dickinson, Horatio Gates, Alexander Hamilton, Admiral Lord Richard Howe, General Sir William Howe, John Jay, Henry Knox, Charles Lee, Henry Lee, James Madison, Francis Marion, George Mason, Daniel Morgan, Edmund Randolph, Roger Sherman, Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Mercy Otis Warren, James Wilson,

Record the birth, death, and colony they are from. Also record their role in history during this period and what side they were on. Record any things you find interesting about these people and your opinions on them. Write down any thoughts on their character and what you can learn from them. Make sure to record the dates of importance in their lives.

Biographies to record – Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, George Washington, John Paul Jones, John Adams, Paul Revere, King George III, Nathan Hale, Lafayette, Benedict Arnold, Lord Cornwallis

Fill in biography papers for the people listed and write a final biography for your notebook. (biography papers from hold that thought) http://www.holdthatthought.com/

*this will count for L.A. as writing and grammar

Read aloud – The American Revolution for Kids by Janis Herbert, Benjamin Franklin’s Adventures with Electricity, George Washington and the Founding of a Nation, John Paul Jones, Fighting Sailor, Nathan Hale, Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold, John Adams and The American Revolution, Boys of 76: A History of the Battles of the Revolution, American Revolution, Early Thunder, Annie Henry and the Secret Mission,

Peewee’s book list (3^rd)

Ben Franklin, Young Printer

George Washington Soldier, Hero, President

Silver for General Washington

Revolutionary War on Wednesday

Pumpkin’s book list (8^th)

Benjamin Franklin the Autobiography

Leader by Destiny

Spy by James Fenimore Cooper

Yankee Doodle Boy

C’s book list (7^th)

Benjamin Franklin

Leader by Destiny

Guns for General Washington

Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys

Books all boys will read

King George III: English Monarch

Lafayette: French Freedom Fighter

Lord Cornwallis

America’s Paul Revere

Boston Revolts

Boston Massacre

Winter of Red Snow

*these will count as reading (lit.) as there will be notes for reading comprehension

Here are additional links that may be helpful in completing the notebook.

Samuel Adams the Rights of the Colonist http://history.hanover.edu/texts/adamss.html

The American Revolution http://www.kidinfo.com/American_History/American_Revolution.html

The Battle of Lexington and Concord http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/LexingtonBattle.htm

The Boston Tea Party http://members.aol.com/massdar/Massachusetts_DAR/tp_hist.htm

The Battle of Brooklyn http://www.brooklynonline.com/history/battle.xhtml

Col. Williams Hill’s memoirs of the Revolutionary War. http://jrshelby.com/sc-links/wmhill.htm

Common Sense by Thomas Paine http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Thomas_Paine/Common_Sense/

Causes and Necessity of taking up Arms http://odur.let.rug.nl/%7Eusa/D/1751-1775/war/causes.htm

The Declaration of Independence http://odur.let.rug.nl/%7Eusa/D/1776-1800/independence/doi.htm

Spy Letters of the American Revolution http://www.si.umich.edu/spies/index-stories.html

The Battle of Saratoga http://www.saratoga.org/battle1777/

Ongoing Activities: timeline, colonies map to include battlefields, colony, and important settlements.

Week 1 activities:

Read aloud – The American Revolution for kids

Boys read – Boston Revolts

In protest of the taxes many people boycotted goods from the British. Instead of buying the goods they started making their own.

Craft – weave a pot holder, dip candles, and make a candlestick

Directions found in American Kids in History Colonial Days * science could be incorporated by studying fire and the chemical reaction involved in making candles

We learned that Samuel Adams was a brewer before becoming involved in the Revolution.

Craft – brew a batch of root beer. Directions found in The American Revolution for kids

Week 2

Read aloud – The American Revolution for kids

Boys read – Boston Massacre

Play a tax game - http://www.mce.k12tn.net/revolutionary_war/activities_for_lesson_2.htm

*math

Make a poster to tell about what happened on March 5, 1770 *art

Week 3

Read aloud – John Adams and the American Revolution

Did you know that the best speed to get from one place to another was by a horse drawn coach or sailing ship at 10 mph? Use a map to determine some distances. Then figure out how long it would have taken you to go that distance. You take the total miles and divide it by 10 to find out the time. *math connection

Work on notebooks.

Week 4

Read aloud – American Revolution, and Early Thunder

Boys – King George III: English Monarch

Crafts – make a tricorn hat; make a fringed hunting shirt (directions found in the American Revolution for kids) * life skills (sewing) and art

Copy work – Famous Quotes – encourage them to record their thoughts on these quotes *handwriting

John Adams – You and I ought not to die before we have explained ourselves to each other.

Samuel Adams – if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom

It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.

The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.

If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.

A general dissolution of the principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy.... While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.... If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.

* used for handwriting

Week 5

Read aloud – Boys of 76: A History of the Battles of the Revolution

Boys – America’s Paul Revere

Crafts – Create a powder horn; sew a pouch, (directions found in The American Revolution for kids)* life skills (sewing) and science if you learn about gun powder and how it works

After the kids have made these things have them see if they could have been minutemen. Have them get dressed with the tricorn hat, fringed shirt, powder horn, pouch, and a stick for a gun.

Week 6

Read aloud – George Washington and the Founding of a Nation

Boys – George Washington, Soldier, Hero, and President

Leader by Destiny

Craft – Make a diorama of one of the events of George Washington’s life during the Revolution * art

Copy work – Famous Quotes from George Washington *handwriting

We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.

A government is like fire, a handy servant, but a dangerous master.

Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.

It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.

The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

Week 7

Read aloud – Winter of Red Snow

Boys – Guns for General Washington, Silver for General Washington, Yankee Doodle Boy

Crafts – Make hardtrack. This was a food that was common for the soldiers at Valley Forge. To make add water to flour to make soft dough knead 10 min. roll out to ½ in thickness then cut with a biscuit cutter. Prick each with a fork. Bake 7 min. at 450

Soldiers had to carry everything they needed with them plus their weapon and ammo. To get a taste of what it was like pack a backpack with the supplies you think you would need and then put on your minutemen outfit. Then go for a hike somewhere. Remember they didn’t have paved even roads or sidewalks back then. How did it feel? Now imagine it was winter time and you had little food and your clothes were in disrepair. How do you think you’d feel? What is your opinion of the soldiers of Valley Forge? Why do you think they stayed the course when it would have been so much easier for them to give up?

Learn about how a musket works. *science connection

Complete this maze. http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/soc_studies/amrev/maze/

Week 8

Read aloud – Annie Henry and the Secret Mission

Boys – Spy, Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys

Craft – Hidden message to make invisible ink use 4 drops of onion juice, 4 drops of lemon juice, and a pinch of sugar. Use this to write a message out when it dries hold the message over a light bulb to read. * science

Make natural berry red ink and a quill pen (directions can be found in Colonial Days)

Week 9

Read aloud – Benjamin Franklin’s Adventures with Electricity,

Boys – Ben Franklin, Young Printer

Benjamin Franklin the Autobiography

Benjamin Franklin

Copy work – Famous quotes from Benjamin Franklin *handwriting

A penny saved is a penny earned.

A place for everything, everything in its place.

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security.

Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

Diligence is the mother of good luck.

I didn't fail the test; I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.

Work as if you were to live a hundred years. Pray as if you were to die tomorrow.

Activity – research about newspapers during colonial times and then put together a newspaper page of your own complete with articles, advertising, and obituaries.

*L.A. writing and grammar connection

Week 10

Read aloud – John Paul Jones, Fighting Sailor

Activities – Find out about the submarine the Turtle. *science

Build a model of the Bonhomme Richard. http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/br.htm

How did they measure the height of a tree to see if it was the length they needed? You can find out how they did it in the Colonial Times book. *math

Week 11

Read aloud – Nathan Hale

Boys – Lafayette: French Freedom Fighter

Copy work – Patrick Henry’s speech Give me Liberty or give me death. http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/henry-liberty.html *handwriting

Continue to work on projects that aren’t finished

Week 12