American History Grade 5 - Standards and Linked Lessons and Resources SS 5.4.2.a Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of people, events, ideas, and symbols, including various cultures and ethnic groups, by era (e.g., Early America/Exploration: American Indian empires in Mesoamerica, the Southwest, and the Mississippi Valley, Coronado, DeSoto, LaSalle; Colonization and Rise of Democratic Institutions: Spanish Missions, French and Indian War: Chief Pontiac; Establishing a Nation: Revolutionary War; Founders and Founding Documents: unique nature of the creation and organization of the American Government, the United States as an exceptional nation based upon personal freedom, the inherent nature of citizens' rights, and democratic ideals, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and other historical figures, patriotism, national symbols)
Colonization and Rise of Democratic Institutions http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/colonial/jb_colonial_subj.html : Includes a timeline and links to specific topics/people related to colonization
http://edsitement.neh.gov/launchpad-paul-revere#node-19374 : Lesson plan exploring Paul Revere's ride through a variety of documents and perspectives
Wikimedia Commons for Paul Revere
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere—Fact, Fiction, and Artistic License
Overview of the activities
Read the directions and make use of the resources this LaunchPad is linked to to gain a better understanding and appreciation of Wood's painting.
1. Look and think about it
Look at the Grant Wood painting, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere for a few minutes. Then answer the questions that follow.
What words came to mind when you first see it? What does it remind you of? To continue this activity, use the following PDF worksheet .
Read primary source accounts from the April 1775 evening. You and your classmates should be in small groups to read an eyewitness account. Each student group will become "expert" in one eyewitness's testimony. Once all students have read one witness's account, you should "jigsaw" to hear other accounts. These jigsaw groups include an "expert" for each primary account.
Synthesize what you have learned by creating first person accounts of the night in April 1775. You should complete all three journals on Worksheet 3 so that you have a rounded picture of the three perspectives presented."Historical Facts/Fiction" worksheet
Another related Lesson - "A Revolution for Whom?"
Download: multiple_perspectives_psactivity.pdf
Download: multiple_perspectives_psactivity_FkNaAwI.pdf
Download: multiple_perspectives_psactivity_pZ0Yhz5.pdf
Justification: Collection of primary source documents from from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention. http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/fairfield/saunders_d/tableofcontents/3/target17.html Justification: Idea for an activity in which students create a timeline of creating and establishing a nation (could be used with interactive notebooks).
SS 5.4.2.b Describe how the United States and its neighbors in the Western Hemisphere have changed over the course of time using maps, documents, and other artifacts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UE9uu9fKSg Justification: Time-lapse video that shows how U.S. territory was shaped every month for 400 years.
SS 5.4.3 Students will describe and explain multiple perspectives of historical events.
The Boston Massacre Introduction:
Background:
Primary Sources
"The Bloody Massacre," by Paul Revere (PDF)
Deposition of Theodore Bliss , Boston Massacre Historical Society
Captain Thomas Preston’s Account of the Boston Massacre , Boston Massacre Historical Society
"The Soldiers Trial: October 24 to 30, 1770: Selected Testimony ," The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, Famous Trials Project
Summation of John Adams , The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, Famous Trials Project
Anonymous Account of the Massacre , The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, Famous Trials Project
Library of Congress "America’s Library" site for kids, which gives a brief overview of the Boston Massacre.
Essential Question:
What really transpired on the night of March 5, 1770?
Objectives:
Students will be able to read and understand primary documents that are key to understanding the Boston Massacre and the ensuing trials of the British troops and their captain. Students will be able to identify similarities and differences between primary source documents. Students will be able to discuss the Boston Massacre as a class to decide what they think actually occurred. Students will be able to propose and vote on a definition for the Boston Massacre for a history website for elementary school students. Procedure:
Day One:
Motivation: Give students five minutes to read over the information at the "America’s Library" site. After that time, ask students to close their computers, or, if using a print copy, collect that copy. Ask students to remember as many details about the Massacre as they can from the site. The teacher should record the facts on the board as they are announced by the students so that they are visible to the entire class.
After the motivation has provided a basic understanding of the events of the Boston Massacre, inform the students that for the rest of the class they are going to be history detectives and decide what they think really happened in the Boston Massacre.
Project the famous Paul Revere engraving "The Bloody Massacre," and ask students a variety of questions about what they see:
What do you see in this engraving? How are the colonists portrayed? How are the British soldiers portrayed? According to this engraving, who is at fault in this Massacre? How do you know? As students identify that the engraving seems to put the British soldiers at fault for the Boston Massacre, the teacher will inform them that they are going to read a variety of other documents and decide if Paul Revere was conveying the truth about the circumstances of the event.
Put students into eight groups of four. The members of each group will analyze the same document, as the primary sources are fairly challenging reading. Give each group a packet that includes copies of one of the following: the Deposition of Theodore Bliss, Captain Thomas Preston’s Account of the Boston Massacre, the Summation of John Adams, and the Anonymous Account of the Massacre. Students will read and analyze their group’s document, noting at the bottom of the handout five of the described events.
Students will jigsaw so that they will be in a new group in which each member reads a separate article. The students will fill in the attached worksheet that asks them to find events that were discussed in more than one source. Also, students will write a summary of what they think took place during the Boston Massacre. Each group will choose a spokesperson who will read a brief explanation to the class of what they think happened.
The teacher will request the input of up to three of the groups and then summarize the work that was done in that period.
Day Two
(This can also be an optional extension of the prior lesson.)
Students will briefly review the facts that they think are true about the Boston Massacre, referring to their previously read articles and the worksheet they completed with their second group.
The teacher will then pose the question, "If we were going to make a website for elementary school students about the Boston Massacre, what should the site say?" The class will decide this question by having a whole-class discussion.
Each student will get two popsicle sticks. When the student wishes to speak, he or she will raise her stick and then turn it in as he or she speaks. Thus, each student will have at most two opportunities to speak during the discussion. The teacher will need to guide the discussion by asking the following questions (and by recording the answers where they can be seen by the entire class):
Can we agree as a class upon what actually happened during the Boston Massacre? What seems certainly to be true? Why? What might be true? What do you think is certainly untrue? Why? How should we write our definition for a website? What should we include and what should we omit? The teacher should stress that the goal of the class is to come up with a well-written and historically accurate definition of the Boston Massacre for a website.
Closure
Debrief the discussion. What are some of the benefits and drawbacks of that method of decision making in a piece of writing? Was it hard to come up with a definition? Are you pleased with the definition you wrote?
Extension
Students can create a podcast about the Boston Massacre that uses the class definition. Another extension would be to have students create a website on the American Revolution and use the class definition as a page in the site.
Another Lesson
SS 5.4.3.b Compare and contrast primary and secondary sources to better understand multiple perspectives of the same event (e.g., Court records of the Boston Massacre, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, historical biographies, oral histories)
PDF Link to Lesson:
https://www.history.org/History/teaching/enewsletter/volume8/sept09/images/sept09/multiple_perspectives_psactivity.pdf
Justification: A lesson which uses 7 different primary sources to study the Boston Massacre from multiple perspectives.
More Early American History SS 5.4.4 Students will analyze past and current events, issues, and problems.
SS 5.4.4.a Analyze sources on Early American History through determination of credibility, contextualization, and corroboration
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/reading-like-a-historian-sourcing
Justification: Teaching Channel video introducing the concept of sourcing historical documents.
https://beyondthebubble.stanford.edu/assessments/first-thanksgiving
Justification: A Stanford History Education Group lesson on sourcing related to The First Thanksgiving.
SS 5.4.4.b Examine alternative courses of action in United States history (e.g., What were the causes of the American Revolution?)
https://www.revolutionary-war.net/causes-of-the-american-revolution.html : Identifies causes of the American Revolution.
SS 5.4.4.c Identify how decisions affected events in the United States (e.g., secession of the American Colonies from Britain)
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/static/neh/interactives/americanrevolution/ : An interactive map explores U.S history from 1775-1783.
SS 5.4.4.d Describe the cause and effect relationships among key events in history (e.g., Revolutionary War, founding of the United States)
http://www.mrcoley.com/flowcharts_examples.htm : Lesson idea for creating flowcharts to show the relationship between events in U.S. history.
https://teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/english-language-learners/24142 : Lesson idea for teaching students to identify cause-and-effect relationships.
SS 5.4.4.e Describe the relationships among historical events in the United States and the students' lives today (i.e., current events)
https://htekidsnews.com/ : A place for kids to read about current events
https://www.timeforkids.com/ : A place for kids to read about current events.
SS 5.4.5 Students will develop historical research skills.
http://www.big6.com/
Justification: Big6 is a six-stage model to help anyone solve problems or make decisions by using information.
SS 5.4.5.a Develop questions about United States history
http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/inquiry-charts-charts-30762.html
Justification: Lesson on writing great research questions and how to connect sources to the exploration of those questions.
SS 5.4.5.b Identify, obtain, and cite appropriate sources for research about Early U.S. History, incorporating primary and secondary sources (e.g., Cite sources using a prescribed format)
https://www.loc.gov/teachers/primary-source-analysis-tool/ : Library of Congress tool for evaluating sources for research.
https://www.noodletools.com/ : Can be used to help students cite their sources.
SS 5.4.5.c Gather historical information about the United States (e.g., document archives, newspapers, interviews)
https://digitalvaults.org/#/browse/?record=3267 : A visual way to search for documents from the National Archives.
SS 5.4.5.d Present historical information about the United States (e.g., pictures, posters, oral/written narratives, and electronic presentations)
https://prezi.com/ : Digital presentation tool for students to create and share research findings.
https://www.thinglink.com/ : Students use images and videos to curate and present on a research topic.
http://edu.glogster.com/?ref=com : Digital presentation tool for students to create and share research findings.