Page 346 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

318 Appendix B
and if so how, the group should support the people of
Boston in resisting the Intolerable Acts.
3. Simulate a debate or trial concerning whether or not the American Revolution was justified. Include arguments or testimony by King George and other defenders of the view that British actions prior to the Revolution were not only consistent with estab- lished laws and customs but reasonable and respectful of the colonists’ concerns, as well as by Tom Paine and other defenders of the view that the colonists were justified in breaking away from
England to form an independent nation.
4. Have small groups of students simulate family discus- sions of whether or not the father or one of the sons should join the Continental Army. Assign different geographical locations and life circumstances to dif- ferent groups (a Boston shop owner, a Massachusetts farmer, a farmer in rural Pennsylvania, a plantation owner in Georgia, or a former slave now living in
New York City).
5. Have students pretend to be citizens of Boston begin-
ning to get caught up in the events preceding the Revolution, discussing among family members or writing to friends elsewhere about their experiences and how they might respond to them (a family forced to quarter British troops, a family whose son threw a rock at British troops and barely escaped when they gave chase, a Tory family trying to decide what it will do if conflict with England continues to escalate, or formerly close friends who find that disagreement over political issues is ruining their friendship).
Other possible activities for this unit include the following:
1. Map activities highlighting key items of informa- tion such as the role of the Appalachians as a bar- rier to westward expansion of the colonies; the long distances and travel times between the colonies and England and between the northern and southern colonies (which created delays of weeks or months in communications); and the locations of major cities and battle sites.
2. Essays or class presentations on why we celebrate the Fourth of July.
3. Discussions or class presentations focusing on comparison and contrast between the issues that led the colonies to declare independence from England and the issues involved in more recent struggles for independence (satellite nations versus the U.S.S.R. prior to its break up; former compo- nent nations within the U.S.S.R. versus Russia since the break up; Quebec).
Print Resources for Potential Use in This Unit
Avi: The Fighting Ground.
James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier: War
Comes to Willy Freeman.
Ingri and Edgar Peres D’ Aulaire: George Washington. Sally Edwards: When the World’s on Fire.
Esther Forbes: Johnny Tremain.
Jean Fritz: Where was Patrick Henry on May 29th; Can’t You Make Them Behave, King George?; Will you Sign Here, John Hancock?; Why Don’t you Get a Horse, Sam Adams?; And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?; What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?; Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution.
Robert Lawson: Ben & Me; Mr. Revere & I.
Elizabeth Levy: If You were There When they Signed the
Constitution.
Ann McGovern: If You Lived in Colonial Times.
Scott O’Dell: Sarah Bishop.
Edwin Tunis: Colonial Living.
Cobblestone magazine (issues dealing with the Revolu- tionary period).
Internet Resources for Potential Use in This Unit
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/teachers.html
http://thematicunits.theteacherscorner.net/revolutionary- war.php
References Used in Development of the Unit
Crabtree, C., Nash, B., Gagnon, P., & Waugh, S. (Eds.). (1992). Lessons from history: Essential understand- ings and historical perspectives students should acquire. Los Angles: National Center for History in the Schools, University of California, Los Angeles.
McBee, T., Tate, D., & Wagner, L. (1985). U.S. history. Book 1: Beginnings to 1865. Dubuque: William C. Brown.
McKeown, M., & Beck, I. (1990). The assessment and characterization of young learners’ knowledge of a topic in history. American Educational Research Journal, 27, 688–726.
VanSledright, B., Brophy, J., & Bredin, N. (1993). Fifth- graders’ ideas about the American Revolution expressed before and after studying it within a U.S. history course. (Elementary Subjects Center Series No. 81). East Lansing: Center for the Learning and Teaching of Elementary Subjects, Michigan State University.
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