Unit on the Colonies and the American Revolution

Grade: 5th

Proficiency Level: Level 4-5

Objective: SW learn about colonial times

WIDA: 2, 5

NJCCCS: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 6.4

Key Vocabulary: colony, independence, treaty, economy, export, import, jury, regulate,
tax, ally, declaration, loyalist, patriot, constitution, territory, compromise, alliance, ratify,
amendment

Resources: Exploring American History (1) – McGraw Hill

Procedure:
The teacher will activate students’ prior knowledge by asking them if they have
heard of the American Revolution, Revolutionary War, or George Washington. Students
will then share whatever they know about the colonial time period and Revolutionary
War. After the discussion, the students will be told that they are going to learn about how
the colonies started, and then what happened to spark the American Revolution (as this is
supplementing what will be taught in SS class about colonial times and their “wax
museum” which showcases life in colonial times). The teacher will use the Pacemaker
textbook to introduce information to the students. The other resources will supplement
the learned material from the Pacemaker textbook. Starting at Chapter 2 of the
Pacemaker text, the students will read about how the colonies are settled, during which
time new vocabulary is introduced. There are section reviews in which there are
comprehension questions. The teacher will discuss these with the students while reading
to determine their understanding. The teacher will also stop at different points in time
while reading to let the students discuss what they have learned and ask questions.
Different supplementary material can be used during these times. When George
Washington is introduced in the text, the teacher will use some of the supplementary
materials to give the students more background knowledge on George Washington and
other key figures in the Revolution. Some sections of the text may be skipped, as
determined by the teacher. The teacher will spend some time focusing on the original 13
colonies as well (section 3). Life was also different for the colonists living in the
southern colonies as opposed to the northern colonies. The teacher will spark a
discussion based on what the students read in the text regarding the differences in the
colonial lifestyles and how that would either help or hurt the colonists. The teacher will
also spark a discussion about the viewpoints of the different colonists towards English
rule (Was the viewpoint different in the north than it was in the south?) The teacher will,
at an appropriate time, give a short quiz to the students to make sure that they know the
original 13 colonies. They will have to identify the colonies (or now the states, if a blank
map of the original colonies cannot be located) on a blank map.
The next chapter of the text deals with the growth of the colonies. This chapter is
important for the students because they will be focusing on this topic during their social
studies units on colonial times. It will help them to have a deeper understanding and
comprehend what is being taught during class by having this information presented to
them earlier. The teacher will again make sure that the students are discussing key
information that is presented in the chapter in regards to the growth of the colonies. The
next section talks about the Great Awakening within the colonists, and then the text leads
into the reasons why the American Revolution actually started. The teacher will
supplement this section with information from the Scholastic book with the section
“Acting Up”.
Chapter 4 in the text deals with the struggle for freedom, and the teacher will spend a lot
of time focusing on this chapter and with student discussion to really develop a thorough
understanding of the events that were happening in the colonies that really lead to the
Revolutionary War. Additionally, the Exploring American History 1 book will
supplement the text (Chapter 4 in EAH1). It goes into details about some of the specific
and more important battles within the Revolutionary War. During this chapter, the
students will be given ample comprehension discussion questions (some taken from the
text, and others developed while reading to spark discussion among the students).
The last chapter that the teacher will introduce will be Chapter 5, which discusses how
the independent colonies established a government (this will be good to discuss, as later
on in the year, the students will be taught about the current American governmental
system). The teacher will ask students what they know of the government today, our
freedoms as citizens, etc. Then the teacher will ask students to think about what it was
like back in those times, and do they think the government today is still the same as it
was created originally after the Revolutionary War. The teacher will then introduce the
sections to the students, focusing on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. There will
be discussion about each of these. The following section talks about George Washington
as the first president. Since George Washington was a general, the students will be asked
why they think that the people elected him to be the first president of America.
What qualities did George Washington have that made him a good person to be
president. Do we look for similar qualities in the presidents that we elect today?
There will be lots of discussion of all of the content taught and introduced.
Writing Activities:
During this unit of study, the students will be given several different writing
activities or even presenting activities. They can research a person important to the
Revolution and give a short presentation on who the person was, important facts about
that person, and why they were important to the Revolutionary War. The students will be
given ample time in class to do their research, and the teacher will help guide the students
with this project. The teacher will check out books from the library on different
important revolutionary people for the students to use. They can also use the internet to
gain some information on their famous person.
Other activities could include writing short answers to critical thinking questions.
Only some are listed below.

Why were all of the 13 colonies developed along the coast and not further inland
and why was this important?
Would you have wanted to live during the time of the colonists – why/why not?
How were the times of the colonists different from now – are there any similarities?

Poster Project:
The students will be responsible for creating a poster project/presentation about
their famous Revolutionary person. They will do the research as listed above, and the
teacher will help with each step, to make sure that the students have ample information
about their person. Then, the students will create a poster around their person, including
pictures, drawings, etc. Their important information should be included on the poster as
well. When the poster project is completed, the students will present to each other in the
class. With the homeroom teacher’s permission, the teacher will ask if the student can
present their poster project to their class as well, maybe even for some extra credit.

Assessment:
Assessment is mainly informal observation through discussion questions and on-
going throughout the entire unit. With ample discussion questions, the teacher will be
able to feel if the students understand the lessons being taught. There may be a quiz or
two (most likely one on the original 13 colonies) and maybe one regarding colonial life,
(types of work the colonists did, etc.) to make sure that the key information about the
colonial times and the revolution was understood. Since ESL for these students is not
graded, they will not be expected to have any large tests covering this information. They
will most likely have tests and quizzes that are graded in their homeroom classes when
they learn the material during that time. The students will be responsible for a poster
project of an important Revolutionary person. This poster will be “graded” in that the
teacher will be looking for the effort that the students put forth in making their poster.
The teacher will also monitor the students in their research and see the effort that they are
putting forth for that. Their grammar and writing included on their poster will be
reviewed as well. Aside from the poster project, the students may also be asked to retell
some of the key points of the American Revolution.