Goals:

1. The students will practice professional speaking skills.

2. The students will construct an accurate and well-written report on the history surrounding the Revolutionary War.

3. The students will learn about an aspect surrounding the Revolutionary War

Resources/Materials:

1. Internet access (http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/H/1990/chap2.htm).

2. Access to historical documents from the late 18th century.

Time:

The approximate time for this whole lesson is 2 hours to 4 hours. (Part 1 could take 5 to 10 minutes. Part 2-4 should take about 1 hour to 1 and 1/2 hours. Part 5 should take about 1 to 2 hours.)

Procedure:

1. Introduce the fourth of July by asking the students to share what they know about it.

2. The students should get into pairs, or possibly groups of three.

3. Each pair is to research one of the topics on the web page An Outline of American History Chapter 2:  The War of Independence.  It should be arranged so that all of the topics are being researched.

4. The students, in their research, should include at least one primary source and the web page article.

5. Have students write a report and give a presentation to the class about the material they researched.

Assessment:

1. Each student group will be responsible for a clear and concise speech about their research findings. Criteria for success: the speech must be prepared and clear.

2. Each student group will be responsible for a well-written report. Criteria for success: the report must be well-organized and contain no grammatical errors.

3. Each student report must contain accurate information about the Revolutionary War. Criteria for success: each report and speech must have ten pieces of accurate information in them.

Curricular Strands & Major Concepts:

1. Language Arts - reading comprehension, oral presentation, written report.

2. Social Studies - American History, primary sources.

Possible Extensions:

1. Construct a crossword puzzle on the learned information.

2. Play a game of Jeopardy with the new information.

Sailing into the 21st Century - developed by Angela Hammerlind, Renee Kust, & Kevin Feyen

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