Find lesson plans, student activity sheets, interactive resources, classroom videos, and free professional development resources to expand your knowledge of the American Revolution.
Image Source: A detail from A View of Part of the Town of Boston in New-England and Brittish Ships of War Landing Their Troops, 1768, a broadside by Paul Revere and Christian Remick, printed in Boston, 1770. (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC02873)
Grade Level: 3–5
Recommended Time for Completion: Four 45-minute class periods
Over the course of three lessons, students will explore the Revolutionary era through three primary
sources: an image of the Boston Massacre, the song “Yankee Doodle,” and the preamble to the
Declaration of Independence. These primary sources provide three ways to understand the ideals of
the founders. Students will closely analyze these sources and use visual and textual evidence to draw conclusions. They will demonstrate their knowledge by answering critical thinking questions, restating ideas in their own words, and participating in class discussions.
Students will understand the history and significance of several of America’s most iconic songs: “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” and “America the Beautiful.”
Students will be asked to learn about the Boston Massacre and to analyze Paul Revere’s depiction of the event in the engraving The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King-Street.
Students will compare and contrast two different expressions of one of the most iconic events in American history: the midnight ride of Paul Revere on April 18–19, 1775.
The Hamilton Cast Read Along videos feature cast members of the musical Hamilton reading award-winning children’s books that explore complex topics in American history. These videos can be integrated into your classroom to initiate student conversation.
Becoming the United States: Colonial America to Reconstruction (based on a traveling exhibition of the same name) is a collection of short narrated videos that will give your students an overview of key events and figures to American history.
Read along with Tiffany Mellard as she tells the story of Ona Judge, an enslaved woman who was the focus of a years-long manhunt after her escape from George and Martha Washington.
Read along with Meecah as she tells the story of Mumbet, an enslaved woman from Massachusetts who successfully sued for her freedom.
Video 02 will provide your students with a general introduction to the American Revolution.
Course Features:
Led by Carol Berkin, Professor Emerita, Baruch College and CUNY Graduate Center
This course focuses on the story of the birth and initial growth of the United States of America and explores many different perspectives on the Revolution, including women, the common soldier, and loyalists.
In these lectures, geared toward elementary and middle school teachers, scholars focus on the people, ideas, and events that made America into a cultural, social, and political reality.
Lecture by Denver Brunsman, Associate Professor of History, The George Washington University
Resources referenced in the lecture
Lecture by Zara Anishanslin, Professor of History, University of Delaware
Resources referenced in the lecture
