Text Set Activity RED4043 PDF

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Download Text Set Activity RED4043 PDF

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Name: Grade Level: 5th Grade Content Area: U.S History Topic/Theme: The American Revolution

Text Type: Fiction

Woodruff, E. (1991). George Washington’s Socks. Scholastic Books. Taking a more fantastical perspective on the Revolutionary War, this book follows siblings Matthew and Katie as they are transported back in time to 1776, just in time for Washington and his army to cross the Delaware river in their battle for Independence. Woodruff utilizes various historical battles along with a good mix of humor and adventure to present this period of American History somewhat accurately yet also making it enjoyable for younger audiences to read. This book’s purpose is to educate and inform, while also entertain younger audiences as they learn about a vital point in the history of the United States. This book would be perfect independent reading for most 5th grade readers and even 4th grade readers too as the diction is not too complicated and there is plenty of humor to entertain younger audiences so that they don’t lose interest. It provides a semi-accurate lens into the time period of the American Revolution while also informing readers about the most important events of the period in an entertaining and compelling manner. A special feature of this text is that it can provide many forms of assessments, whether students should write a report, create a poster, or even write about their own story in that book’s world, students can demonstrate their knowledge in many ways through reading this text.

Text Type: Fiction

Collier, J. L., & Collier, C. (1987). War Comes to Willy Freeman. Yearling; Reissue Edition. The story of a young African American girl during the Revolutionary War and her journeys in that historical setting. The story follows a 13-year-old girl whose parents are either killed or kidnapped, forcing her to run away to find her nearest family, Aunt Betsy. Collier presents this story in a more realistic and harrowing manner to highlight the emotional struggles African Americans and females underwent throughout the Revolutionary War. The book’s purpose is meant to inform readers of the difficulties of the time period and the struggles every person was going through, not just the soldiers at battle. Due to the more emotional nature of this book, it should be given to older readers around 5th grade so that they may better appreciate and sympathize with the plight of each character. Female readers most likely will appreciate this story more due to the strong female protagonist present throughout, but any reader of the recommended grade level could appreciate this book. This book gives voice to other parts of the period, including that of women and African Americans, shedding light on their experiences instead of focusing on the main narrative of war that is already well-known. It utilizes both historical fact and fiction to entertain and inform readers of what people went through during the Revolutionary War. A special feature of this text is that it can be utilized to assess students in various ways via projects related to the book, whether it’s a report or poster.

Text Type: Nonfiction

Jefferson, T. (1776). The Declaration of Independence. Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript The Declaration of Independence was the document that truly began the Revolutionary War and signaled the American colonies’ official separation from Great Britain. It highlights all the reason the colonies wanted to separate from Great Britain and unite to form their own government. Thomas Jefferson was a powerful diplomat and statesman for the colonies during this period and was given the job to write this document; he later became the third president of the United States of America. This document’s purpose is to highlight the various insults and injuries the colonies underwent before separating from Great Britain and seeing what the colonies valued through listing these issues. This document is relatively high-level in terms of diction so teaching this document to 5th graders will require the teacher to lead a discussion and ask students what they think of each part of the document, uncovering the meaning together while also breaking down each section into easier, more digestible pieces. This document is incredibly relevant to the American Revolution since it was the document that officially started the Revolutionary War between The United States and Great Britain. Because of its significance to the content area topic, this document could be used as an anchor text (special feature) to discuss what the colonies valued and what could’ve happened between the colonies and Great Britain to lead to the war.

Text Type: Nonfiction

Catel, P. (2011). Key People of the Revolutionary War (Why We Fought: The Revolutionary War). Heinemann. This text provides more in-depth information about famous figures of the Revolutionary War such as George Washington, King George III, and Benedict Arnold. Each chapter of this book gives detail and information about a famous figure of the era to inform and highlight the opinions of each of these historical figures. Catel presents the text in an easily digestible, yet informative manner, beginning each chapter with a question and answering this question by the end of each chapter. The purpose of this book is meant to educate young readers about each major figure of the Revolutionary War to better contextualize and understand who these people are why they did what they did. This book targets younger readers from 4th grade to 6th grade and is intended to inform them of not only the history of the Revolutionary War, but also who the people were involved in it. Better understanding the motivations and beliefs behind each of these historical figures makes understanding the events of the Revolutionary War much easier and provides a more well-rounded understanding of the period overall, making this text incredibly relevant when teaching about the American Revolution. A special feature of this text is that provides an opportunity for students to research or create a project based on a figure of their choice.

Text Type: Nonfiction

Schanzer, R. (2007). George vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen from Both Sides. National Geographic Kids. The Revolutionary War was a multifaceted event, encompassing multiple countries and multiple perspectives. This text aims to provide context and perspective to both sides of the conflict in an entertaining, compelling, and illustrated manner. Schanzer provides this perspective by highlighting the war from both George Washington’s side and King George’s side, allowing readers to form their own interpretations and opinions about the conflict instead of seeing the historical narrative only one way. The purpose of this text is to illuminate to readers the historical axiom that no historical narrative is merely “good guys” versus “bad guys” and that history is much more complex and multifaceted than some people give it credit for. This text can be given to various groups of children from 4th grade to 7th grade, although the older students may find the text too easy or uninteresting. This text provides massive insight into the Revolutionary period of the United States and highlights the layers of the Revolution instead of showcasing it one way, making this text critically relevant to teaching the topic and how students may understand the American Revolution as a whole. Because of its complex handlings of the period, this book may open into a class debate where students may take the sides of either George Washington or King George and determine who was more justified in this conflict. This special feature of this text is valuable for student learning.

Text Type: Video Link/Clip

greatwareagle. (2020, November 14). HAMILTON--YORKTOWN-CLEAN VERSION. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=RDe3qI_J5iY The Battle of Yorktown was a major turning point in the Revolutionary War for the American side. America’s victory over the British in this battle thanks to help from French allies led to their victory in the Revolutionary War and this video from the musical Hamilton highlights this battle in a fun and interesting way. This song about the battle is filled with historical information and characters conveying content that should be taught in a fun way for students. The individual who uploaded this video has uploaded a clean version of the song that has no vulgarity, perfect for young students who this would be shown to. This clip’s purpose is to primarily entertain and bring to life the Revolutionary period in a compelling manner, but the lyrics are chocked full of historical info and fact that is great for students to hear. Any individual could watch this clip and enjoy it, but I think younger children tend to learn better when a musical component is involved in anything. Children tend to remember lyrics and sing them so showing them lyrics that are based in historical facts creates a fun and stimulating learning experience. The song specifically talks about one of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War so it’s very relevant to learning about the period and how American was able to win the war. A special feature of this text is that it can be re-watched at home if the student has online access.

Text Type: Video Link/Clip

CrashCourse. (2012, August 2). Tea, Taxes, and The American Revolution: Crash Course World History #28. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlUiSBXQHCw list=PLCfksYlJUAFxVAdthlX7ZV_lw4xX02EIx&index=1 Determining the causes of the American Revolution is just as important as learning what happened during it. This video from CrashCourse gives many of the major events and causes that led to the Revolutionary War in a quick and easily understandable manner for children. CrashCourse is a major online educational source that provides different educational courses in the form of video, this video is hosted by author John Greene. The video’s purpose is to inform and entertain viewers about the major causes of the Revolutionary War and what major events are a part of these causes. CrashCourse is relatively understandable for a wide range of students ranging from Grade 5 to Grade 12 because of how accessible, informative, and entertaining each video is. As said prior, understanding the causes of the Revolution are just as important as understanding what happened during it so this video would be essential and incredibly useful in providing and overview of the era before students were given more in-depth information about the topic. A special feature of this text is that students with any online access at home can view this at home if they need to re-watch the video for better understanding.

Text Type: Interactive Site

PBS. (2004). Liberty! The Road to Revolution Game. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/road.html This website offers a quiz about various questions about the American Revolution that are talked about in the various texts in this text set, primarily information from the CrashCourse video. PBS highlights various aspects of the Revolutionary War by asking questions about the era. The purpose of this site is to quiz students and assess the entire class’s collective knowledge of the period to determine if they learned from the various other text, they’ve learned about during the teaching process. This quiz isn’t extremely in-depth and merely asks surfaced based questions about the American Revolution concerning concrete facts so this quiz and assessment would be targeted toward younger students who are just beginning to learn about the information in their lifetime. Being an assessment about the American Revolution, this site is incredibly relevant to student understanding and comprehension. A special feature of this website is that it can be used as a legitimate, individual assessment for students or merely a class-wide quiz where students can raise their hands to answer these questions. Either way, this interactive site allows students to demonstrate what they’ve learned, and the teacher could even offer students pointers to point to the answer they think is correct, making the experience even more tangible and interactive.

Text Type: Political Cartoon

White, W. (1779, August 1). The horse America, throwing his master. Retrieved from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C: https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.33532/ A political cartoon of a horse, symbolizing American throwing off its master who is King George III. This author most likely was creating the cartoon in observation of the ongoing American Revolution and in reaction to the Declaration of Independence, which was signed three years prior to the making of this cartoon. The purpose of this cartoon is to showcase how American separation from Britain was perceived and how many thought America inferior and servile to Britain prior to their separation and consequent throwing off Britain. Students who see this cartoon can analyze who is on the horse and what the horse symbolizes as well as other background aspects of the political cartoon. Anyone can view a political cartoon and enjoy it’s artwork, though many young students who are visual learners and require a type of visual to better understand the situation of the American Revolution would greatly benefit from seeing this cartoon. Being directly related to the American Revolution, this political cartoon is very relevant to the topic and will help convey the importance of this period of history via visual metaphor. Because this is a piece of art, it can be interpreted differently, and students may draw their own interpretations of the picture as an assignment special feature.

Text Type: Political Cartoon

Darly, M. (1779, April). Poor old England endeavoring to reclaim his wicked American children. Retrieved from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C: https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.40235/ A political cartoon of an old man symbolizing Great Britain trying to recapture his children symbolizing North America and the thirteen colonies. This author was also creating a reactionary image of America breaking from Britain, but in a much more mean-spirited manner, portraying America’s separation as “wicked” instead of something unexpected and wild like the previous cartoon (yet both were made in the same year). The purpose of this cartoon is to highlight British perception of America’s separation and how many British people thought of it as disgraceful and evil to do such a thing. Students who see this cartoon can interpret the image and can be asked why the British would be so upset at America’s separation and independence. Young students are more inclined to be interested in illustrations, thus showing a political cartoon to teach a lesson can be an incredibly effective tool for learning and comprehension. Because this illustration is an explicit metaphor for the Revolutionary War ongoing in North America, this political cartoon is relevant to the teaching of the era and how the British felt about American separation. A special feature of this cartoon is that it could be used with the other cartoon to highlight how different people had different feelings about American separation, some found it wild and unexpected while others found it wicked and evil, two distinctly different reactions that students should notice....