Let the Revolution Begin!

It's my favorite time of year!  We began our unit on the American Revolution this week and I just love seeing the excitement, outrage, and shock on my student's faces as we work our way through the causes and effects that led to the American Revolution.  We began our unit with a picture walk to see what their prior knowledge was and they were, myself included, very surprised to realize how much they already knew!  I tell the students that these are modern day pictures but they are significant to the American Revolution... Their job is to figure out how.  I give them about 5 minutes in a group to discuss how these pictures relate to the AR.  Here are the pictures we use since our textbooks are not my favorite.

1. John Hancock's signature - first person to sign the Declaration of Independence (Important because if the English won the war then these men essentially signed their own death warrant)
2. Clock - Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
3. Minutemen Movie Poster - Minutemen (Minutemen were a small hand-picked elite force which were required to be highly mobile and able to assemble quickly)
4. New England Patriots helmet - peolpe who rebelled against King George's and wanted freedom were called Patriots
5. Quarter - Quartering Act (the kids always assume it's George Washington that is the connection but I remind them that they are looking at the object, not the person on the object)
6. A red coat - The Redcoats
7. Stamp - Stamp Act (again, the students see the Liberty Bell and run with that)
8. Tea - The Boston Tea Party or the Tea Act

After 5 minutes we go over each picture and I give a little story that goes along with it.  For some of the pictures students will assume it is important for another reason, and that's okay!  Always love a teachable moment and the kids like to show you they know a little bit more than anticipated anyway.

During one of Scholastic's Dollar Deals I snagged this great e-book called Hands on History: American Revolution.  It has wonderful activities to create and the students really enjoy them!  We talked about the Domino Effect and created this flip tab activity before we even began our unit and are filling in the causes/effects as we go.

Three dominoes later and we have the "No Taxation without Representation Simulation" (it's just fun to say!).  The simulation is the perfect way for kids to see how the colonists really felt when King George and Parliament started taxing them.  We used The Magic Hat from Laura Candler to pick our King, two Parliament members, and two tax collectors.  The kids are so funny about the Magic Hat, it's the be all, end all and they never question it!  Once the simulation is over, the kids write a journal entry from their character's point of view about how they felt during the simulation.  At the end of the year, this simulation is always one of the top three things the kids loved about our class!

So, as you can tell, I LOVE the American Revolution and hope that that love of history rubs off on my kids as well!

Sabra