Revolutionary War WebQuest

The Road to Revolution:
America's Fight for Freedom

A WebQuest for 5th Grade Social Studies
designed by Marti Bierdeman

"I only regret that I have but
one life to lose for my country."
21 year old Nathan Hale's words just before he was hung
for spying on the British.

Student Page

Introduction

Task

Process

Evaluation

Teacher Page

Introduction
"Give me liberty or give me death!" shouted Patrick Henry. What profound words those turned out to be, taken seriously by many. Can you comprehend how many lives were sacrificed so you can enjoy the liberties you so enjoy today? The Road to Revolution WebQuest will take you on a journey to find out how our country fought for and paid dearly for the freedoms that are now guaranteed in our constitution. So put on your knickers, dust off your three-corner hat, and get ready to become a rebel!

Task
You and your partner will research an event from the revolutionary war time period. You will choose a way to present the facts from this event in a manner so the rest of the class will learn its historical importance and significance and its impact on our life today.

Process
1. Select partners to work together throughout the WebQuest.
2. Choose one of the following pre-revolutionary or revolutionary war events. Only one group may work on each event so when an event is selected be sure to check in with the teacher.

Events

1. The Boston Tea Party
2. The Boston Massacre
3. The Stamp Act
4. The Declaration of Independence
5. The Battle at Lexington and Concord
6. The Hanging of Nathan Hale
7. Washington Crossing the Delaware

8. Valley Forge
9. France's Role in the Revolution
10. Native Americans in the War
11. The American Navy
12. Slaves in the Revolution
13. Women in the Revolution
14. The Peace Treaty

3. Decide how you want to present your findings. Here are some possibilities:

Re-enactment	Book with illustrations	PowerPoint
Diorama	Collage	Newspaper Report

You may have other ideas for presenting to the class, just get your teacher's approval first.

4. Use the web (links are given below) to collect information on your event. Answer the questions on the questions worksheet (print it out) as you research, this will aid in your notetaking. Questions Worksheet

**Some Links to Use for Research**
These are just a few good sites. Use the online encyclopedia or one of the kids search engines for more information. http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/AmerRevolution.htm#Timeline Many events, good timeline http://earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/doi/index.html information on the Declaration of Independence http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/index.html Valley Forge details and pictures http://earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/paris/index.html the peace treaty, surrender at Yorktown http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/ search for people, groups of people (blacks, native Americans, etc), events, cities, battles on this excellent site full of pictures and articles http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2p53.html blacks in the war http://earlyamerica.com/shot_heard.htm narrated PowerPoint of the Battles of Lexington and Concord http://www.cia.gov/cia/ciakids/history/nathan03.html hanging of Nathan Hale http://www.coe.ilstu.edu/jabraun/students/schultz/revwarwomen.htm women in the war http://www.americanrevolution.org/ind1.html Native Americans in the war http://www.history.org/History/teaching/tchcrsta.cfm the Stamp Act

5. Use your notes and worksheet as a base to build your presentation. Make sure that all questions from the worksheet are covered in your presentation.

6. All students will make their presentations to the class on the date designated by the teacher. Presentations will be graded according to the rubric below.

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Evaluation
The following matrix will be used to assess your work.

	Bronze...3 pts	Silver...4 pts	Gold...5 pts	Score
Information	Some questions answered.	All questions answered	All questions answered and additional, pertinent information given
Organization	Organization is lacking	Well organized	Well organized with good supporting details
Collaboration	Did not get along, wasted time	Worked well together and used time wisely	Worked well together, used time wisely, and encouraged each other
Presentation	Confusing, poor visuals	Clearly presented with descriptive visual	Very clearly presented with several descriptive, detailed visuals
Comments	Total Score

**Grading Scale**
18-20	A
15-17	B
14-15	C
12-13	D

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