A 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 by the British.

Teacher Page

Introduction

Learners

Standards

Process

Resources

Evaluation

Conclusion

Credits

Student Page

Introduction
This lesson was developed as part of the social studies unit on the Revolutionary War and coincides with chapters 13, 14, and 15 in the McMillan 5th grade text.

The lesson will explore various events leading up to and during the revolution and will also investigate famous people from that time period.

Learners
This lesson is designed for fifth grade students but could be adapted for any middle school students studying the revolutionary war. It is a multidisciplinary unit covering social studies, language arts, and art. While it is designed for students to work with a partner, working individually is also possible.

Illinois Curriculum Standards

Social Studies16 - Understand events, trends, individuals, and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the United States and other nations
16.A. - Apply the skills of historical analysis and interpretation
16.D. - Understand Illinois, United States and world social history Language Arts1.C.1d - Summarize content of reading material using text organization
3.B. - Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences
3.C.2a - Write for a variety of purposes and for specified audiences in a variety of forms (reports, essays)
5.A.2b - Organize and integrate information from a variety of sources
5.C.2b - Create a variety of print and nonprint documents to communicate acquired information for specific audiences and purposes Return to Top

Multiple Intelligences
This WebQuest will address the following intelligences: verbal-linguistic, interpersonal, and spatial and possibly other depending on project choice..
For more information on multiple intelligences click The Great Eight chalkboard.

Process
1. Select partners to work together throughout the WebQuest. Teacher may need to do this.
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 students need to notify the teacher.

Events
1. The Boston Tea Party
2. The Boston Massacre
3. The Continental Congress
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. The Battle of New Orleans
14. The Peace Treaty

3. Use the web (links are given) to collect information on the event. Students are provided with questions on a worksheet for note-taking that will aid in collecting information. Questions Worksheet (printable)

4. Students should use their notes and worksheet questions as a framework to build their presentations.

5. Students will be given class time to work together with their partners preparing their projects.

6. Students will share their projects with the rest of the class and will be assessed according to the rubric below.

Resources Needed
Computer lab
Class text book
The following links are used for gathering information:

**Links to Use for Research**
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/4393/rev_war.html many excellent links to specific events 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://www.ushistory.org/links/history_revolutionary.htm lots of general information about this time period 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

Evaluation
The following rubric will be used to assess students' work.
Click here for a copy of the rubric that you can print.

	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
Total Score

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

Conclusion
This is a great way to jigsaw the revolutionary war unit. The students learn from each other and have a great time doing the web research and the projects. Using the rubric to assess the student's work is a very authentic method of evaluating how he/she performed.

Credits and References
Clipart and backgrounds are from Original Country Clipart by Lisa

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