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Early AmericaEarly-America

  • Subject: U.S. History
  • |
  • Grade(s): K-5
  • |
  • Duration: Two class periods

Lesson Plan Sections

Objectives


Students will understand the following:
1. A leader demonstrates certain traits, qualities, or characteristics.
2. Leaders exist in America today and existed in early American history as well.

Materials


For this lesson, you will need:
• Chalkboard or poster paper

Procedures


1. In this project, students will identify men and women who are leaders in their community and in the world at large. From this more concrete experience, they will travel back to early America and learn on a more abstract level about leaders of the young nation.
 
Begin by asking students who the principal of the school is and what he or she does. Start, on the board or on poster paper, a list of leaders' qualities, traits, or characteristics. Such a list might include the following:
  • Makes up rules
  • Rewards and punishes people
  • Earns respect
  • Helps and comforts people
  • Makes people work hard
2. Go on to ask students to identify the persons who head up other groups or organizations that they may be familiar with and to list the heads' qualities, traits, or characteristics. Students may identify a person by name or by title. Consider talking about the leaders of the following groups or organizations. Add qualities, traits, or characteristics of each leader to the list you started in the preceding step.
  • Leader of the town or city in which students live
  • Leader of the fire department of the town or city
  • Leader of the police department of the town or city
  • Leader of the largest store or major business in the town or city
  • Leader of the local newspaper
  • Leader of the state
  • Leader of the country
  • Leader of another country
3. Tell students, or review with them, stories about one or more of the following:
  • Paul Revere and the minutemen
  • George Washington and the Continental Army
  • Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence
4. Convert the list of leadership qualities, traits, or characteristics, which you've been adding to, into a chart with the qualities, traits, or characteristics as column heads. Place the name of one early American leader in each row. Based on what students have learned about Revere, Washington, and Jefferson, ask them to tell you which leader demonstrated which qualities, traits, or characteristics—and when or how (that is, students should supply an example of when or how the leader demonstrated the quality). Have a student check off the columns that apply to Revere, Washington, and Jefferson.
5. When the chart is complete, help students interpret it. That is, ask them to look at the data and comment on them. What traits do all these leaders seem to have in common? What traits do none of them have? What traits do some but not all of them have?
6. After the class discussion, ask students to write one paragraph answering the following questions:
  • What does it take to be a leader?
  • Why is Revere, Washington, or Jefferson considered a leader?

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Adaptations


Tell students the stories about Revere, Washington, and Jefferson. Then ask them to tell you which of the men fit each of these categories:
  • Someone who bravely took on a difficult job
  • Someone who worked hard and made other people work hard
  • Someone who gave the country something to remember

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Discussion Questions


1. Are people born as heroes, or do they have to learn how to become heroes? Explain your answer.
2. Why do you suppose most of the early American heroes we study about are men?
3. How are American leaders today like Revere, Washington, and Jefferson? How are American leaders today different from those men?
4. Why do some people want to become heroes?
5. Have there been or are there heroes whose names we don't know? Explain your answer.

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Evaluation


You can evaluate each student's paragraph using the following three-point rubric:
 
Three points: clearly identifies several traits of leadership; clearly explains why one or more of the men is considered a hero; writes more than a minimum number of sentences (to be determined)
 
Two points: identifies at least one trait of leadership; explains why one of the men is considered a hero; writes the minimum number of sentences
 
One point: answers one but not both questions; does not write the minimum number of sentences
 
You can have your students contribute to the assessment rubric by having them determine a minimum number of sentences for the paragraph.

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Extensions


Dear Mom . . .
Ask students to pretend that they have one of the following jobs in early America:
  • Running a sugaring business in New England
  • Helping to build the transcontinental railroad
  • Working as a cowboy (or cowgirl) on the range
Each student must write a letter to his or her mother. The letter should describe the work and explain its importance. (Students may choose, instead, to write to another family member or a friend.)

Early America in Poetry and Song
Introduce students to a recording of Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride" or a folk song such as "I've Been Working on the Railroad," "Casey Jones," "Home on the Range," or "The Streets of Laredo." Ask students to tell you in their own words how the poem or song is like the early American history they have discussed. What does the poem or song mention that students might not have known before?

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Suggested Readings


The Secret of Sarah Revere
Ann Rinaldi, Harcourt Brace, 1995


Paul Revere
Jan Gleiter and Kathleen Thompson, Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers, 1995


Mr. Revere and I
Robert Lawson, Recorded Books, 1995


Teacher, How Far Did Paul Revere Ride?
Lynn Matthew Burlbaw & Laura B. Lewis, Social Education, March 1991


A Picture Book of Paul Revere
David A. Adler, Holiday House, 1995


Guns for General Washington : A Story of the American Revolution
Seymour Reit, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990


Young George Washington: America's First President
Andrew Woods, Troll, 1992


George Washington, Father of Our Country : A First Biography
David A. Adler, Holiday House, 1988


Pass the Quill; I'll Write a Draft: A Story of Thomas Jefferson
Robert Quackenbush, Pippin Press, 1989


Thomas Jefferson: A Photo-Illustrated Biography
T.M. Usel, Bridgestone Books, 1996


A Picture Book of Thomas Jefferson
John Wallner, Holiday House, 1990

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Links


Historic Valley Forge
This site is rich in resources that a teacher may use in the classroom. Topics include a museum tour, maps, time line, writings, kids' page, unsolved mysteries, etc. In addition you may want to use keywords such as "George Washington," "Continental Army," and "American Revolution," to conduct a Web search for additional information about George Washington and life during the American Revolution.

Patriots of the American Revolution


Battle of Lexington and Concord


Thomas Jefferson: Third President 1801-1809
This is the official White House biography of Jefferson.

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Vocabulary


Click on any of the vocabulary words below to hear them pronounced and used in a sentence.
speaker    independence
Definition: Freedom from control by others.
Context: In the year 1775, the American colonists began to embrace the idea of independence from England.
speaker    minutemen
Definition: Members of the colonial troops who had promised to take the field in battle on very short notice.
Context: General Thomas Gage, the commander of the British forces, sent them to capture the weapons held by the colonial troops, or minutemen.
speaker    unite
Definition: Join together for a common purpose; make as one.
Context: But, more importantly, Adams knew that this man would have to unite the colonies.
speaker    revolution
Definition: A significant change in political organization; the act of changing politically by rebelling against the authority in place.
Context: In January of 1776 news arrived from England that King George III was sending an army to crush the growing revolution.

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Standards


This lesson plan may be used to address the academic standards listed below. These standards are drawn from Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education: 2nd Edition and have been provided courtesy of theMid-continent Research for Education and Learningin Aurora, Colorado.
 
Grade level: K-2
Subject area: history
Standard:
Understands how democratic values came to be, and how they have been exemplified by people, events, and symbols.
Benchmarks:
Understands the roles and importance of revolutionary leaders.

Grade level: 3-5
Subject area: history
Standard:
Understands how democratic values came to be, and how they have been exemplified by people, events, and symbols.
Benchmarks:
Understands why Americans and those who lead them went to war to win independence from England.

Grade level: K-2
Subject area: history
Standard:
Understands how democratic values came to be, and how they have been exemplified by people, events, and symbols.
Benchmarks:
Understands how important figures reacted to their times and why they were significant to the history of our democracy.

Grade level: 3-5
Subject area: history
Standard:
Understands how democratic values came to be, and how they have been exemplified by people, events, and symbols.
Benchmarks:
Understands historical figures who believed in the fundamental democratic values and the significance of these people both in their historical context and today.

Grade level: 3-5
Subject area: history
Standard:
Understands how democratic values came to be, and how they have been exemplified by people, events, and symbols.
Benchmarks:
Knows the history of events and the historic figures responsible for such historical documents as the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Emancipation Proclamation.

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Credit


Tish Raff, administrator and social studies teacher, Sequoyah Elementary School, Derwood, Maryland.

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