History Unit Plan

Part II
American Revolution

Anna Ryerson

EDC 363

1. Tradebook- Narrative Fiction

a. My brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher
Collier
Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. My
Brother Sam Is Dead. New York: Four Winds, 1974.
Print.
b. This book follows the adolescent life of Tim
Meeker. It starts when his brother Sam
declares that he is going to enlist for the
American Revolution army, much to the disapproval of his
loyalist father. Once Sam leaves we see that the family is torn
between the relationship of family and what they believe in. later
on, on a trip with his father, Tim and his father get attacked by
rebels and his father is captured. Tim escapes and returns home.
Sometime later Sam returns home and the family is stolen from.
Sam is framed with the crime and sentenced to death. Not long
before that Tim and his mother receive word that his father has
died on a prison ship. Not long after Sam is shot as an example
of what happens to people who steal.
c. Questions:
i. The book does tell a good story. It tells a different view of
what it was like during the war. It puts emphasis on the fact
that families were torn apart in this war too. It shows an

example of what happens when a country is at war and

there are conflicting views.
ii. There are some historic names and the dates are correct.
The story however is fictional. There were families torn
apart but the particular family that the story follows is not
true.
iii. The language is authentic for the time period. They do
touch on it in the book. What was appropriate for the
children to say to the elders and how people should speak
was addressed from the perspective of the main character.
iv. The historical interpretation in this book is actuate for the
most part. There were parts of the book that were
exasperated a little bit.
v. The voices of the British soldiers are missing. We have
heard from the colonists, the rebels, and the British
loyalists.
vi. The book does not really relate to the present time. It has
the theme of war which is currently happening present
time but not to our country.
d. I would use this book in my classroom because it gives a new
perspective to the war. We always think about the Civil War being
the one that tears families apart but that also happen in the
revolution. It pinned people and families against each other. This
gives the students something new to think about as they read
this and form their own opinions on the American Revolution.

2. Tradebook- Expository
a. The Story of The Declaration of
Independence by R. Conrad Stein
Stein, R. Conrad. The Story of the Declaration of
Independence. Chicago: Childrens, 1995. Print.
b. This book can be used as a text
book. It starts with the colonists
upset about the taxes and the acts that the British put in place
for them. It goes into detail about how the American Revolution
started and when the Declaration of Independence.
c. Questions:
i. R Conrad Stein was in the Marine Corps before he attended
the University of Illinois, where he earned his B.A. in
history. Mr. Stein has published many history books for
children.
ii. The facts that are in this book are very accurate. While
reading the book I would cross reference the book with
outside sources in order to confirm if the facts are
accurate.
iii. The book is up to date. As a book about the revolution, it
doesnt not deal with any current events.
iv. No the author only gives facts, concepts and
generalizations.

v. This author likes to make the book readable. From the way
that he writes, he wants to make the book interesting for
the students. This is good because of the way that he
makes it history portion interesting for the students.
d. I would use this book in my class. It reads like a story but it is all
based on actual facts about the American Revolution and the
Declaration of Independence. It contains pictures of real places,
sites and people. Seeing as they didnt have pictures in that
time, most of the drawings are depictions of the time period. It
also contains a timeline in the back of the book. This is a good
resource to have on file as well.
3. Web resource
a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=3EiSymRrKI4&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s

Green, John. "CrashCourse." YouTube. YouTube, 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.

b. John will teach you about the major battles of the war, and
discuss the strategies on both sides. Everyone is familiar with
how this war played out for the Founding Fathers; they got to
become the Founding Fathers. But what did the revolution mean
to the common people in the United States? For white, propertyowning males, it was pretty sweet. They gained rights that were
a definite step up from being British Colonial citizens. For
everyone else, the short-term gains were not clear. Women's
rights were unaffected, and slaves remained in slavery. As for
poor white folks, they remained poor and disenfranchised. The
reality is it took a long time for this whole democracy thing to get
underway, and the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness weren't immediately available to all these newly
minted Americans.
c. This is an accurate view of what happened during American
Revolution. He looks at it from both sides of the conflict and then
it goes into details about the war and its battles. I think that this
is more appropriate for older elementary then with younger. I
would use this in grades 5th-8th. This would be something that
would get their attention and give them a new perspective to
think about then the one that is in the text book, which can be a
bias toward the American side.
d. I would definitely use this in my classroom. It is a different way to
teach something instead of having them read a narrative or a

text book. There are also a lot of other videos that go along with
other parts of history. This would be something to use on a day
when I have already taught the lesson and the students need
something to make them think more critically. I would then have
them write to a prompt in their
journals, or write a reflection to
what they have heard. This video
just instills what they have
learned and it tells the story from
different perspectives.
4. Non- web based teaching source
a. History Pockets: The American
Revolution
Ennis, Elizabeth, Sandi Johnson, Joy Evans, and Marilyn Evans, eds. History
Pockets: The American Revolution. Montrey: Evan-Moor, 2008. Print.
b. This is a book of activities that can be used in classroom to make
a booklet that the students can keep accessible. First they have
to make a booklet with pockets in it and then the students will
have certain activities that they will do that go along with the
topic they are learning about.
c. This would be a great resource for the kinesthetic learners, those
who have to do something with their hands to be able to
remember the information. The information in this book is
accurate and it is also aligned with the State Standards.

d. I would use this in my classroom to address the different learners

in my class. This would be a good tool to use when it comes to a
map or something that it hard to explain by reading out of a
book. These activities would help to strengthen the information
that the students have
learned about. These
activities could be used on a
day when the students have a
sub, or are having trouble
with a certain part of history.
5. Authentic text or resources
a. The Declaration of
Independence (reproduction)
United States. Cong. The Declaration of
Independence. Cong. Bill. Washington,
DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992. Print.
b. I have a poster of the Declaration of Independence which I would
have them bring in and see if they can find the core democratic
values in it.
c. By reading this document, the students will be able to
understand the ideals the Americans wanted and the fact that
they wanted their freedom. They will realize why the Americans
wanted freedom and how they came about doing so. When they
look at this document, the students will be able to pick it apart.

They will see that the men who wrote had something bigger then
themselves in mind- society. When the students read this
document, they will see that the men who wrote were not just
thinking about themselves but looking towards the future. This
will hopefully instill I sense of patriotism and thus have the
students become more involved about learning when our nation
was born.
d. I would use this source in my classroom. I think it would be
resourceful to get a bunch of copies of it, have them laminated,
and then the students can write on them and pick things out that
they like in dry erase makers. This would be an activity to do
when I am having them write their own individual declaration.
They could pick out some parts and say why they support the
democratic values and links to citizenship.

Reflection
I found this plan to be extremely beneficial for me as I start to map out
my philosophy on how I want to teach history. During my placement I have
come to the recognition that there is not enough time in the day to fit
everything in. My placement, 3rd grade, did a science and social studies flip
where for a couple of weeks the class would science and then for the next
couple of weeks they would do social studies. I thought that by using trade
books to help make connections between the subjects, then we could get a
lot more done in a timely manner.
My philosophy on teaching social studies is to have it overlap with
reading, writing, science and math-across all subjects. When I think about
social studies now, it is so much more than just history. It contains
geography, civics and economics. Social studies is one of the easier subjects
to make connections throughout the day. Some examples of how I would
implement this into my daily schedule would be by reading different kinds of

texts in Literature, looking at maps and plotting them in math, talking about
how weather and climate can interfere with certain aspects of human life is
science and having them think through the eyes of the soldiers or colonists
for writing prompts.
While I was researching this and coming to this realization, we were
assigned this unit plan. Once I had chosen a topic, the American Revolution,
thats when I started to think about the kinds of texts that I would want to
include in the unit. I would have to make it intriguing for both boy and girl
students and so I found books that demonstrated that. One other that I had
found to be useful were informational picture books. Even older students like
picture books. Students also like having a book read to them. They like the
fact that they dont have to focus on the words that are hard for them to
pronounce and looking ahead to practice the part of the book that they
would have to read aloud as to not be embarrassed if they mess up a word.
When a teacher reads to their students, the students have the chance to
focus on the story and let their mind paint a picture of the plot.
Using trade books, teacher resources, websites, and textbooks can
create a well-balanced learner that has a clear understanding of that time
period. They will give the students new perspectives to think about as they
dive into the historical aspect. Between reading books that are not text
books, which can be boring and bias, listening to a teacher read to them, and
making connections throughout the different subjects, the students will
create their own perspective on the issue at hand. They will also find their

own ideas about how an event occurred when they look at it from all sides;
the economics, civics, geography and history.