Design for Learning

Instructor: Catherine Keeter

Grade Level/Cooperating Teacher: 5th
Lesson Title: Road to Rebellion Intro Date:
Curriculum Area: Social Studies
Estimated Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Standards Connection:
Determine causes and events leading to the American Revolution, including the
French and Indian War, the Stamp Act, the Intolerable Acts, the Boston
Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party.
Learning Objective(s):
When asked to create an imaginary colonist, students will explain the life of a
colonist recalling what colonists wore, where they lived, how they communicated,
what their schooling was like, and what jobs were like, with 80% accuracy.
Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language:
Today boys and girls, we will be talking about the road to the American
Revolution. We will discuss how unfair situations cause people to rebel and we
will learn about the lifestyles of Early American colonists. At the end of the lesson
you will create your own colonist. Your colonist will be a child your age. You will
name your colonist and will tell me where your colonist lives, what they wear,
what their schooling is like, what their parents do for a job, and how they
communicate. You will also illustrate your colonist.
Evaluation of Learning Objective(s):
The students will be asked to create a colonist. They will be assessed on their
ability to accurately describe the lifestyle of a colonist explaining where a
colonists lives, what they wear, what their schooling is like, what their parents for
a job, and how they communicate. Students who correctly recall four out of five of
these elements, scoring an 80%, will be considered proficient and will be placed
in the yellow group. Students who correctly recall five out of the five elements,
scoring a 100%, will be placed in the green group and will be considered for
enrichment. Students who recall three or less of the five elements, scoring a 60%
or less, will be placed in the red group and will be pulled aside for intervention.
Engagement:
When I call your table number please come sit on the carpet in front of the
whiteboard. Table one. Teacher continues to call tables two, three, four, and
five to come and sit on the carpet and students walk to their seats. Over the next
few days we will be talking about the events that led up to the American
Revolution. The American Revolution is what brought about freedom in our
country. Leading up to it, Britain unfairly taxed the American colonists so
the colonists rebelled with protests, violence, boycotts, and fights for
legislation. Unfair situations cause people to rebel in different ways but

lead to lasting change with legislation. Teacher writes this phrase at the top of
the whiteboard and keeps it up for the entirety of the unit. Unfair situations
compel people to rebel today too. Can anyone think of an unfair situation
that recently happened that people are reacting to? Teacher calls on any
students who may have examples and lets the students share their ideas with
the class. A recent event that comes to my mind when I think about unfair
situations is the Oscars. Did anyone hear that no actors of color were
nominated for academy awards this year? Students nod or raise hands. Last
year no actors of color were nominated for academy awards as well and
now celebrities are rebelling against the Academy, which is the name of
the organization that puts on the Oscars. I am going to play a short video
that details the ways some celebrities are responding to the lack of color
nominations at the Oscars. While you watch the video think about what the
unfair situation is and about the different ways celebrities rebelled. Teacher
plays the Oscars Boycott video for the students. Can anyone raise their hand
and tell me what the unfair situation was in this video? Example student
response: African Americans were not nominated for any academy awards
even thought they performed well in movies over the past year. Yes, thats
right. There were wonderful movies in theatres this past year that
showcased talented actors and directors of color but none of them were
nominated for Oscars and that is unfair. Teacher writes unfair situation: no
people of color nominated for Oscars on whiteboard. How did celebrities react
to this unfair situation? Example student response: Jada Smith and Spike
Lee boycotted the Oscars. Thats right, they did. Teacher writes types of
rebellion: boycotts on the whiteboard. Some celebrities were invited to the
Oscars but chose not to attend the show because they were upset with the
organization. How else did celebrities respond? Example student response:
Idris Elba spoke to parliament. Yes, he did. Idris Elba was fighting for
legislation that would give whites and blacks equal opportunities for
success. People rebel to unfair situations with boycotts, protests, and
violence, but legislation brings about lasting change. Teacher writes
protests, violence, and fights for legislation under types of rebellion on the
whiteboard. Rebellion is seen in many different ways throughout history and
even today. The colonists responded to unfair situations by rebelling in
different ways and they eventually fought for fair laws and legislation.
Teacher transitions to teaching.
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
Unfair situations cause people to rebel. This is the concept we are going to
focus on while we learn about the events leading up to the American
Revolution. But, before we discuss why and how the colonists rebelled at
unfair situations, we are going to learn about the lifestyles of colonists so
we are able to better understand why the colonists found their situations
unfair. When I call your table number please walk back to your desks. Table

one. Teacher continues to call tables two, three, four, and five to go sit at their
desks and students walk to their seats. As we talk about the events leading up
to the American Revolution we will complete this Road to Revolution
journal. Teacher holds up handbook for students to recognize. Everyday we will
complete a portion of this journal and when it is complete you will use it to
study for your test. Teacher begins to pass out journals. When you receive
your journal please put your name on the front and turn to the second
page. The title of the second page says See Think Wonder. Students write
names and turn journals to the second page. On this page you will see a
picture of a colonial settlement. I am also going to pull up the picture on
the smart board so we can all get a closer look at it. Teacher pulls up picture
on smart board. What do you see in the picture? What is going on here?
Think about it and record your thoughts in your journal. Teacher gives
students time to record their thoughts. We can see lots of different things
going on in the picture. We are able to see what colonists wore, what their
houses looked like, and how colonists spent their time. Did anyone notice
anything else in this picture? Teacher calls on students and teacher and
students discuss different elements that the students noticed in the picture. Now
take a moment to think about what is going on in this picture. We can see
that the colonists are participating in a lot of different things, but do you
think this is a typical day in colonial life? Do you think this is the center of
a town? Is it a big town or a small town? Take a moment to write down what
you think is going on in this picture. Teacher gives the students time to record
their thoughts. What did this picture make you think about colonial life?
Teacher calls on students and the teacher and students discuss the students
thoughts on colonial life based off of what they saw in the picture. This picture
may answer some of our questions about colonial life, but it also may leave
us with more questions. Do you wonder about colonial relationships and
responsibilities? Do you wonder about how the colonists communicated?
Take a moment to write about what this picture makes you wonder. Teacher
gives the students time to record their thoughts. What do you wonder about
colonial life after looking at this picture? Teacher calls on students and
teacher and students discuss questions students may have about colonial life
after viewing the picture. Lets write some of our wonders down on sticky
notes. We will place these on our Wonder Wall in the back of the
classroom. As we learn about the colonists we will see if we can answer
any of our questions about colonial life. I am going to place a stack of
sticky notes on each group of desks. Write down any question you may
have about colonial life and place it on the Wonder Wall. Teacher passes out
sticky notes and students write down questions on sticky notes and place them
on the Wonder Wall. Now lets turn to the third page of our Road to
Revolution journals. On this page we will take notes on what states were
considered a part of the thirteen original colonies, how colonists dressed,
where they lived, what schooling and jobs were like in colonial times, and
how colonists communicated. I will pull up a copy of the journal on the
smart board that we can look at as we fill out journals out. Teacher pulls up

journal copy on smart board. On the top of the page the thirteen original
colonies are listed, who can read these for the class? Example student
response: The thirteen original colonies are Delaware, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina
New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.
Thats right! These are the thirteen areas the colonists lived in before the
American Revolution! These colonies were divided into three different
regions. The regions are New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern. Teacher
pulls up a map of the New England, Mid Atlantic, and Southern colonies on the
smart board. On this map the different colonial regions are represented by
three different colors. Look at the map and write in your journals, which
colonies belong to which colonial regions. Teacher gives students time to
write in their journals. Which colonies are in New England? Example student
response: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and
Connecticut. Thats right! Teacher pulls Road to Revolution journal back up on
smart board and fills in the information. Which colonies are the Mid-Atlantic
colonies? Example student response: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey
and Delaware. Correct! Teacher fills in information on the journal projected on
the smart board. Which colonies are considered Southern colonies?
Example student response: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Georgia. Yes, thats right, great job! Teacher fills in information
on the journal projected on the smart board. Colonial life sometimes varied
based on what region the colonists lived in. Colonists everywhere wore the
same type of clothes. Teacher pulls up pictures of colonists in clothes. Colonial
clothing was mostly sown by hand and made at home. What do you notice
about colonial clothing? Teacher calls on students and teacher and students
discuss student thoughts on colonial clothing. Women wore long dresses,
aprons, and bonnets. Men wore stockings, vests, breeches, and tricorn
hats. Teacher writes this information on the Road to Revolution journal
displayed on the smart board and students write the info in their journals. Look
at the picture on the smart board. What do you think breeches are? Turn
and talk to your neighbor about what article of clothing you think breeches
are. Teacher allows students time to turn and talk. What do you think breeches
are? Example student response: Shorts. Thats right. Breeches are the types
of shorts men wore in colonial time. You can remember this because
breeches sounds similar to britches. Write this down in your journal if you
think it will help you remember what breeches are. Children and adults
dressed similarly in colonial times. Do children and adults dress similarly
today? Example student response: Sometimes, but a lot of times parents will
wear fancier clothing for work and kids wear play clothes. Thats right,
good observation. Teacher fills in the adults and children dressed similarly
blank on the journal projected on the smart board. Teacher pulls up picture of a
colonial home. When it comes to housing, homes for colonists varied
depending on how wealthy the colonists were. Do homes today vary based
on someones income level? Example student response: Yes. People with
more money have bigger homes. Thats correct and the same is true for

colonial times. Poor colonists often lived in homes that were made up of a
single room while wealthier colonists could live in two story homes that
had four rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs. Look at the picture of
the colonial homes. What do you notice that is unusual about the homes?
Turn and talk to your partner about what might be strange about this
picture. (Literacy) Teacher allows students time to turn and talk. What is
unusual about this picture? Example student response: Not all of the
buildings are attached to the main house. Youre right! Often times the
kitchen and bathroom were separate from the main house. Something else
unusual that cant be seen from this picture is that colonial homes did not
have running water or electricity. Teacher fills in the information on the smart
board. Colonists received light from the fireplace and candles and used the
bathroom in an outside separate building. Teacher pulls up picture of a
colonial schoolhouse. School in colonial times took place in a one-room
schoolhouse like this. Girls and boys could attend school between the
ages of 6 and 8 to learn how to read and write. After that boys could
continue in schooling if their parents sent them to Latin school and boys
could eventually move on to college. Girls rarely attended school because
they often stayed home doing housework and people felt as if it wasnt as
important for girls to learn how to read and write. Lets look at our journal
and fill in the schooling information. Where did school take place? Example
student response: In a one-room schoolhouse. Thats right lets fill that
information in. Teacher fills in the information on the smart board and students
fill in their information in their journals. Who was more likely to attend school,
boys or girls? Example student response: Boys. Correct. Teacher fills in the
information on the smart board and students fill in their information in their
journals. How old were students who attend school to read and write?
Example student response: 6 to 8. Thats right. And what two types of
schools could boys continue to go to if their parents wanted them to?
Example student response: Latin school and then college. Correct. Teacher
fills in the information on the smart board and students fill in their information in
their journals. Teacher pulls up a list of jobs on the smart board. On the smart
board I have pulled up a list of jobs. Some of theses jobs were done in
colonial times, and some are done today. Im going to ask one person from
each table to come circle a job that they think was done during colonial
times. Before I call someone from each table group up, discuss with your
table members which jobs on the list you think are colonial jobs. Teacher
gives students time to discuss with their table members. Student A will you
come to the board and circle a job you think was done in colonial times?
Teacher continues to call on students to come to the board to circle jobs. Teacher
corrects any wrong circlings and discusses student misconceptions. After the
students have correctly circled all of the colonial jobs the teacher will say: Good
job class, all of the jobs circled on the board were done during colonial
times. Men did these jobs and women had other jobs at home. Fill in the
missing jobs in your Road to Revolution journal. This information will go
under the section that says men. Teacher gives students time to copy the jobs

blacksmith, cobbler (shoe maker), tailor, apothecary (pharmacist), chandler

(candle maker), gunsmith, printer, wheelwright, and wigmaker. Women stayed
home cooking, sewing, taking care of the house, and raising children.
Teacher fills in this information on the smart board and students fill it in their
journals. Who can raise their hand and tell me a way we communicate and
keep in touch with our friends and family? Example student response:
Texting and calling on our phones. Great example, anyone else? Example
student response: We use Facebook and Twitter. You are also right! All of
these ways of communication are done on our phone or with the internet
but the colonists didnt have either of these things! The colonist wrote
letters to each other to communicate with friends and family who didnt live
near by. If the colonists wanted to talk to someone who lived close to them
they would find that person and talk to them face to face. The colonists
read newspapers to keep up to date on what was going on around the
colonies. Teacher fills in information on the smart board and students fill out the
information in their journals. Letters, in person conversations, and
newspapers are examples of ways the colonists communicated. In the
communication section of the journal you will also see an area that says
way colonists did not communicate. Brainstorm some non-examples of
colonial communication and write them down. Teacher gives students time to
write in their journals. Now we know how colonists lived at the time of the
American Revolution! Teacher transitions to practice.
II. Opportunity for Practice:
We now know a lot about how the majority of colonists dressed, lived,
worked, communicated, and were educated during the time of the American
Revolution. But, colonial life differed depending on if the colonists lived in
the New England, Mid-Atlantic, or Southern colonies. To discover these
differences we are going to split into three groups. Each group will be
assigned to research one of the three sections of colonies. You will use
computers to research your colonial sections geography and climate,
economy, social life, and political and civic life. You will present your
findings to the rest of the class. As your group is searching for more
information on the colonies you will write down your findings on page five
of your Road to Revolution journal. While the other groups present you will
fill in the information on their colonial region in your journal as well. You
will have twenty minutes to find the information about your colonial region
with your group and then each group will present to the class. After I have
divided you into groups one person from each group will grab a laptop or
ipad. I will write three websites on the board that you can use to research
your colonial region. The members of Group One will be researching the
New England Colonies. The members of group one are Teacher divides
the students into three groups. The students research their colonial region and
present the information to the class. The teacher walks around the classroom
while the students are working to assist them. The teacher corrects any false any
information and fills students in on information the students may have missed in

their research. The teacher gives the students time to record the information in
their Road to Revolution journals. Teacher transitions to assessment.
III. Assessment
Each group did a great job presenting on their colonial region. Now I want
to see how well you can recall information about colonial life by yourself.
You are going to create your own colonist. Teacher holds up the Create a
Colonist handout for students to recognize. Your colonist will be your age and
gender. You will name your colonist and will create an illustration of your
colonist. On the handout there is a list of names that were popular during
colonial times. You can pick from these to name your colonist. You will also
tell me what your colonist wears, and will describe your colonists home,
how your colonist communicates, the job your colonists parents have, and
you will tell me if your colonist attends school. You do not need to list
every job your mom or dad could have had in colonial times, you just need
to tell me one job that they could have had during colonial times. If your
colonist does not attend school you need to tell me why they do not attend
school. Does anyone have any questions? Teacher answers any questions
the students may have. You have twenty minutes to complete your Create a
Colonist handout. Write the information about your colonist first and then
spend time illustrating and coloring a picture of your colonist. When you
are finished turn it in to the basket on my desk. Teacher passes out Create A
Colonist handouts. Students work on their colonist creations and turn them into
the teacher.
IV. Closure:
As we continue to learn about the events leading up to the American
Revolution you will get the chance to relate to the colonists through a
project based learning group project. The colonists rebelled when they
were treated unfairly and taxed by Britain. Ive decided to tax each of you!
Every time you use the pencil sharpener it will cost you one ticket (tickets
are given out as a part of the teachers behavior management system. Students
want tickets because they can buy rewards with them). With your group you
will determine the best way to rebel to this unfair tax. How can you solve
the problem that I am taxing you unfairly? What can you do to make me
stop taxing you? You will create an action plan with your group that lays
out how you rebel to the taxes. Will you protest, boycott, ask for help, or
turn to violence? How will you react to the unfair taxes? I am going to hand
everyone a PBL project sheet that lays out the guidelines. On the sheet you
will find the other members of your PBL group and what is expected for
your PBL groups response to each unfair situation. Teacher passes out PBL
guideline packets to the students. On page two of the packet you will see the
response your group needs to fill out after each unfair situation you are
given. On the top you will write the unfair situation, so today you would
write that you are taxed one ticket for each time you need to use the pencil
sharpener. Then you will decide how you are going to respond to this

unfair situation. You could boycott the pencil sharpener, you could appeal
to the principal for help, or you could act out in violence. There are many
different ways you could respond to this tax. Your group will need to agree
upon the way you respond. One colonist could not have successfully
rebelled on their own. The next step of your response will include how you
will implement your response. Will you rally the colonists together? If you
boycott how will you get others to boycott as well? You will need to create
a detailed plan on how you will carry out your rebellion. I have attached an
example of a PBL group response to the packet that you can use for
guidance. I also included the checklist I will be using to grade each group
member. Today you will complete the response filling out the unfair
situation, determining how you will respond to the situation, and creating a
plan of action for your response. You will have twenty minutes to work on
this today and you will also have more time at the beginning of class
tomorrow if you do not finish. Tomorrow you will present your plan for
rebellion to the class and me. Are there any questions? Teacher answers
any questions students may have. You may get in your groups and begin
working now. Students move into groups and begin working on their PBL
projects.
Materials and Resources:
Smart board
Projector
Oscars Boycott video
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tigai32CeEA
Pencils
White board
Dry erase markers
Road to Revolution booklets
Colonial settlement picture
Sticky notes
Wonder wall bulletin board
New England/ Mid Atlantic/ Southern Colonies Map
Colonist clothing picture
Colonial home picture
List of colonial and modern day jobs
Computers/ Ipads
New England/Mid Atlantic/ Southern colonies compare and contrast
websites
o http://www.sitesalive.com/hl/tg/private/hltgColonies.htm
o https://prezi.com/y_jgtn1nxvh1/compare-and-contrast-thenorthernmiddlesouthern-colonies/
o http://original13colonies.weebly.com/new-englandcolonies.html

 Create a Colonist handouts

Colored pencils
Markers
Crayons
PBL project guideline packets
Choice boards
Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners):
Extension: The students will be given a choice board. There are five rows on the
choice board with three options per row. Each row coincides with a lesson.
Students will be instructed to choose an activity from the lesson specific row after
each lesson so they are not completing activities about content they do not yet
know. When students have finished activities from the lesson specific row they
may go to rows of previous lessons and complete more activities. For this
lessons the students will have the option to create an hourly schedule detailing
the daily life of a colonist, create an acrostic poem for the term colonist
describing an aspect of colonial life for each letter, or Illustrate a drawing of a
colonial town, labeling buildings and key places colonists spent their time.
Intervention: The teacher will read the students If you lived at the Time of the
American Revolution by Kay Moore. The teacher will stop and discuss the pages
that mention communication, dress, housing, schooling, and jobs. The students
will fill out a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting colonial life to present day.
ELL Students: The students will be given a filled in Road to Revolution note
taking guide. The students will create flash cards for new vocabulary terms.
Cultural Considerations: Students will participate in cooperative learning through
the PBL project and colonial region group presentations to gain the perspective
of other students from different cultural backgrounds.
Samford University
Design for Learning