RLafond

The following diverse text set is intended for use in a tenth grade American History class. Ideally, the students in the class would posses close to grade level ability in reading comprehension. With that in mind, it would take only a few adjustments in how the items are presented and the assistance available to make the texts suitable for students performing above and below grade level.

· __Citation:__ Davidson, James & Stoff, Michael (2009) The Road to Revolution. In // America //// : The History of our Nation // (145-151). Boston, MA: Pearson Education · __Text Summary:__ This chapter covers the laws and taxes that lead to the American colonists’ resentment of British control. · __Rationale:__ I selected this text because I found it to be an accessible and informative resource for the students to acquire the information needed for the upcoming lessons. · __Use of Text:__ I would ask the students to read this text on their own before starting the lesson. The text is at a ninth grade reading level, so an average student should be able to comprehend the text. This will serve as a brief background for the unit. · __Attachment__: This was part of a large textbook, so I was unable to include it here.
 * A. Print Resources **
 * Text #1: ** America: History of a Nation

· __Citation:__ Kreamer, Todd A. (n.d.). //Sons of// // Liberty //// : Patriots or Terrorists? How a Secret Society of Rebel Americans Made Its Mark on Early //// America ////. // Retrieved from http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/fall96/sons.html · __Text Summary__: This article points out the sometimes illicit nature of the actions taken by the colonial patriots in their mission to ignite revolution. · __Rationale__: I selected this text because I liked the contrasting portait it painted of the patriots, not just immediately painting them as heroes but instead asking the reader to decided how their actions could be viewed. · __Use of Text__: I would use this text in class, either having the students read it alone or having us read it as a group. From this I would hope to foster a discussion on how the students felt about the actions taken by the patriots and the loyalists. · __Attachment__: See Attachment #2 for a copy of this text.
 * Text #2: ** Sons of Liberty: Patriots or Terrorists?

· __Citation__: //The Declaration of// // Independence //. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm · __Text Summary__: This text is the Declaration of Independence written by the American Colonists declaring their freedom from British rule. · __Rationale:__ I selected this text because it is the cornerstone of American revolutionary documents, categorizing and listing the actions taken by British that forced the colonists to revolt. · __Use of Text:__ I would use this document in class, having students read the article and summarize the preamble, listing what the Founders expected from a government. After that I would lead a class discussion in which we connected the problems listed in the Declaration to actions taken by the British government leading up to 1776. · __Attachment:__ See Attachment #3 for a copy of this text.
 * Text #3: ** The Declaration of Independence

· __Citation:__ McCullough, David. (2005). //1776.// New York, NY: Simon & Schuster · __Text Summary__: This novel focuses on the events and important characters involved with the American Revolution. · __Rationale:__ I selected this text because of the depth of descriptions it gives on key characters and battles in the American Revolution. · __Use of Text:__ I would take excerpts from chapters I found to highlight a certain participant or event that I felt needed a more in-depth description. Because of the high reading level of this piece, I would keep the pieces relatively short and read through it with the class. · __Attachment__: Because this is a full novel I was unable to include it here. · __Citation:__ Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. (n.d.). //Paul Revere’s Ride//. Retrieved from http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15640 · __Text Summary__: This poem details the famous night Paul Revere rode out from Boston to warn local militia that the British were approaching. · __Rationale__: I selected this text because up until this point my sources have consisted of textbooks and original documents. A poem written about the events would involve students who are easily bored with prose. · __Use of Text__: For this text I would have the students split into groups. Once separated they would read the material and outline the events that take place over the course of the poem. I would ask them to look for what they think is true, and what they think is fiction created by Longfellow. · __Attachment__: See Attachment #5 for a copy of this document.
 * Text #4: ** 1776
 * Text #5: ** Paul Revere’s Ride

· __Citation__: Revere, Paul. The Boston Massacre [Engraving]. Retrieved from https://stingraytales.wikispaces.com/file/view/BostonMassacre.jpg · __Text Summary:__ An engraving depicting the Boston Massacre · __Rationale__: I selected this piece because I felt it is a well recognized depiction of an turning point on the road to the Revolution. · __Use of Text__: I would pass a copy of this text to my class, asking them to identify what it depicts, something covered in the textbook. Once identified, we would brainstorm the reasons a revolutionary would jump at the chance to circulate this piece, highlighting the dramatization of blood pouring into the streets. · __Attachment:__ See attachment #6 for a copy of this engraving.
 * B. Media Resources **
 * Text #6: ** Boston Massacre Engraving

· __Citation:__ The Reluctant Revolutionaries [Mini-series Episode]. // Liberty //// ! The American Revolution //. Minneapolis: PBS. Retrieved from http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=602751196414323436&ei=sFjfSqrOBsrslAfh3r3_DA&q=American+Revolution&hl=en# · __Text Summary__: This is an hour long documentary that covers the events leading to the Revolution and discusses the attitudes and motivations of both the revolutionaries and the loyalists. · __Rationale:__ I selected this video because it is an interesting and alternative way to for students to cover the events leading to revolution. While there is overlap with the textbook assignment, this will help visual learners understand the events. · __Use of Text__: With the video taking almost a full hour, I would select important segments and skip to those points. The students would watch the video, and then separate into groups to work on a question sheet that covers the central theme discussed in the episode. · __Attachment__: I could not attach this because it is an online video.
 * Text #7: ** Liberty: The American Revolution, Episode 1

· __Citation__: //Revolutionary War Interactive// // Battle //// Map //. Retrieved from http://www.mrnussbaum.com/amflash2.htm · __Text Summary__: An interactive map of the Thirteen Colonies, marking where all the battles of note occurred. As students scroll over the battle marker they are given a description of the battle, as well as the events that caused it. · __Rationale__: I chose this website because it gave the students an opportunity to interactively find information on the battles of the Revolutionary War. · __Use of Text__: I would put the students into pairs, each of whom would be able to look at all the battles, but would be assigned one battle to focus on and give a short description to the rest of the class. · __Attachment__: See attachment #8 for a copy of the webpage.
 * C. Online Interactive Resources **
 * Text #8: ** Revolutionary War Interactive Battle Map

· __Citation:__ The Massachusetts Historical Society. //The// //Coming of the American Revolution.// Retrieved from http://www.masshist.org/revolution/ · __Text Summary__: This is an interactive website where students can explore the events surrounding the initial calls for revolution by viewing important original documents. The site focuses on events in or concerning revolutionaries from Boston. · __Rationale__: I selected this text because of the wide range of original documents it gives students access to. · __Use of Text__: Because of the vast array of information available through this website, I would have a day where we either went to the computer lab or took out a laptop cart. I would guide the class through the most important documents, opening the floor to discussion on the more emotionally involving pieces. · __Attachment:__ See attachment #9 for the homepage of this website.
 * Text #9 ** : The Coming of the American Revolution

· __Citation:__ Teaching Today. The American Revolution: A Chain Reaction [Lesson Plan]. Retrieved from http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/lessonplans/the-american-revolution-a-chain-reaction · __Summary of Text__: A lesson plan asking students to place the events leading to the American Revolution in order, and explain the cause and effect relationship the colonies had with Great Britain. · __Rationale__: I selected this lesson plan because I feel like it not only highlights the cause and effect relationship I would stress in my other lessons, but it would be a good lesson for me to judge if my students understand the events we have discussed. · __Use of Text__: I would chose to use this lesson plan after the students had watched Liberty!, discussed the Boston Massacre engraving and gone through the Coming of the American Revolution website. I feel like this lesson plan would be an efficient indicator if my students had fully grasped the previous material and were ready to move on. · __Attachment__: Refer to attachment #10 for the lesson plan.
 * D. Instructional Resources **
 * Text #10 ** : The American Revolution: A Chain Reaction

There are a multitude of texts available to educate students on the events that surround the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Because of the volume of the texts, the unit would have to be spread over several days. By covering a multitude of text types and incorporating groups into the text comprehension process, I hope that my diverse text set will be accessible to students of varying reading levels and whom benefit from a variety of teaching strategies. The textbook reading is important for students to receive a light introduction to the material, which would then be supported by the video shown in class. The excerpts from 1776 would provide a challenge for students at this grade level, but with assistance would be an informative and interesting part of the unit. Allowing the students the freedom to explore interactive web pages, with some guidance, would help the more visual learners, as would the engraving of the Boston Massacre. Dissecting //Paul Revere’s Ride// would allow creativity, and a welcome break from a fact heavy text set. I believe that all students would be able to read the majority of the texts. The most challenging texts pieces will either be led by me or read in groups assigned to pair strong readers with children who are currently struggling at their age’s reading level. I believe that the texts selected compliment each other and through an assortment of sources provide a thorough understanding of this unit for a variety of readers.

· A) formulating historical questions, obtaining, analyzing, evaluating historical primary and secondary print and non-print sources · C) identifying, describing, or analyzing multiple perspectives on an historical trend or event = R–10–7: Demonstrate initial understanding of informational texts (expository and practical texts) by… = · __R–10–7.3__ Organizing information to show understanding or relationships among facts, ideas, and events (e.g., representing main/central ideas or details within text through charting, mapping, paraphrasing, summarizing, comparing/contrasting, outlining) (State) = R–10–8: Analyze and interpret informational text, citing evidence as appropriate by… = · __R–10–8.1__ Explaining connections about information within a text, across texts, or to related ideas (State) · __R–10–8.3__ Drawing inferences about text, including author’s purpose (e.g., to inform, explain, entertain, persuade) or message; or explaining how purpose may affect the interpretation of the text; or using supporting evidence to form or evaluate opinions/judgments and assertions about central ideas that are relevant (State) · R–10–8.4 Distinguishing fact from opinion, and evaluating possible bias/propaganda or conflicting information within or across texts (State) · R–10–15.4 Drawing conclusions/judgments and supporting them with evidence (Local)
 * __Content Area Objectives__ **
 * HP 1 (9-12) –1: ** Students act as historians, using a variety of tools (e.g., artifacts and primary and secondary sources) by
 * HP 1 (9-12) –2: ** Students interpret history as a series of connected events with multiple cause-effect relationships, by
 * explaining cause and effect relationships in order to sequence and summarize events, make connections between a series of events, or compare/contrast events
 * __Literacy Objectives__ **
 * R–10–15 ** : **Research* by reading multiple sources (including print and non-print texts) to solve a problem, or to make a decision, or to formulate a judgment, or to support a thesis by…**

Lafond, You certainly have a diverse set of texts. I like the differentiated reading levels in your texts, and the ways you plan to handle the difficulties that may arise. When using texts that you think the students should have command over, you allow them more freedom by allowing them to work in groups to scaffold each other. The more difficult readings you said you would read aloud with the class, to make sure that the important messages and meaings are extracted. I especially like the plans that you have for "Paul Revere's Ride." I think it is a great idea to allow students to work in groups to outline and highlight specific parts of the poem. The following discussion i feel will also be a very positive activity in not only broadening students ideas about the Revolution with questions that require deeper thinking like asking which parts you think are real, and which parts are added by the poet, but also as an assessment tool. During the discussion you will be able to gauge how much information the students have already acquired, as well as what they may be vague on. Using this activity as a stepping block you could then alter or cater the following lessons to highlight exactly what you think the students need more work with. -Vellucci

Ryan, As Mike said this is a very diverse set of texts. From secret societies to the decleration of Independance, it makes me think of the movie //National Treasure.// I like the way you start the students out with a brief section from their textbooks that will activate or deepen their prior knowledge. From there on the texts that students have to read get considerably more difficult. I like that because it gives the students a challenge, the //Declaration of Independence// and the poem are clearly more difficult texts. For some students poetry is simply difficult to disect and the declaration is a difficult primary source. I particularly like text two, in my opinion this is the most interesting of all the texts because it deals with a controversial issue of a topic viewed by most as a bright spot in American Revolutionary history. Another text i particularly liked was the carving of the Boston Massacre. I especially like the way you intend to use it, by having a class discussion of what it depicts the students can build off each other's ideas and statements to build a good theory on what happened that day and why. The idea of using the lesson plan last as an overall assesment is good, I really like how you said it would measure if the students "were ready" to move on, to me this shows that it is about them grasping the concepts of the lesson and not simply a grade. -Adam Dale