Lesson 6
1
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Lexington and Concord: Where it All Began
LESSON OVERVIEW
Students chart the timing and location of the battles of Lexington and Concord. They also use
primary source documents to examine the peoples’ varying perspectives of the battles.
OBJECTIVES
In this lesson, students will:
• Hear the story of the battles
• Chart the timing and the location of different events over the course of the battles
• Compare British and American reactions to the battles
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
• What happened during the battles of Lexington and Concord?
• Why did these battles occur in the way that they did?
• How did citizens on both sides of the Atlantic view the battles at the time?
• What impact did these battles have on the progression of the revolution?
KEY CONCEPTS
• conflict
• democratic citizenship
VOCABULARY
• minuteman
• militia
• arsenal
• somber
• valor
• corroborated
GROUPING
•Whole class, small groups
TEACHER MATERIALS
• Teacher read aloud: Battles of Lexington and Concord
• Online maps to project on the screen for students to view:
• A historical map (“Plan of the Town and Harbour of Boston”) http://www.history.org/
history/museums/mappingExhibit.html
• Alarm Riders and Battle Map, including times of events: http://www.nps.gov/mima/
forteachers/upload/MIMAmap2.pdf
STUDENT HANDOUTS
6.1: Blank map for students to mark during the story
Funded under Jacob K. Javits Gifted & Talented Students Education Act, Institute of
Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education
Lesson 6
2
6.2: “Who’s to Blame?” Document Analysis Sheet
6.3: Primary source accounts of the battles
6.4: Homework: “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”
6.5 Optional Extension Activity: Paul Revere’s Official Testimony
Goal 1
Goal 2
Goal 3
Goal 4
Goal 5
Conflict
Democratic
Citizenship
Historical
Inquiry &
Historiography
Historical
Empathy
Discussion &
Deliberation
X
X
X
Procedures
Teacher Notes
✓For the hook in this lesson, you will
need to arrange for an “actor” to
Begin by reviewing with students the information
burst into the room with news from
from Lesson 4 by displaying the class timeline created
Lexington and Concord. You can
in that lesson.
arrange for a student to perform this
task, a fellow teacher, or anyone elseAdd the following event:
if they happen to have Colonial garb
April 20, 1775- Governor Dunmore of Virginia sent
to wear, so much the better. The real
a squad of royal marines in the middle of the night
purpose of this, however, is to
to take the gunpowder and other weapons from the
provide students with an example for
public arsenal in Williamsburg.
their own acting / re-enacting
throughout the rest of the unit and to
Ask students:
instill a sense of the excitement of
• Why do you think Dunmore took decided to do this?
the times.
How do you think the colonists reacted?
• Up until now, are there any examples in our timeline of ✓If you don’t think your students will
a royal governor taking weapons away from the
play along with the simulation, tell a
Colonists?
few students beforehand what you’re
planning and prep them to jump
During the discussion, have you “actor” (see teacher
right into the role of Colonist.
note) burst into the room with “news from the north”
He or she should tell the class that on April 19,
governor Gage of Massachusetts had sent troops to
seize the gunpowder and weapons in Concord, but
had met with local militia forces, whom the troops
fired upon. Several militiamen had been killed.
INTRODUCTION/HOOK
At this point you should turn to the class and say,
Virginia Colonists, what do you think of this?
Funded under Jacob K. Javits Gifted & Talented Students Education Act, Institute of
Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education
Lesson 6
3
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Part 1: What happened?
Briefly explain to students what happened at
Lexington and Concord. It’s a long, complicated
battle (and an interesting one to study!) but a brief
synopsis is provided for your use as a read-aloud, to
provide to the students to read, or to use as a
resource for you to explain the events to the class.
Project a map onto the screen as you discuss the
battle to help kids understand (see web addresses for
maps in the Materials section of this lesson)
Distribute 1.1: Blank Map to students. Have
students mark the route of the riders and the soldiers
on their own maps.
After the presentation, ask:
• How was this battle different from other battles you may
have heard about?
• Do you think the British were fair in the way they
treated the Colonists? What about the way the Colonists
treated the British?
✓The purpose of having students mark
their own maps is to keep them
engaged and focused on the lesson
and to build their mapping skills- not
to exasperate them! If having each
student mark their own map is too
cumbersome, allow student to work
together.
Part 2: What is the significance of these
events?
Ask students:
• How do you think the events of April 18 and 19,
1775 changed the relationship between Great Britain
and the Colonists?
• What do you think will happen now?
Break students into pairs or small groups to read
various accounts of the battles. Students should be
grouped by reading level for this activity. Each group
will need a document and an analysis guide. Give
students sufficient time to read the document and
answer the questions.
Then have all the groups who analyzed documents
written from the American perspective share their
findings with one another and list common themes
throughout their documents.
✓Emphasize to the students that they
need to really examine the document
in the context of 1775 as much as
possible - what would different groups
of people want to hear about the
events at Lexington and Concord?
How would this shape their accounts of
the events?
✓Don’t take the document at face
value - but attempt to understand what
it provides us evidence of (e.g.,
propaganda, to build support, fear).
Funded under Jacob K. Javits Gifted & Talented Students Education Act, Institute of
Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education
Lesson 6
4
LEARNING ACTIVITIES (continued)
While the American groups meet, the groups
analyzing documents from the British perspective
will do the same. Once all groups have met, a
spokesperson from each group will share the
common themes of their documents.
DEBRIEFING:
Ask:
• Can you think of other historical events that different
people view differently? Why do you think this is so?
• Do you think the way we view historical events changes
over time?
• Can you think of a current event that might be viewed
differently by future generations?
✓Examples of events that may be
viewed differently by different
cultures / groups:
• Wars: Civil War, WW I and II,
Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Immigration
✓Examples of events that may be
viewed differently over time:
• Civil Rights Movement /
Integration
• Civil War
✓Optional Extension Activity:
Students (or student groups) read
Paul Revere’s own account of his ride
and compare it to Longfellow’s poem
in order to determine if the poem is
historically accurate. Ask students to
consider the following:
•Author and purpose (type of source poem)
•Date Written
•Match between the account and the
poem
HOMEWORK:
Read Longfellow’s “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” (6.4). How does this account similar to
and different from the ones you studied today?
Funded under Jacob K. Javits Gifted & Talented Students Education Act, Institute of
Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education