Copyright © 2007 Heldref Publications
Spark up the American Revolution
with Math, Science, and More
An Example of an Integrative Curriculum Unit
MICHELLE LEE
ABSTRACT. The author explores the
advantages and disadvantages of integrated curriculum in the middle school
setting. She reviews several models for
integrated curriculum and guidelines for
creating a successful integrated curriculum. A ready-to-use middle school unit
on the American Revolution is also presented. Nine complete lessons are provided for teachers to implement in their
classrooms. Interactive, hands-on lessons
are included for math, science, language
arts, religion, art, physical education,
music, sociology, and geography. These
lessons can be used to turn an ordinary
social studies unit on the American Revolution into a cross-curricular experience
students will enjoy and remember. The
lessons include basic instructions and
Internet sites to supplement teaching.
The author also presents results from a
field test of the integrated unit.
Keywords: American Revolution, integrated curriculum, middle school
MICHELLE LEE teaches middle school science and social studies at St. Mary Parish School in Monroe, Michigan. She has
a master’s degree in education and history
from the University of Toledo, Ohio, and is
currently pursuing a second master’s degree
in middle school education and science from
Eastern Michigan University.
T
he National Council for the Social
Studies (NCSS; 1994) provides
a strong argument for integrative curriculum. Its principles of teaching and
learning show that teachers may already
be integrating curriculum without realizing they are doing it:
Social studies teaching and learning are
powerful when they are integrative. Social
studies are integrative in its treatment of
topics. It is integrative across time and
space. Social studies teaching integrates
knowledge, skills, beliefs, values, and
attitudes to action. Social studies teaching and learning integrate effective use of
technology. Social studies teaching and
learning integrate across the curriculum.
(NCSS, 11)
Supporting Views
Research suggests that there is a rationale for interdisciplinary units. Students
have an opportunity to participate in many
domains in a meaningful way. Students
can personalize their learning by weaving together ideas from different curricular domains and examining an idea from
different perspectives (McDonald 1994).
Improved motivation is one positive outcome of integrated instruction (Shanahan
1997). When students become interested
in a topic that is taught in more than one
subject, they are more likely to be moti-
vated to pay attention in these various
classes and have a desire to learn.
Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine (1991) write that the ability
to see links among different areas of
learning will enable students to use the
knowledge and skills developed in one
field to learn in another and to relate
their learning to real-life situations. Students need the ability to apply existing
knowledge in new situations to function
effectively in an environment of continuous change. When these children
grow up and get their first jobs, they
will be expected to transfer the knowledge they learned in training to many
situations. Students cannot conceivably
be prepared for every situation. Students
who have experience applying what
they have learned to several content
areas will be better prepared to transfer
knowledge later in their lives.
James Kelleher (1998) writes that
interdisciplinary curriculum provides
an enriching, intellectually stimulating
experience for teachers and students.
The process of developing an integrated
unit allows the teacher to experiment
with a new area or to gain more expertise in an area with which he or she is
already familiar.
The purpose of integrated curriculum is to help students bring together in
THE SOCIAL STUDIES
JULY/AUGUST 2007
159
some meaningful way the many pieces
of experience they encounter in and out
of school (Vars 1993). Too often in the
classroom, students view each subject
as an individual content area without
recognizing that many of the lessons
they learn are connected.
Opposing Views
Research exists that presents arguments against integrated curriculum.
Timothy Shanahan (1997) writes that
successful integration does not occur
automatically. Teachers need to think
out their units and plan accordingly. To
plan properly and develop integrated
curriculum, they must have adequate
planning time. They need time to develop themes and ideas, gather necessary
information, and work collaboratively
(Kysilka 1998). Most teachers do not
have the time within their teaching day
for these requirements. Many teachers
do not have planning periods that correspond with the planning period of
another teacher to work collaboratively.
Few teachers will give up their personal
time to collaborate and form a unit.
Patte Barth (1995) argues that curriculum connections should not be forced.
They should not be sought for the sole
purpose of developing an integrated
unit. Rather, the connections must have
meaning. Cross-disciplinary studies
offer a temptation to shallow, nondisciplined thinking because of the mixture of methods and concepts involved
(Burton 2001). Ill-conceived integration ideas sometimes require students
to do things that are strange, difficult,
or impossible. They occasionally call
for the students to do things they are
not prepared to do, either because the
task is ambiguous or because it requires
them to use knowledge that has not been
taught in the curriculum and is not likely to be taught or acquired elsewhere
(Brophy 1991). These forced fits do not
benefit students and should be avoided.
The content taught in an integrated unit
should be useful and relevant to appropriate educational goals.
Another argument against curriculum
integration is cost. It is difficult in many
situations to gauge the effectiveness of
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JULY/AUGUST 2007
integrated units because of the cost of
research. It is difficult to ensure that the
planned curriculum is being taught in
the classroom. Textbook programs have
the advantage of making it explicit to
parents and school administrators that
the intended curriculum is being taught.
Accountability is less certain when the
curriculum is integrated (Schug 1998).
A final argument against curriculum
integration is the influence of parents.
They want their children to achieve and
duplicate what they learned when they
were in school. Parents have great influence in public schools and can voice opinions and get the type of learning in the
classroom changed (Kysilka 1998). Many
parents are resistant to change and do
not realize that times have changed from
when they were in school. New teaching
methods have been developed, some of
which are unfamiliar to parents. Many
parents will not give these new ideas,
such as curriculum integration, a chance
and will oppose them from the beginning. Although there is evidence both for
and against integrated units, through my
research and practical experience, I have
concluded that the positive aspects far
outnumber the opposing views.
7. Include field trips on which students
can experience a topic firsthand.
8. Use cooperative learning and other
forms of group cooperation.
9. Ask students to share their knowledge and projects with others.
10. Involve parents and other community members in the unit whenever
possible.
Following these basic guidelines,
teachers can create a successful integrated unit. In this article, I provide a
specific example of a fully integrated
unit on the American Revolution for
use at the middle school level (grades
6–8). The unit integrates teaching about
the American Revolution with a social
studies base and includes perspectives
of science, math, language arts, religion, art, music, and physical education
using computer technology as a blanket
strategy. It is composed of seven lessons and designed to allow flexibility
for any teacher to use as a whole or in
parts. For example, the religion lessons,
although they would be useful at a parochial school, may be omitted at a public
school to avoid controversy.
Lesson Plans
Guidelines for Integration
MaryAnn Davies (1992) suggests ten
guidelines that should be followed to
develop a good integrated unit:
1. Choose relevant topics that arouse
curiosity and interest in students.
2. Convey clear goals and objectives to
students. Students are more likely to
feel that they learned if they know
what the goals and objectives are.
3. Use a variety of topics, activities,
and groupings, including individual
work, presentations, interviews, writing, field trips, debates, movies, and
small and large group activities.
4. Let students provide input and options
for topics, projects, and groupings.
They will have more motivation and
ownership this way.
5. Allow adequate time for students to
work on the activities.
6. Include skill development and production of actual products in the unit.
THE SOCIAL STUDIES
The following lessons should be used
to supplement planned teaching of the
American Revolution in social studies
or American history class. The lessons
may be used in whole or pieces, selecting all of them or only a few.
Science Lesson Content
The purpose of this lesson is to
combine a science unit on topographic maps with the social studies unit
on the American Revolution. Students
will learn about the purpose of topographic maps, how they are made,
and how they are used. In addition
to a textbook chapter on mapping,
the Earth’s surface information can
be found at http://topomaps.usgs.gov.
Students can be broken into groups
and assigned a different area of the
Web site under the heading “General
Information about Topographic Maps”
on which to explore and report. Infor-
mation in this area of the Web site will
enhance the classroom lessons about
topographic maps.
When students are familiar with topographic maps and their purposes, they
are ready to begin the next stage in the
lesson. Students will choose a battle
from the American Revolution, such as
Bunker Hill or Monmouth, and look up
the topographic map for that location
at http://www.topozone.com. Groups of
students will print a large version of the
map and examine it. Each group will
be responsible for presenting their map
to the class and pointing out important
information on the map. They should
show understanding of elevation, geographic features, and man-made features in this portion of the lesson.
After all presentations are complete,
the class will discuss how the topography
of the areas affected the outcome of the
battles. Students should show an understanding of how the use of hills, open
fields, wooded areas, and water boundaries affected the outcome of each battle.
Math Lesson Content
This lesson will use statistical information about the American Revolution
to teach graphs in math. The suggested
time for this lesson is three forty-fiveminute periods.
Students will explore the Web sites
http://theamericanrevolution.org/battles
.asp and http://www.kidinfo.com/Amer
ican_History/American_Revolution
.html. They will first find the total number of British and American soldiers
involved in the war. Using these numbers, the students will create a pictograph showing the number of soldiers
involved. They will then decide on a
symbol to use and on how many people
each symbol will equal.
Next the students will create a table
with the headings Battle Name, American Casualties, and British Casualties.
Using the section of the Web page about
the battles, the students will read about
at least five battles and find out the
number of American and British casualties in each battle. The information they
find is to be filled into their data table.
Using the information in the data table,
the students will create a bar graph to
compare the American and British casualties in the five battles they selected.
The graph should have a title and properly labeled x and y axes.
The third graph is a pie graph that will
compare the total number of casualties
in the war. First students will explore
the Web site to find the total number of
British and American casualties. They
site contains a supplemental unit created
as a project for the Schools of California
Online Resources for Education Project.
Religion Lesson Content
The purpose of this lesson is for students to learn a brief history of Catholicism in the colonies before and during
the American Revolution. The suggest-
Students should show an understanding of
how the use of hills, open fields, wooded
areas, and water boundaries affected the
outcome of each battle.
will then use these numbers to create
their pie graph.
In the final portion of the math lesson,
each student will write five comprehension questions that can be answered
by using the graphs. The three graphs
and the questions will be arranged on a
posterboard and displayed in the classroom or hallway.
Language Arts Lesson Content
Students will read Johnny Tremain
by Esther Forbes (1979) and investigate
the people and times of the American
Revolution. Students should be given
at least one week to read the selected
book and two forty-five-minute class
periods to give their presentations. After
reading the book, students will choose
one historical figure, event, or location mentioned in the book and prepare an oral presentation comparing the
research they find to how it is presented
in Forbes’s book.
While covering the American Revolution, the teacher may choose to use
selected sentences from the book to practice sentence diagramming in English
class. This is a simple way to integrate
social studies with the grammatical studies of English. Additional lesson ideas
and Web sites to be used as resources can
be found at http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/
score/Tremain/tremaintg.html. This Web
ed class time required for this lesson is
one forty-five-minute class period.
Catholicism in the English colonies
was different from what was practiced
in New Spain and New France. Catholicism was considered to be the religion
for the elite, not the common colonist.
Maryland was a place for the Catholics
in the colonies to convene but was not
established as a Catholic colony. George
Calvert became a Catholic in 1624, and
he asked the King’s permission to start
a colony in the New World. He wanted
it to be in Virginia, but Catholics were
not welcome there, so he chose a site
north of Virginia. When he died, his son,
Cecil, arranged to have the settlers depart
for this land. At first the Catholics were
oppressed by the Puritans and were not
allowed to vote, worship publicly, or run
schools. This rule remained in effect until
just before the American Revolution.
After learning background information on the origins of Catholicism in
the pre-Revolution colonies, students
will work in groups of two or three to
research a prominent religious figure
of the time. The students may choose
from George Calvert, Cecil Calvert,
Father Andrew White, Lord Baltimore,
John Carroll, or Father John Lewis.
Web sites such as http://www.encarta
.msn.com, http://www.encyclopedia
.com, or http://www.britannica.com
will help the students find informa-
THE SOCIAL STUDIES
JULY/AUGUST 2007
161
tion about these historical figures.
Using the information they research,
the student will prepare a three-to-fiveminute PowerPoint presentation on the
computer. Student will then share their
presentations in class. Information for
this lesson is taken from The Church
throughout History (O’Connel and
Stutzenburger 2003).
Art Lesson Content
This lesson joins American history
and art history. The students will examine paintings of the American Revolution,
compare these paintings with historical
facts for accuracy, and learn about the
artists. Suggested time for this lesson is
one or two sixty-minute class periods. The
paintings to be examined include Washington Crossing the Delaware and Washington Rallying the Troops at Monmouth
by Emmanuel Leutze; Surrender of Burgoyne, Declaration of Independence, Surrender of Cornwallis, and Battle of Bunker Hill by John Trumbull; and The Spirit
of ’76 by Archibald McNeal Willard.
Copies of these paintings, author
biographies, and additional notes on
each painting can be found at http://
www.americanrevolution.org/artmain
.html. Following the lessons on each
painting and artist, the students may
be instructed to create their own paintings of the American Revolution based
on this lesson. The students will use a
media selected by the teacher, such as
watercolor or pastels.
Music Lesson Content
In this lesson, students will learn several songs from the American Revolution. They will learn that these songs
were written by the loyalists, people
loyal to Britain during the Revolution.
The students will use the song lyrics
to identify why these songs are loyalist songs. The suggested time for
this lesson is two or three forty-fiveminute class periods. The songs to be
learned by the students are “The Rebels,” “Tradesmen’s Song,” “A Song,”
“The Congress,” “Anacreontic Song,”
“Masonic Song,” “General Howe’s Letter,” and “God Save the King.”
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JULY/AUGUST 2007
Lyrics of these songs and additional
information about them can be found at
http://users.erols.com/candidus/music
.htm. Also available on this Web site are
links to other American Revolution-based
music sites. After learning these songs,
students will perform in a pageant for
other grades. They will dress in period
costumes, sing the songs, and give a brief
introduction to each of them by telling the
background information on each song.
Physical Education Lesson Content
This lesson will teach students the
basics of marching in military formation. They will learn the proper terminology and stance required of soldiers in the American Revolution. The
suggested time for this lesson is two
forty-five-minute periods. Students will
be matched up in groups and will prepare the marching formations they are
instructed on learning. At the end of the
second class period, each group will
present their marching formations to the
other groups of students. A simple list of
marching commands and explanations
about each can be found at http://www
.geocities.com/rodinko_69/marching
formations.html.
Geography Lesson Content
The purpose of this lesson is to reinforce the five themes of geography
through the context of the American
Revolution. The suggested time frame
for this lesson is two forty-five-minute
periods. Students will prepare a written report or posterboard presentation
focusing on each of the five themes
(location, place, region, movement, and
human–environment interaction) as they
relate to the American Revolution.
Location will focus on where the
American Revolution took place using
the terms absolute location, relative
location, latitude, and longitude. Place
tells what an area is like. Students will
describe the climate, landforms, languages, and religions of the colonies
during this time period. When presenting region, the students will discover
how the colonies were grouped into the
New England, Middle, and Southern
THE SOCIAL STUDIES
Colonies based on human or physical
characteristics they have in common. A
discussion of why people came to settle
in the colonies is the main focus of
the theme movement. The final theme,
human–environment interaction, will
examine positive and negative ways the
colonists and the environment interacted. When they complete this lesson,
students will meet in small groups to
compare their individual findings and
present a summary of the similarities
and differences to the class
Sociology Lesson Content
Students will focus on the relationships among Native American tribes
and the colonists for this lesson. The
suggested time for this lesson is three
forty-five-minute periods. The class
should be divided into three sections
and assigned a region of the colonies
(New England, Middle, or Southern).
Research time in the library or computer lab should be given to identify
prominent Native American tribes in
their assigned region. Some tribes to
suggest are Manhattans, Tamany, Iroquois, Menominee, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek.
Students should be prepared to discuss the following topics in class: What
types of relationships existed between
the tribes? Were there conflicts or alliances with particular groups? How did
the colonists in this area treat the Native
Americans? How did the Native Americans feel about the colonists? What
knowledge did each group have that
could benefit the other groups? Following the class discussions, students will
be placed in small groups to record a
five- to ten-minute documentary about
Native American and Colonial relationships during the American Revolution.
Videos will be shared in class as a culminating activity.
How Does It Work?
With the cooperation of coworkers,
I implemented and evaluated this unit.
Both the twenty-seven students participating in and the seven teachers presenting the unit were pleased with the con-
tent and the originality of the lessons.
We unanimously concluded that the unit
brought the American Revolution alive
in a new light for students and teachers.
Topographic maps are a difficult item
to teach to middle school students. The
science teacher presenting the lesson
approached me with the idea of integrating the education of topographic maps
with this unit. She was worried about
finding an important issue to relate to
the maps. In the past, she had used topographic maps of the community in which
the students lived but found the students
were unable to come up with their own
realization of why this type of map was
important. Having the students examine
topographic maps of areas where battles
occurred and using them to help determine what factors contributed to the outcome of the battles was successful. The
students were able to see the vantage
point of an army on top of a hill having
a superior view of the surrounding area.
They also made strong points about the
advantages of waterways in the Revolution. She was pleased with the connections the students made about the use of
topographic maps in various occupations
as well as the connections they made
with them and the American Revolution.
The eighth-grade math teacher implementing this lesson has taught graphing to her students for eleven years and
found the math content to be intriguing.
She said, “The students were amazed at
the numbers of causalities in the Revolution and enjoyed assembling the graphs.
Many seemed very proud of their work
and asked for [it] to be displayed in the
hallway instead of the classroom so a
greater audience could view their work.”
Of the teachers who presented lessons
based on this unit, the language arts
teacher had the most exciting results.
He said that he was tired of assigning
boring book reports to the students. He
was excited about assigning this book
for the students to read because they had
some exposure to the American Revolution and it seemed to be a topic in which
they were already developing interest.
He said, “The students did not give the
usual groans and complaints when I
assigned this book. They were interested in reading a fictionalized account of
the Revolution and were excited about
their book report options.” The teacher said he was pleased that the lesson
improved students’ skills in identifying
the elements of a story, comparing and
contrasting, orally presenting, and identifying the difference between historical accounts and historical fiction. The
only flaw in the lesson was that not all
students finished reading the book in the
allotted time.
The teacher implementing the American Revolution art lesson was pleased
with the amount of content provided on
the artwork of the Revolution. She was
concerned at first about not knowing
enough about the American Revolution
to teach the lesson, but after reviewing
the Web site and preparing her overhead
projection sheets of the artwork, she
said she felt confident that the lesson
would be successful and memorable to
the students. The students were pleased
to see their artwork captured on canvas
like the works of famous artists. They
were very critical of their work and had
to be reminded that this was their first
attempt at creating a masterpiece.
At first, the students thought the music
lesson was too juvenile for their age
group, but they took nicely to the idea.
Adaptations were made to make the lesson more student oriented, and committees were formed to help prepare for the
performance. Several students assumed
leadership positions in creating scenery
and costumes for the performance. Students also needed guidance to analyze
the lyrics and identify them as patriot
or loyalist songs and relate them to the
events of the Revolution.
The students enjoyed the physical
education marching lesson. The teacher reported that many students were
amazed that their study of the American
Revolution could be incorporated in their
PE class. Students immediately began
requesting to be assigned as commanders
and lieutenants in their marching groups.
He also said that they were able to pick
up quickly on the maneuvers and helped
each other learn the required movements
so that their battalions looked excellent
in front of their peers. He said the length
of time to complete the lesson was great
because it provided an interlude between
two sports-based units and gave the students a break from the normal physical education class to which they had
become accustomed.
Not every aspect of the project was
an unqualified success. The religion
lesson received the worst reviews of
all the lessons. The religion teacher
thought the lesson was not engaging
enough at first to capture the students’
excitement like the other Revolution
lessons did. Some suggestions offered
for improvement were to find a video
about religious figures in the Revolutionary period or to create a computer
presentation with pictures and music
to help capture the students’ attention.
Another reason this lesson may not
have been well received is that it was
presented after the other lessons from
this unit were completed.
Conclusion
In this article, I examined the use of
integrated units in the middle school
classroom. When planned effectively,
integrated units enhance the study of a
topic by integrating it into several subjects the students experience. This integration helps to promote student excitement about a topic by presenting it with
new and interesting methods.
Research validates the usefulness of
integrated units in the classroom. Integrated units are not only beneficial to
middle school students, they also help
teachers create a more concise and wellrounded curriculum. Some researchers
point out the weaknesses of integrated
units, but such criticisms should act as
a tool to create stronger units. If teachers continually examine and correct the
weaknesses, integrated units will prove
to be effective.
The trial run of the integrated unit
presented in this article was a success.
The teachers were excited about trying something new and found that their
lessons were enhanced by the inclusion
of a cross-curricular topic. After seeing
these lessons in action, we agreed that
the most important element of the unit
is presenting it simultaneously. With
the exception of the religion lesson,
all teachers coordinated their lessons
THE SOCIAL STUDIES
JULY/AUGUST 2007
163
within the same two-week period. This
seemed to be the optimal setup for a
successful unit.
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THE SOCIAL STUDIES