LESSON DESCRIPTION

Title: American Revolution Timeline

Grade Level: 5
Author: Julie Thomas
Standard, Benchmarks and Indicator:
Civics-Government Standard: The student uses a working knowledge and understanding
of governmental systems of Kansas and the United States and other nations with an emphasis
on the United States Constitution, the necessity for the rule of law, the civic values of the
American people, and the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of becoming active participants
in our representative democracy.
Benchmark 1: The student understands the shared ideals and diversity of American
society and political culture.
Indicator: The student describes the principles contained in the declaration of
Independence and the Constitution of the United Stated including the Bill of Rights (e.g., right
to question the government, having a voice in government through representation).
Objectives:
As a result of these activities, students will be able to:
1. Research and write a short summary of an event during the American Revolution.
2. Put a time line of important events of the American Revolution in chronological
order.

Assessment/Evaluation:
1. Students will research an important event of the American Revolution then put all
the researched events in chronological order on a time line.

List of Materials:
Copy of the Declaration of Independence
Cards for important events in chapter 10
Yarn
Tape
Books on the American Revolution
Anticipatory Set: The teacher will ask the students what a time line is to stimulate their
interest and activate their prior knowledge. The teacher will ask the following questions.
What is a time line?
What would be your time line for today?
How could we put the important events we learned about in chapter 10 into a time line?
Instruction/Modeling: The teacher will ask the students how they think we could go about
putting the important events of the Revolutionary War into a time line. She will ask them how
they could create one and what the advantages are to having the information in a time line.
Check for Comprehension: The teacher will ask the students questions about the Declaration
of Independence and start a discussion.

Guided Practice: The teacher will discuss the importance and facts about the Declaration of
Independence. She will ask the students for their input about information they already know.
Then, fill out a small poster with several important facts about the Declaration of Independence
and the date.
Independent Practice: The teacher will divided the students into pairs and given an important
event during the American Revolution. They will fill in a small poster with several important
details about their historical event. Then, they will be the expert of the day on that event and
share information with the class.
Closure: After everyone has shared their information the class will work together to figure out
the chronological order of all their events. They will attach their event to a piece of yarn in the
order of the event.
Evaluation: Each student will fill out a time line of the important events putting them in
chronological order. The teacher will assess whether each time line has the required criteria
using a predetermined rubric scoring guide.