Title: The Boston Tea Party

Number: 4
Author: Abriana Nolan
Lesson Plan Details:

Expected Duration: 55-60 minutes

Social Sciences: History and Civics
Concepts: Taxes, Independence, Government, Rebellion
Vocabulary:
1. Tea Act:
2. Intolerable Act:
3. Sons of Liberty

Skills: Acting out scenes, Identify appropriate scenes, write facts and
answer questions from information read in a book
Goals: Understand the events that took place in during the Boston Tea
Party and be able to relay the information that they learned
Outcomes/objectives
-Students will be able to identify facts from the Boston Tea Party.
-Students will be able to identify what lead to the conflict of the
Boston Tea Party.
Standards
Standard - 8.2.4.D
Distinguish between conflict and cooperation among groups and
organization that impacted the history and development of
Pennsylvania
Standard - 5.3.4.F
Explain how different perspectives can lead to conflict.
NCSS.1.1 THEME ONE -- Culture and Cultural Diversity: Social Studies
teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and dispositions
to organize and provide instruction at the appropriate school level for
the study of Culture and Cultural Diversity. Teachers of social studies at
all school levels should provide developmentally appropriate
experiences as they guide learners in the study of culture and cultural
diversity
NCSS.1.4 THEME FOUR -- Individual Development and Identity: Social
Studies teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and
dispositions to organize and provide instruction at the appropriate
school level for the study of Individual Development and Identity.

Teachers of social studies at all school levels should provide

developmentally appropriate experiences as they guide learners in the
study of ideas associated with individual human development and
identity.
NCSS.1.4.b ...help learners to identify, describe, and express
appreciation for the influences of various historical and contemporary
cultures on an individuals daily life;
NCSS.1.5 THEME FIVE -- Individuals, Groups and Institutions: Social
Studies teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and
dispositions to organize and provide instruction at the appropriate
school level for the study of Individuals, Groups, and Institutions.
Teachers of social studies at all school levels should provide
developmentally appropriate experiences as they guide learners in the
study of interactions among Individuals, Groups, and Institutions.
Anticipatory set
The Teacher will say, yesterday we talked about the Deceleration of Independence.
There were many events that took place leading up to this. Today we are going to talk
about one of the major events, The Boston Tea Party. To introduce the Boston Tea Party
the teacher will read a book. The book is The Boston Tea Party by Russell Freedman.
The teacher will point out key points of the event that as they are mentioned through out
the book.
Key Concepts to Focus on:
1. A group called the Sons of Liberty led the rebellion.
2. The rebellion was to make a stand against taxes.
3. A tax on tea was the final straw.
4. This event led to the American Revolution.
5. Colonists stand against Britain, who controlled them at the time
Procedures

1. The teacher will create with the class a group of Key Events.
Key Concepts to Focus on:
6. A group called the Sons of Liberty led the rebellion.
7. The rebellion was to make a stand against taxes.
8. A tax on tea was the final straw.
9. This event led to the American Revolution.
10. Colonists stand against Britain, who controlled them at the time

2. Assign groups consisting of 4 students.

3. Have students pick a number from a jar. This number correlates
to the key concept that goes with that number.
4. Within the group they need to split into partners. One set of
partners will act out the scene correctly, the other set will do it
incorrectly.
5. The students will be given 15 minutes to prepare their scenes
and use the art supplies to make small props.
6. One group will act out their scene at a time.

7. After one group finishes the class will move to the side of the
room that they feel the group who acted the scene out correctly
is on.
8. The group who acted the scene out incorrectly will share where
the errors were in their scene.
This will repeat un
Differentiation
-Enrichment: The handout at the end has bonus questions and room for higher level
students to add multiple facts that they learned on the Boston Tea Party.
-Adaptations: Students will be given a key on a piece of paper with 3 choices for the
correct answer to the question on the board. This will give them options to find the
correct answer. This sheet will also have a list of facts on the Boston Tea Party. Some of
these facts will be true a few will not. The student will be able to pick one of the true facts
to write down instead of coming up with his or her own.
Closure
The students will return to their seats. The teacher will hand out the tea bag worksheet.
Once the students complete the worksheet they will drop in in the bin in the from of the
room to resemble dumping the tea into the water.
Formative Assessment
The teacher will be observing the students when they are acting out the skits to
see if they are appropriately displaying the events that occurred throughout the Boston
Tea Party. The teacher is also going to observe as students move to the side of the room
that the correct half of the skit was performed on. The teacher will be looking to see if
students move to the correct side.
Summative Assessment
The teacher will read the students answers on the tea bag worksheet that they
handed in. The teacher will be looking to see if they answered the question correctly.
The teacher will also look to see if they have identified correct facts on the Boston Tea
Party.
-Enrichment: All students will only be required to answer the questions within the tea
bag. There are questions surrounding the bag for the more advanced students.
-Adaptations: Students will be provided with a key for assistance.
Materials
Student Materials:

TeaBagworksheet
Pencils
Artmaterialsforpropsforscene
Constructionpaper
Gluesticks
Crayons
Feathers

Teacher Materials:

Teacher Notes:

The Boston Tea Party

Definition: An act of defiance toward the British government by American
colonists; it took place in 1773, before the Revolutionary War. The government in
London had given a British company the right to sell tea directly to the colonies,
thereby undercutting American merchants. (Dictionary.com)
When: December 16, 1773. According to witnesses it occurred
between the hours of 7 pm and 10 pm and lasted about three hours.
Where: The event is historically marked at the corner of Congress and
Purchase streets, however the exact location has been up for debate.
Who Planned It: The Sons of Liberty organized it. This was a patriot
group led by Samuel Adams and included John Adams, John Hancock,
James Otis, Josiah Quincy, Paul Revere, and Dr. Joseph Warren
Who Participated: Hundreds participated. Many remained unnamed
however due to fear of punishment. Documentations show that 116
people participated. The majority of the participants were males from
Massachusetts and Maine. Also most males were from English decent
but others with different backgrounds were documented as well.
What Caused It:

Taxation without representation:

Colonists believed that they were being taxed unfairly to pay for

expenses from the French and Indian War.

Colonists felt that they should not be taxed at all by Parliament
because they were not represented on Parliament.

The Tea Act was passed and made the British East India
company a Tea monopoly in the Americas. This made tea more
expensive. This was the final straw for the colonists.

Originally called: initially referred to by John Adams as "the

Destruction of the Tea in Boston"
Masking Themselves: To avoid being identified the Sons of Liberty
masked themselves as Mohawk Indians. If they were identified they
would have faced severe punishments.
Ships: There were three ships that were involved, Dartmouth, Elanor,
and Beaver. All of the ships were carrying tea from the British East
India Company. Each ship had one hundred chests of tea on them.
These ships were not British! The ships were American ships.
Tea: The tea was from China. The British East India tea company
bought all their tea from China.
Damages: There were a total of 340 chests of tea dumped into the
harbor. This was equivalent to 92,000 pounds or about 46 tons. In
todays money the amount of money that was lost was 1,700,00
dollars. There were no damages to the ships or anything on the tip
besides the crates of tea. There was one padlock that was broken
which was personal property of one of the ships captains. The patriots
replaced this the next day. There were no deaths. There was no
violence or confrontations during the rebellion.

Aftermath: The Boston harbor smelled after the tea was dumped into
it. The harbor was then shut down until all of the tea was paid off. The
Intolerable Acts were then put into place. The colonists were enraged
by this and eventually protested by convening The First Continental
Congress in September and October of the following year. The Boston
Tea Party was a significant act of defiance by the colonists. This
ultimately led to the American Revolution.

Teacher Resources:
http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/boston-tea-partyfacts
https://books.google.com/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=XP96AgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=bost
on+tea+party&ots=8WwFfdOOTB&sig=Tmyzmy_0El8e4UjI
HRCt7c3IIIQ#v=onepage&q=boston%20tea
%20party&f=false
Student Resources:

The Boston Tea Party by Russell Freedman

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/bo

stonteaparty.htm
http://mrnussbaum.com/history-2-2/boston-tea-party/
(video at the bottom of page)

Reflection

With this lesson I am concerned that students will struggle to

develop a scene to act out that is appropriate for the topic that they
are given. With forth graders most likely being exposed to the Boston
Tea Party for the first time they may struggle to get an accurate
enough picture of what occurred to develop a skit of their own. I will
but a major emphasis on the pictures in the book and go in depth when
describing the key ideas that they may be given to act out.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/catalonia-seeksindependence-referendum-despite-madrid-rejection-a-990632.html
This article discusses the Catalonians wanting to break free and
declare their independence. The American colonies were looking to
declare their independence from Britain. The Boston Tea party was a
step towards making this happen. This article has a section that talks
about the steps that the Catalonians are taking to make their
independence possible.
Name:

Date:

In the spaces below

write as many facts as
you can on the Boston
Tea Party.
The Boston Tea Party
What was the Boston Tea Party?

Facts:

What effects did it have on American

History?

Bonus Question!
Who was the leader of the Sons of Liberty?
Facts:

Facts:

Facts: