Project-based learning is a critical aspect of SA’s school design. We believe that students learn best when they are engaged in a topic from a cross-disciplinary perspective over an extended period of time. We also believe that students are more engaged when involved in creative exhibitions.
Scholars have experienced project-based learning before, engaging in deep study of one topic through field studies, projects, and creation of a museum. In this unit, we study the American Revolution, a remarkable historical event that permanently changed the course of social, political, and economic world history. As reading teachers, you will have an opportunity to expose your students to a wide array of resources to help scholars understand this important period!
In this unit, your job is to fuel scholars’ excitement about the American Revolution, help them become better readers and researchers, and develop their expertise on the American Revolution.
If you do your job well, your scholars will understand the following:
As in all reading units, your job as a teacher is to ensure that your scholars are reading at home and at school. Meet with the parents of any scholars who are not reading at home. If you cannot convince parents to ensure that their scholars are doing their homework, you need to manage up to leadership.
It is your responsibility to ensure that ALL of your scholars are reading 6 days a week at home!
Projects are not the dessert; they are the main course of project-based learning!
Scholars will explore and learn about the American Revolution through four exciting projects.
Every day you will have 2 hours for your scholars to research the American Revolution. Some days the focus is investigating and studying to learn more, while other days center around project work.
Your day might include:
This is brief. You need to quickly set your scholars up for success, without unnecessary teacher talk. Your purpose here is to allow your scholars to work independently as quickly as possible. If you can do it in 5 minutes, do so!
Through Read Alouds (30 min.) and Shared Texts (15 min.), you will model how to research and develop expertise about a topic.
Through writing, scholars will further develop their expertise by recording the details and big ideas they have learned.
Scholars will have time to both explore the topic through PBL-related texts and read their just-right books.
Scholars engage in the topic through hands-on, firsthand experiences and create projects to share and communicate what they have learned.
Scholars will also learn about the American Revolution in Art and Science. Talk with your Art and Science teachers to find out what your scholars are doing in their classes to learn about the American Revolution!
Scholars will study the functional objects colonists made and used in their daily lives through weaving, toy making, or narrative work.
Choose 2–3 engaging field studies over the course of the American Revolution study. Here are some ideas:
Scholars visit the New York Historical Society and learn about primary source documents and replica artifacts from New York through the American Revolution Outreach Program.
Scholars participate in an educator-led tour at the Morris Jumel Mansion, Van Cortlandt House Museum, or Old Stone House, highlighting New York’s role in the American Revolution.
Scholars participate in an educator-led tour of Fraunces Tavern and learn about the American Revolution, the tavern’s role in the revolution, and how it served as a place of meeting for the Sons of Liberty.
Scholars visit Philipsburg Manor, in Westchester County, and explore the living history museum, which recreates colonial life.
Give scholars a clear objective for each field study. Set explicit expectations for scholar behavior and learning, and for effective materials management.
Facilitating meaningful project-based learning is challenging, because there are materials to manage and the work is open-ended. But this is the very reason why it is important and engaging for our scholars.
Your level of preparation and your clarity of purpose make all the difference. You also need a North Star. You need to know what excellent fourth-grade work for this unit looks like. Fortunately, we have many samples. Study them for guidance on what you are shooting for. You need to know what the work should look like, and you need to be driving to get ALL your kids’ work there!
Guard against exploration without rigor! Whether in the classroom studying a text or on a field study, scholars’ experiences should spark questions and further investigation about the topic.
The culminating exhibition, or museum, showcases scholars’ project work, and most importantly, all that they’ve learned about the American Revolution. Get parents invested in their scholars’ academic work by communicating with them early on about the study and museum.
Use project work time to check in with scholars to see that their work demonstrates what they have learned. Is their work accurate? Is it neat and detailed? Does it demonstrate mastery of the content and their best effort?
Make a plan for preparing scholars to present their museum to visitors, guiding guests on a tour of their projects and clearly demonstrating their excitement and expertise regarding the topic.
Scholars will work with a variety of materials as they create their projects. Develop a plan to manage the materials, but keep the focus on the content! Ask your art teacher for advice on effectively managing the materials and working with any unfamiliar medium.
Work with your leaders, grade team, and/or teaching partner to plan a routine for using and setting up materials.
Scholars will use PBL journals and folders for their research and writing. Prepare these beforehand, making them special and exciting for scholars to use. Each journal’s cover should have a picture of the American Revolution and the scholar’s name.
You will need lots of space! Make sure you have a plan for how to use your classroom to display scholar work and a PBL word wall. Include wall space both within and outside of your four walls.
Each guiding question will be the focus for the day or multiple days.
Why did England establish colonies in North America? What were the colonies like?
What was the French and Indian War? How did it help lead to the American Revolution?
What were the colonists’ economic, civic, and social interests? How did they conflict with those of the British Empire?
What were the important events and battles of the American Revolution?
Why is the Declaration of Independence a key event in the American Revolution? How did the colonists claim victory over the British?
How did our new nation decide to govern itself?
Below is a list of additional texts not included in the lessons that may be read to build scholars’ content knowledge.
Why did England establish colonies in North America?
Success is when scholars are able to understand that England established colonies in North America to gain power, money, and resources, and to alleviate poverty.
By the 1700’s, thousands of people were coming from Europe to North America to settle in the New World. Most of these people were coming from England.
In journals, scholars write 2 paragraphs about why England established colonies in North America.
What were the colonies like?
Success is when scholars are able to understand the different types of colonies (northern, middle, southern) and their defining natural resources.
Yesterday, we discussed the reasons why England established colonies in North America. Today, we are going to dig deeper into each of the colonies and how they were beneficial to colonists and the British Empire.
What were the colonies like? (Continued)
Success is when scholars are able to understand the three different types of colonies (northern, middle, southern) that grew and thrived.
Get scholars excited about creating model colonies. Scholars each choose a colony (northern, middle, southern) for which to create a model.
What were the colonies like? (Continued)
Success is when scholars are able to understand the interests and roles of different groups of people who inhabited the colonies.
Life in the colonies was not easy. People were building lives for themselves from nothing. They needed to work incredibly hard just to survive.
What was the French and Indian War? How did it help lead to the American Revolution?
Success is when scholars are able to understand that the British Empire won the war against the French in the French and Indian War, and gained more land in North America.
By the mid 1700’s, the colonies were thriving! The British Empire wanted to expand west and was already battling with France over land in North America.
What were the colonists’ economic, civic, and social interests? How did they conflict with those of the British Empire?
Success is when scholars are able to understand that colonists wanted to be independent from Great Britain. The British Empire imposed taxes on colonists.
Discuss the outcomes of the French and Indian war. It had been costly for England to provide the soldiers and equipment required to win the contested land in North America.
What were the important events and battles of the American Revolution?
Success is when scholars are able to understand the key events and battles of the revolution by exploring a historical landmark in New York.
Get scholars excited about visiting a New York landmark that played a critical role in the American Revolution.
What were the important events and battles of the American Revolution?
Success is when scholars are able to understand the key events and battles of the revolution.
Get scholars excited about reporting “live” from a major event or important battle from the war.
Why is the Declaration of Independence a key event in the American Revolution?
Success is when scholars are able to understand the importance of the Declaration of Independence as colonists’ refusal to recognize Britain’s rule
The Declaration of Independence is an important document that asserted the colonists’ independence from the British Empire.
Why is the Declaration of Independence a key event in the American Revolution?
Success is when scholars are able to understand the importance of the Declaration of Independence as colonists’ refusal to recognize Britain’s rule.
Get scholars excited about creating a rap or speech to communicate their desire for independence from Britain in their imaginary roles as colonists.
How did colonists claim victory over the British?
Success is when scholars are able to understand that a key factor in the colonists’ victory was the fact that the British Empire underestimated them.
Even though the British military was considered the strongest in the world, the colonists were able to win their independence.
How did colonists claim victory over the British?
Success is when scholars are able to understand the key reasons colonists were successful in winning the American Revolution.
Get scholars excited about defending the Patriots or Loyalists in a debate regarding “current” issues in the war.
How did our new nation decide to govern itself?
Success is when scholars are able to articulate and understand how the newly independent nation governed itself.
After winning the war and signing the Treaty of Paris in 1783, colonists were left with the daunting task of creating a government for their new independent nation.
How can we teach others what we have learned?
Success is when scholars are able to articulate what they have learned about the American Revolution by exploring documents and artifacts from the New York Historical Society.
Get scholars excited about the visit from the New York Historical Society or other local resource with artifacts from the American Revolution.
How can we teach others what we’ve learned?
You’ll know you’ve been successful when scholars are able to teach others key information about the American Revolution.
Use the next 5 days to work with scholars and increase their capacity to read and write.
The most important thing you can do is give kids independent reading, writing, and revision time.
Depending on their needs, work with scholars whole group, in small groups, or one-on-one to support them with the Tactics of Great Readers and Writers.
Asaresultofteachingthisunit,you, as the teacher, have:
Your scholars can:
Celebrate your scholars’ successes by acknowledging the expertise they now have about the American Revolution as a result of the study, and explaining what they can now do as readers and writers as a result of their work over the last several weeks. For example, scholars know how the colonists gained independence from one of the most powerful empires in the 1700’s.
Invite scholars to share what was most intriguing to them over the course of the study—and what they’re going to keep investigating on their own!
Reflect on your successes and stretches, as well as those of your scholars.
Look at your F&P results. Have your scholars grown as readers over the last month? Enlist parents to help get scholars over this hump!
Scholars must read at home, as well as in school. Are 100% of your kids reading 6 days a week at home? Make sure at-home reading is happening, and meet with families who are falling short to recommit them to this team effort.
Are 100% of your kids reading fluently? Are kids using all of the tools at their disposal to figure out the meaning of what they are reading?
Are 100% of your kids doing their literacy homework?
Going into the next unit, make specific reading goals for yourself. Set a percentage goal for how many children you will move ahead in the next 15 days. Set a goal for children who are not reading at home. Who will you get to consistently read at home? Why are they stuck? Do they read most or all words correctly? What is their struggle with decoding? Do they understand what they’re reading? Do they understand the big idea? How will you partner with parents to support their growth?
If you are having trouble meeting your goals, do not wait until you have NOT succeeded. Consult your colleagues. Consult your leaders. Ask for help so you can meet your goals!
resources
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