For Teachers
Lesson Three
Fighting the war; Lexington and Concord
1. Explain to students that England was in the middle of a major war with France. The fighting in the colonies was a minor annoyance to them. They could not send their best troops or generals or even very many soldiers.
Yet for all that, the colonists had no real army. How could the colonists fight against a real army?
vocabulary:
Patriot
Loyalist
Tory
Continental Congress
Militia
Guerilla
mercenary
Minute Men
1. Students will create a KWL chart about the Revolutionary war filling in the K (what they know) and W (what they want to know) about the Revolutionary war. The final section will be filled in at the end of the unit.
2. Have students find a good class definition of the vocabulary.
3. Play the Schoolhouse Rock video "The Shot Heard Around the World" You can find it here. Discuss with students what they saw in the video.
4. Read Longfellow's 'Paul Revere's Ride"
Have students take notes especially about parts they don't understand.
If you can access UTube there is a very good dramatic reading here.
5. Hand out assignments to students to research the questions that arise and be prepared to give answers next class.
6. Say to the students to end the lesson:
The Colonies had no regular army. Instead they relied upon the militia of each town and city to protect that town or city. Paul Revere and two others rode through the countryside giving the alarm "The British are Coming"
The British were met by the militia of Lexington and Concord and were forced to retreat to Boston. The Colonial militia did not fight like a regular army but instead fought like guerillas shooting from behind walls and trees then running to a new spot of cover where they could shoot again.
The militias from all the nearby town then surrounded the British army in Boston.
Next: Fort Ticonderoga and Bunker Hill.
