American Revolution Lesson Plan: U.S. History

Grade Levels: 6-8, 9-12

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the American Revolution Lesson Plan.

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic American Revolution, and supports the standard of analyzing the war’s revolutionary battle outcomes and the contributions of important figures. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of  projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Display an image representing the American Revolution, like the painting shown below:

Ask students:

  • What do you notice about the people in this image?
  • Who do you recognize? Why might they be important in American history?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

  • Read the description on the American Revolution topic page.
  • Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
  • Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the following articles: “Famous Faces” or “Politics”. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the American Revolution Challenge and Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about the American Revolution while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

  • Make-a-Movie: Create a commercial persuading colonists to join the Continental Army. Be sure to include facts to support the benefits of joining George Washington’s troops.
  • Make-a-Map: Identify the timeline of events that led to the end of the American Revolution.
  • Creative Coding: Code a newscast about a key turning point in the American Revolutionary War, such as the Crossing of the Delaware River or the Battle of Saratoga.

More to Explore

Time Zone X: American Revolution: Challenge students to put historical events in chronological order in this interactive timeline game.

Mission US: For Crown or Colony: In this game, players immerse themselves in the political tension of 1770 Boston.

U.S. History Unit: Continue to build understanding around American history with more BrainPOP social studies topics.

Teacher Support Resources:

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Related:

    Filed as:  6-8, 9-12, American Revolution, BrainPOP, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2