Summative Assessment for 5th Grade American Revolution Unit

Written by Renee Brown for ELE 3600 Fall 2013

Rationale:
The American Revolution marks the beginning of our nation as a self-governed
entity in the world sphere. It is important to understand our beginnings in politics if
we are to understand the world today and the world in our future.
The unit covers several aspects of the American Revolution so that students may
understand the conflict from all of the different perspectives involved and see how
different groups of people influenced the flow of events.
In groups, students will be assigned one type of colonist that would have lived in
early America, whether it is a white male established in the colonies as a farmer or
a commoner, a female, an African American, a British soldier stationed in the
colonies, or a Native American. One person from each group will be in charge of
one type of colonist, making several complete groups of students that might
represent all of the different people living in a colony at the time of the Revolution.
Students will work on their own to create a scrapbook containing pages about their
characters life. On the student handout, expectations about the scrapbooks
contents will be laid out that will address several elements about the unit they will
have covered including some essential questions about the unit.
First: What did life in colonial America look like? Although the unit will have
addressed many GLCEs from section U2.3 Life in Colonial America, some may be
addressed individually at other times during the unit. The students will take the
time to address this question to develop their character in terms of the times
(Colonial America) and the events (related to the American Revolution).
Second: How did events leading up to the American Revolution breaking out
effect your characters life? This question is meant to address events leading up
to the Revolution and set up in section U3.1 Causes of the American Revolution.
Once again, most of the GLCEs in this section will have been individually assessed
or addressed at another time. However, the student will look at these events
through the eyes of their character and describe them in the form of a journal entry
to a friend in jail who may not be up on current events.
Third: When it comes to the events happening during the American
Revolution, how would your character contribute? This question will be the

bulk of the assessment, as it will make up the bulk of the unit being discussed. All
of the GLCEs will be addressed from section U3.2 The American Revolution and
Its Consequences so that students may apply their knowledge of their character
thus far to actual events during the Revolution.
The students will utilize ELA heavily in writing and sharing portions of this
assignment and will have time to construct the artistic portion of the project in
class. Some time may be allotted from those subject areas if needed to complete
the scrapbooks, otherwise students may also work from home.
GLCEs Addressed:
5-U: 2.3.3, 3.1.2, 3.1.8, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3, 3.2.4
Annotated Resources:
Calloway, Collin G. American Indians and the American Revolution. The
American Revolution: Lighting Freedoms Flame. 4 Dec 2008. 21 Nov.
2013.
<http://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/american_indians.html>
This article by Collin Calloway describes the positions of Native Americans during
the conflict as being split in terms of sides. The article does a great job finding
examples of tribes who supported opposite sides to show children that it was not
cut and dry for Natives, whose interests were in preserving their own land.
Courtney, Gillian. Contributions of Women During the American Revolution.
Women in the American Revolution. 12 March 1999. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
<http://www2.lhric.org/spbattle/wohist.html>
This is a great resource for students to learn about the role of women during the
Revolution. It discusses women in general as well as specific women who were
known during wartime.
"History: American Revolutionary War Timeline." Ducksters. Technological
Solutions, Inc. (TSI), Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
<http://ducksters.com/history/revolutionarywartimeline.php>.
This website is incredibly kid-friendly. It has a basic timeline of the most
important Revolutionary events. Most importantly, this website has an entire page

dedicated to daily life where the author discusses clothing, housing, and family life
during the war.
Introduction to Colonial African American Life. Colonial Williamsburg. Web.
19 Nov 2013.
<http://www.history.org/almanack/people/african/aaintro.cfm>
This is one of the only concise resources I found that provided decent information
and pictures regarding slavery at the time of colonialism. Although other sources
discuss more affluent African Americans of the time, this one specifically focuses
on the economy of slavery and having a 20-60% African American population
living as slaves.
Liberty: Perspectives: Daily Life in the Colonies. PBS.org. Web. 20 Nov 2013.
<http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/perspectives_daily.html>
PBS provides a great resource for children to explore visually and interactively
what the daily life of colonists would be like. The website allows them to explore
American daily life as well as global or from the specific perspectives of military
men. This is the best resource found which describes uniforms and gear, which can
be important in considering what resources were available to military men.
Mintz, S., & McNeil, S. (2013). Digital History. Web. 21 Nov 2013.
<http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu>
This website is a great, organized resource for children that encompasses the entire
colonial period including before and after the Revolutionary War. It is interactive,
allowing students access to tons of primary and secondary sources that can be used
to research lifestyles and compile scrapbooks.
Nussbaum, Greg. Nussbaum Educational Network. Web. 20 Nov 2013.
<http://mrnussbaum.com/amflash/>.
This website is easy to navigate for children independently. The best part is that
information about the American Revolution is divided into sections that students
can tackle at their leisure. The website also has a thorough timeline, clip art,
pictures, and flags related to the Revolution.

Primary Sources. Smithsonian Source. Web. 21 Nov 2013.

<http://www.smithsoniansource.org/display/primarysource/results.aspx?hId
=1004>
This is a useful resource for the children when completing their scrapbooks.
Students may use it to gain understanding of the daily life of colonists and even as
a source to find primary sources for use in writing sections of their scrapbook or
including pictures. It provides images of the source and an explanation of their
significance.
Revolutionary War Heroes You May Not Know! N.p. Web. 20 Nov 2013.
<http://www.westmeade.net/Library/Africans&WomenRevolution.htm>
This website is great as it provides students with bulleted facts about key African
Americans and women who contributed to the war effort in different ways. More
importantly, it uses primary source photographs to illustrate some of these ideas,
and children will be looking for photographs when making their scrapbooks.
Timmons, Greg. Primary Source: Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth, June
1778. Web. 22 Nov 2013.
<http://www.history.org/teaching/enewsletter/volume7/nov08/primsource.cfm>
This is a brief article written by Greg Timmons that explains the significance of
Molly Pitcher. It accompanies a wonderful primary source engraving of Molly
stuffing a cannon during the war.

Handout:
Life in the Colonies
Day 1: Thirteen Colonies: Geography & Makeup
Day 2: Lifestyle in the Colonies
Day 3: Taxation (Acts & Lifestyle) & British control
Day 4: Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party
Day 5: First Continental Congress
Day 6: Paul Revere & Battle of Lexington and Concord
Day 7: Battles of Saratoga
Day 8: Valley Forge
Day 9: Battle of Yorktown
Day 10: Treaty of Paris

There is a lot of talk about what role our government should play in our lives as
citizens. This is especially important now that citizens begin to fear what the
government does to control our lives that we dont even know about.
Think back to a simpler time before computers, cars, and cell phones. We have
already learned about the daily life of a colonist and what that might look like.
Now, we are going to explore that and think about colonists as their lives unfold
during a war right on our own soil!
Assignment:
You will be assigned to a group with your classmates. In this group, each person
will choose their assigned character out of the class hat. This character might be
Colonial American White Male, Colonial American White Female, British White
Male, African American, Native American, or Frenchman. Each member of the
group will have a different type of character.
Individually, you will create a scrapbook about your characters life in the late
1700s. You may use your group members as a reference to help you understand
the different events surrounding the American Revolution, but your work must be
your own and your group is not responsible for your assignments completion.
Your scrapbook must have the following pages represented inside of it:
(Hint: You may check these off as you go!)
_____ A 1-2 page journal entry describing your character's daily life at home or in battle.
_____ A page of 3-5 photographs related to the life of your character which must be primary
sources. Remember that photographs were not even possible in the 1700s! Your primary
sources may need to be paintings, lithographs, illustrations, or photos of places your character
would have been seen.
_____ A page of 3-5 photographs related to the life of your character which may be primary or
secondary sources.
_____ At least one image somewhere on the two pages must show what your character may have
looked like during the American Revolution.
_____ A journal entry describing your character's relationship with at least one other member of
your group (African Americans, American Indians, Women, etc.)
_____ A 2-3 page letter from your character to his or her friend in jail describing how the
American Revolution began from "their side's" (Patriot or Loyalist) perspective (1st page), and

then detail at least three advantages of being on their side (2nd page) and at least one challenge
(2nd-3rd page).
_____ A 2-page journal entry describes your character's experience during the Battles of
Saratoga and the Battle of Yorktown, and describes how your character feels about Valley Forge.
_____ On half of one page, create a news story that would have appeared in a newspaper after
the signing of the Treaty of Paris describing what the Treaty means to people like your character,
and then on the second half, write a journal entry including your character's response.

You will have 5 days in the library to research, print materials for, and compile
your scrapbook as well as time over the weekend to take your project home to
finish. Next Monday you will bring your scrapbook back to school to be checked
in. I will look at them overnight so that you may present it on Tuesday.
Days 11-15: Library and Craft Time Available
Day 16:
Completed Scrapbooks Checked In
Day 17:
Scrapbook Sharing Within Groups
Use the attached rubric to check your progress on each item to get all of the
available points for the assignment. If you need help finding resources or thinking
about being there during this historical time, make good use of your time in the
library and dont be afraid to ask for guidance! I am here to help!

Name: ______________________________________ Date: _________________

Rubric for American Revolution Scrapbook
5

4-3

2-1

Colonial Life

Journal spanned 1-2

full pages and
included accurate
details about the
characters life.

Journal entry was at

least one page and
contained details
about the characters
life.

Journal entry was not

present.

Photographs

3 or more primary
sources are present
out of 6 or more
photographs spanning
2 pages
Image of character
type is present.

1-2 primary sources

are present out of 6 or
more photographs
spanning 2 pages

Journal entry
contained details of
colonists life but did
not focus in on
character types
lifestyle.
Photographs are
present but primary
sources are missing or
inaccurate

--

--

No image of character
type is present.

A detailed journal
entry about your
characters
relationship with a
character of another
kind is present and
accurate.
There is one page of a
letter format related
to why the war broke
out from your
characters unique
perspective, with
details as to why their
side is fighting.
Your character
explains at least 3
advantages and at
least 1 challenge.

A journal entry is
present that mentions
other kinds of
characters that the
character knows, but
not their
relationships.
There is one page of a
letter format related
to why war broke out,
but not from your
characters unique
perspective.

A journal entry is
present but no other
character types are
mentioned.

No journal entry is
present.

The letter mentions a

war but does not
explain why the war
is occurring from any
side at all.

No letter is present.

One advantage or
challenge is missing.

More than one

advantage or
challenge is missing.

Two journal pages are

present that mention
the Battles of
Saratoga and
Yorktown as well as
Valley Forge from
your characters
unique perspective.
There is a detailed
news story written in
a voice geared
towards your
characters
demographic, and
your character has
written a journal reply
to the article.

Over one and a half

pages are present and
most of the
characters
contributions to the
Battles and Valley
Forge are discussed.

Over one page is

present and some of
the characters
contributions are
discussed.

No letter is present or
the character does not
explain any pros or
cons about being on
their side.
There is no journal
entry or the battles
and Valley Forge are
not discussed.

There is a news story

present about the
Treaty of Paris that
mentions its purpose,
and the character
talks about it in
journal format.

One portions of the

page is missing but
the other has
sufficient detail about
the Treaty of Paris.

Image of
Character Type
Colonial
Relationships

Revolutionary
War Outbreak

Pros and Cons

of Your Side

Battles and
Valley Forge

Treaty of Paris

No photos are present

or photos are not
related to character at
all.

No materials are
provided about the
Treaty of Paris.

Examples
Diary from an African American Patriot Soldier
(talks about freedom for Patriots and for his African American peers)
(example of how pages can be made 100% on the computer)

Photos Page for White Female

Photos Page for a Patriot
Photos Page for a White Soldier (Patriot or Loyalist)
Photos Representing Daily Colonial Life
Letter to a Prisoner from Loyalist / British Officer
(negative view of Patriot reaction to British taxes, and of rioting, emphasizes loyalty)

Diary Entry from Patriot Wife (White Female)

(describes battles in back yard and helping wounded soldiers)

Dear Diary,
It is not just the nation
undergoing a quest for freedom.
By joining alongside white men,
I am guaranteeing myself the
opportunity to become free. Not
only does enlistment provide me
with freedom from my slavery,
but I will receive a bounty as
well to help jumpstart my free
life after the war.
We will both face a great victory
in the near future, I think. I was
present at the Battle of Yorktown alongside other
Continental Army soldiers, easily one in four of us with a
similar story as mine, seeking freedom for two people.
We watched General Charles OHara present the sword of
surrender and it feels like big things are on the horizon.
I really think weve done it!
Until Next Time

Renee Brown
Summary Document
The purpose of this assignment is to assess student learning after a comprehensive
unit about the American Revolution. Students will have learned about lifestyles and
issues affecting the people who lived during the time before and during the Revolution
and how those people might anticipate their lives will change with the signing of the
Treaty of Paris.
One thing that has helped me a great deal in our class with crafting an assignment
like this is learning how to make authentic assignments that call upon the student to use
their reasoning skills moreso than just fact sharing. One activity that we observed in class
was drawing conclusions about primary sources. Several primary sources were shown to
the class and we brainstormed ways that the artifacts were similar or different to try to
pinpoint what the subject was. I liked this activity because it is authentic to how
historians pull artifacts from the ground and try to draw conclusions about what they
were, what they're used for, and what they mean to the history of a dig site.
I wanted to craft an assignment where students use primary sources to help
advance their understanding of a topic. In this case, students use evidence from primary
sources in story-telling as they place themselves back in time to think about issues from a
first-person perspective.
The difference I see is that the student isn't telling a story to connect the evidence
the same way a historian would... the historian has already done that. However, the
student uses the historian's version of events combined with what they know about the
primary sources in order to craft a fictional story to demonstrate their understanding.