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4th Grade Webquest: The American Revolution

by Abby Sigoda, Mohrsville, Pennsylvania, US, .Created on: April 27, 2007

Website Address: https://library.curriki.org/oer/4th-Grade-Webquest-The-American-Revolution

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

3s

Unit 0: Rules, Procedures & Themes

Lesson 0.1 Rules and Procedures

Unit 6: China

Causes of the Civil War

IN COLLECTION


Revolutionary War Assignment
A WebQuest for 4th Grade Social Studies

Designed by

Kayla Smith, Abby Sigoda, Tom Reilly
ks631870@wcupa.edu, swimmy100fr@aol.com, tr625957@wcupa.edu


Introduction



The American Revolution was a war between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies of North America. The thirteen colonies wanted to gain independence and be free from Great Britian.This assignment will enable you to go into further detail of the life of a soldier/person involved in the war or civilian in the Revolutionary War. Your project is to create two letters relating to the Revolutionary War. The first letter is to be written from the point of view of a soldier or someone involved in the Revolutionary War written home to either a family member or friend. This letter will include things like the living conditions of the person in the war, the food they are eating, battles they fought in, generals, and weapons they are using.
The second letter will be written back from the family member, friend or lover to the soldier or person in the war. This letter will include things like your living conditions at home, hardships you are facing because of the war, and the food you are eating. As a group you will then present your letters (each student will read one letter) to the class portraying (with the clothes provided) either the writer of the letter or the receiver of the letter.

Task

Task

The T
ask

The end product will be two letters dated back to the Revolutionary War. One letter will be written from someone involved in the Revolutionary war (a soldier or nurse) written to a family member or friend. The second letter will be written back from the family member or friend to the person in the war.
 The letters must both contain proper letter writing format including the heading, greeting, three body paragraphs, the complimentary closing, and the signature line. The three body paragraphs should address one topic with three supporting details. If you choose to write one paragraph on how Robert E.Lee lead you into battle, you should include in your paragraph what the job of a general was, what he said to you, etc. The letter must be factual, and it also must look authentic (like it’s been through a war).

Process

Process


The Process

1. First you'll be assigned another classmate to work with.

2. Together you and your group member will each pick a role either as the person in the war or the family member or friend.

3. Each member of the group will do research on the American Revolution based on their role in the assignment.

Some examples of information to look up are: living conditions, food, battles, generals, weapons, places traveled, living conditions at home, and hardships at home.

 Here are some websites you can use to find information:

Life of a soldier

 American Revolution

Biographies of soldiers

The Revolution

 Woman in the War

 Battles

 Weapons

Main Events

Living Conditions

4. Once you have done research on what it was like to be living in the Revolutionary War or fighting in the Revolutionary War you and your partner should pick three main ideas you want each paragraph to be about in the letter being written from the soldier.

5. After you and your partner have picked three main ideas you need to pick 3 supporting details to go along with each main idea.


6. After the details have been decided for the first letter the same proccess should be done for the second letter.The first body paragraph of the second letter should be a response to the information that was presented in the first letter. The second two paragraphs should be about what life is like at home.


7. After you have picked what each paragraph will be about for both letters each person should write the rough draft of their designated letter.
* To find information on the correct letter writing format you can go to these websites:

Letter Format

8. AFter the rough drafts are written each group should switch their letters with another group for a peer evaluation. The papers should be read for spelling errors and factual errors.


9. After the rough drafts are written each partner should get a plain piece of white paper and begin to write the final copy of their letter.

10. Once the final draft of each letter is written (on the paper provided), students should then make their letters look authentic (like it has been through the war). To do this you can choose from materials provided such as dirt and tea bags (Teachers and volunteer parents will be available the day students antique their letters).

11. After the letters are made authentic looking the group should pick out their costumes from the box of costumes in the class.

12. Once the costumes are picked out the group should practice reading their letter allowed because the letters will have to be read allowed to the entire class.

Evaluation

Evaluation

The rubric for this project is below. Before the letters are graded the class will participate in a peer review and correct each others rough drafts. This rubric is for the final draft. It is out of 200 points. Both group members will be graded together on both of their letters. This will be 184 of the 200 points. Each student will then be graded individually for the presentation of the letter, which is the last 16 points.


Rubric for Revolutionary War Letters and Presentation (200 Points)
Letter 1
Heading (2 points each/ 12 points total)
____ Correct indentation (top right side of the page)
____ Address
____ Date
____ Date and address correspond with proper time period (1 point for each/ 2 points total)
____ 2 lines skipped in between heading and greeting
____ Heading is 3 lines long


Greeting (2 points each/ 6 points total)
____ Ends with a comma
____ Formal (Dear) or Informal (Hi)
____ 2 lines skipped between greeting and body


Body Paragraph 1 ( 5 points each/ 20 points total)
____ Addresses one factual topic relating to the Revolutionary War (food, living conditions, a battle, generals, etc.)
____ 5 space indentation at the start of the paragraph
____ At least 3 supporting accurate details relating to your topic
____ 2 lines skipped between paragraphs


Body Paragraph 2 ( 5 points each/ 20 points total)
____ Addresses one factual topic relating to the Revolutionary War (food, living conditions, a battle, generals, etc.)
____ 5 space indentation at the start of the paragraph
____ At least 3 supporting accurate details relating to your topic
____ 2 lines skipped between paragraphs


Body Paragraph 3 ( 5 points each/ 20 points total)
____ Addresses one factual topic relating to the Revolutionary War (food, living conditions, a battle, generals, etc.)
____ 5 space indentation at the start of the paragraph
____ At least 3 supporting accurate details relating to your topic
____ 2 lines skipped between paragraphs


Complementary Closing (2 points each/ 8 points total)
____ Salutation (example: Your Friend)
____ Ends with a comma
____ Indented to same spot as Heading
____ 1 to 3 spaces between the closing and the signature

Signature Line (2 points each/ 4 points total)
____ Indented to the closing
____ Your signature in Cursive

Appearance of Letter (1 points each/ 2 points total)
____ Letter looks old (example: ripped or stained)
____ Letter is legibly hand written

Letter 2

Heading (2 points each/ 12 points total)
____ Correct indentation (top right side of the page)
____ Address
____ Date
____ Date and address correspond with proper time period (1 point for each/ 2 points total)
____ 2 lines skipped in between heading and greeting
____ Heading is 3 lines long


Greeting (2 points each/ 6 points total)
____ Ends with a comma
____ Formal (Dear) or Informal (Hi)
____ 2 lines skipped between greeting and body


Body Paragraph 1 ( 5 points each/ 20 points total)
____ Replies to Letter 1 about the food, living conditions, a battle, generals, etc.
____ 5 space indentation at the start of the paragraph
____ Includes at least 3 accurate details relating to letter 1
____ 2 lines skipped between paragraphs


Body Paragraph 2 ( 5 points each/ 20 points total)
____ Addresses one factual topic relating to the Revolutionary War (food, living conditions, a battle, generals, etc.)
____ 5 space indentation at the start of the paragraph
____ At least 3 supporting accurate details relating to your topic
____ 2 lines skipped between paragraphs


Body Paragraph 3 ( 5 points each/ 20 points total)
____ Addresses one factual topic relating to the Revolutionary War (food, living conditions, a battle, generals, etc.)
____ 5 space indentation at the start of the paragraph
____ At least 3 supporting accurate details relating to your topic
____ 2 lines skipped between paragraphs


Complementary Closing (2 points each/ 8 points total)
____ Salutation (example: Your Friend)
____ Ends with a comma
____ Indented to same spot as Heading
____ 1 to 3 spaces between the closing and the signature

Signature Line (2 points each/ 4 points total)
____ Indented to the closing
____ Your signature in Cursive

Appearance of Letter (1 points each/ 2 points total)
____ Letter looks old (example: ripped or stained)
____ Letter is legibly hand written

Presentation for Student 1(4 points each/ 16 points total)
____ Volume (Speaking loud enough so everyone can hear you)
____ Fluency (Speaking clearly)
____ Rate (Speaking at a steady pace. Not to fast, but not to slow)
____ Eye Contact (occasionally looking at the audience, while reading letter)

Presentation for Student 2 (4 points each/16 points total)
____ Volume (Speaking loud enough so everyone can hear you)
____ Fluency (Speaking clearly)
____ Rate (Speaking at a steady pace. Not to fast, but not to slow)
____ Eye Contact (occasionally looking at the audience, while reading letter)

Conclusion

Conclusion

Upon completion of this project you and your partner should have learned what it was like to live and fight in the Revolutionary War. Specifically you should have learned about some specific battles, generals who led the Revolutionary War, living conditions for those fighting in the war and living at home during the war, the clothes worn, food ate, and weapons used. You also should be skilled at writing a letter using proper letter writing format.
Students will meet the NET*S standard 1b which states that students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology; they will create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

To further your knowledge about the Revolutionary War you can go to

Further your learning!

Credits & References

Credits and References


Credits and References

Life of a soldier

 American Revolution

Biographies of soldiers

The Revolution

 Woman in the War

 Battles

 Weapons

Main Events

Living Conditions

Teacher page

Introduction

This lesson was developed as part of the West Chester University Educational Technology Web Quest Project.

This lesson is about the Revolutionary War as well as how to write a letter using the correct letter writing format. The students will research information on the Revolutionary War, research information on how to write a letter using correct letter writing format, and will write their own letters, and they will then present their letters to the class. This web quest will involve multiple intelligences including: linguistic intelligence because students will be writing and reading,interpersonal intelligence because students will be working corroboratively with another student, and intrapersonal intelligence because students will be actually writing their letter by themselves. Students will be using a higher level of thinking because they are not just memorizing information learned on the Revolutionary War they are using what they have learned and putting the information into a real life situation.

Learner

This lesson is anchored in a fourth grade Social Studies and involves language arts to a lesser extent. The lesson can easily be extended to additional grades by either adding help by the teachers to younger grades or adding more information needed for older grade levels.

Learners will need to know prior to beginning this lesson how to find research in websites on the internet.

PA.R.1.4.P.B > Use early forms of writing, dictation, or illustrations to inform (e.g., lists, letters, labels).
PA.SS.H.8.1.9.D __Analyze and interpret historical research; Historical event (time and place); Facts, folklore and fiction; Historical questions; Primary sources; Secondary sources; Conclusions (e. g., History Day projects, mock trials, speeches); Credibility of evidence; Author or source of historical narratives' points of view; Central issue
PA.SS.H.8.2.6.B __Identify and explain primary documents, material artifacts and historic sites important in Pennsylvania history from Beginnings to 1824; Documents, Writings and Oral Traditions (e. g., Charter of Privileges, The Gradual Abolition of Slavery Act of 1780, Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer); Artifacts, Architecture and Historic Places (e. g., Conestoga Wagon, Pennsylvania rifle, Brig Niagara)
PA.SS.H.8.3.6.D __Identify and explain conflict and cooperation among social groups and organizations in United States history from Beginnings to 1824; Domestic Instability (e. g., Salem Witch Trials, Shays Rebellion, religious persecution); Ethnic and Racial Relations (e. g., cooperation between and among Native Americans and European settlers, slave uprisings, 'Colored troops in the Revolution); Labor Relations (e. g., early union efforts, 10- hour day, women's role); Immigration and Migration (e. g., western settlements, Louisiana Purchase, European immigration); Military Conflicts (e. g., American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Native American opposition to American expansion)

Reflection on Standards

By the end of the webquest the students will master letter writing using the correct letter writing format and they will master understanding what life was like during the Revolutionary War. They will master these tasks by researching how to write a letter and what life was like during the Revolutionary War and then using the information to actually write a letter. They are also meeting the NET*S standard 1b which states that students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology; they will create original works as a means of personal or group expression.


Resources

There are few materials needed to implement this lesson. Materials include:

*Paper for the students to write their letters on

*Computers for the students to research information on

*Pens to write their letters with

*Internet Resources: online resources for teachers and web addresses (URLs) needed for implementation of lesson

This lesson should not require additional teachers. The teachers should only be needed for help with the computers if students are confused with finding information on websites. Aides and parents could help with this part of the project. If the school has to go to a computer lab to do research then the teacher needs to coordinate with a teacher in charge of the computer lab.

Evaluation

You as the teacher will know that this lesson was successful if the end project results in two synchronized letters that contain information on what life was like during the revolutionary war. When it comes time to grading you will be looking at two written letters for information, synchronization, correct letter writing format, and their presentations to the class. You will be sure that each member of the group has contributed equally because each student is in charge of their own letter. You will be able to see that each individual has a satisfactory understanding of the content and is competent in the skills learned by reading their letters for correct information and the amount of information used.


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