American Revolution WebQuest

 A look into the Opinions of the Characters involved in the American Revolution

A WebQuest for 4th Grade (American History)

M. Cummings & D. McRae

Overview (for teachers)

This lesson helps the students see the reasons for the American Revolution from the different sides. It introduces them to different characters and significant events that were involved in the beginning of the war. This lesson includes a debate that helps them think critically about how they would defend their position if they were one of the characters.

SS4H4 The student will explain the causes, events, and results of the American

Revolution.

trace the events that shaped the revolutionary movement in America including: the French and Indian War, British Imperial Policy that led to the 1765 Stamp Act, the slogan “no taxation without representation,” and the activities of the Sons of Liberty, and the Boston Tea Party
explain the writing of the Declaration of Independence including who wrote it, how it was written, [and] why it was necessary
describe the major events of the Revolution
describe key individuals in the American Revolution with emphasis on George Washington, Thomas Jefferson

The students will need to have available to them: computers with an internet access, and a word processor

Introduction

You have entered into the time period of the late 1700s in early America. The American Revolution has started, and each of you will become someone with your own views on which side is right. Britain has imposed taxes on the colonies, and the colonists are revolting against the king and Parliament, which is the governing body of Britain.

Task

You will be divided into groups of four, and each person in the group will have a different role.

A member of the Continental Congress

♠ As a member of the Continental Congress you have come together with other men, to discuss how to deal with the problems between England and the colonies. You have decided to write a statement declaring the colonies’ independence from Britain. Your task now is to learn what opinions you as a member hold, and explain why you believe the colonies have the right to break away from Britain. In this explanation you need to include some information about who you are, and what wrong things England has done to make the colonies want to break away.

A member of the Sons of Liberty

♣ As a member of the Sons of Liberty you are a passionate young patriot who would risk his life for the cause of freedom form England. You have decided to join with the other Sons of Liberty on a mission that involves stealing tea from the British and dropping it into the ocean. Your task now is to learn what opinions you hold as a radical, and explain how the laws and taxes England has given the colonies have affected your life. You need to portray why you feel it is necessary to take force against England.

A Member of Parliament

♦ As a member of the British Parliament you are an older gentleman who is shocked at how the colonists have revolted against their mother country. You have decided to pass some laws that you believe will turn the colonists back to England, and they will help England build up their money supply because it was depleted during the French and Indian War. Your task now is to learn what opinions you have as a law maker in England, and explain why you think England has the right to hold power over the American colonies.

A Loyalist

♥ As a loyal subject of King George the third, you live in the colonies and you believe that the colonies are still under English rule and have no reason for breaking away. You have decided to pledge your allegiance to your king, and because of this you have placed your life and the lives of your family members in danger. Your task now is to learn what opinions you have as a loyalist, and why you believe Britain has the right to make the colonists pay taxes even though they live miles away.

Each of you will have to research your character on the internet using the different links that are included in this webquest. Using the information you find, come up with an argument to why you think your side is correct. You will then write out your reasons behind your argument, which should be about three or four paragraphs long. If there are several groups of four students, you will get together with the others on your side. The people on each side will choose one of them to present the information you have acquired in a debate in front of the whole class.

The Process

1. First you will be broken up into groups of four students, and each person in the group will be given a character from the time period we are learning about.

2. Then you will research the different websites assigned to you by your teacher. The first website you go to needs to be Road to Revolution Game. This is where you will take a quiz which will help you get a feeling for the war time period. Please explore this site thoroughly because it has a lot of information that will be valuable to your project. You will have thirty minutes to explore this website and to start writing down the information that will help you in explaining your character and his views.

3. Here is the information each of you will need for your individual roles. You will have forty minutes to look through these sites, look back at your task, and write down the information that will help you accomplish it.

a. Member of the Continental Congress

A Biography about Thomas Jefferson

-mainly look at the third paragraph from the top where it talks about the Continental Congress

More information about Thomas Jefferson

-mainly look at the paragraph titled Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence

- look over this if you want to know what the declaration says

The Constitutional Convention

look for the reasons why the men thought they needed to meet to talk about the problems with England

b. A member of the Sons of Liberty

The Boston Tea Party

- this shows the reasons behind why the Sons of Liberty decided to hold the tea party

More information on the tea party and other events

-some information and links on events surrounding the start of the revolution

The History of the Sons of Liberty

- this will give you information about your character and his friends

Sons of Liberty

-mainly read the first five paragraphs where they talk about the Boston Tea Party

First person account of the first battle

- read this to get a feel for how the Boston Tea party gave the townspeople the confidence to fight against the British

c. A member of Parliament

Reasons behind why the British thought they should impose taxes on the colonists

- mainly focus on the eighth paragraph that starts off with The Stamp Act of March

The reasons why Britain thought the Tea Party was wrong, and why they should tax the colonies

- this shows specific reasons why Britain was angry at the colonies and thought they should respect their king

d. A Loyalist

A newspaper article defending Britain by a loyalist

-particularly look at the third paragraph

What motivated the loyalists?

-see what views and opinions your character had

4. All of the groups need to look at this website, The Road to Independence , for any more details that you need to complete your assignment.

5. When writing your paragraphs, you need to first start off with describing your character. Then mention the arguments that your person would give to show why his side is right.

6. After you have finished your paragraphs, you now need to get together with the other kids in the classroom who have the same character as you. You will then talk about the information that you have gathered, and write a list of the arguments that each of you have made.

7. Now you need to decide who will present the argument during the debate, and then go over what they will say.

8. Each of the characters will have two minutes to give their arguments. Then the class and teacher will be able to ask questions. Every student in the class must answer at least one question about his character, but it would be good if you can answer more than one question.

9. You will be graded on the paragraphs that you compiled and the presentation and answers that you give during the debate.

Evaluation

Provide students with a clear understanding of the grading criteria which will be used to evaluate their efforts.Explain how the grades will be counted or averaged. Specify whether there will be a common grade for group work vs. individual grades.

	Beginning -1	Developing - 2	Accomplished - 3	Exemplary - 4	Score
Thorough explanation of your character	Not mentioning his role in the revolutionary war, just saying his side was right	Mentioning his role in the war and saying his side was right.	Mentioning his role in the war and diving an argument to why his side was right.	Going into detail about his character, and giving more than one argument o why his side was right.
Length of your paragraphs and the content in them	One paragraph with three sentences in it, not enough information to cover the character.	Two paragraphs with at least four sentences in each, barley covering the material.	Three paragraphs with at least five sentences in each, covering the majority of the content needed.	Four paragraphs with more then five sentences, going beyond what is normal in the material they write.
Ability to work in the group setting and ability to use their time wisely.	Fool around most of the time, and do not cover all of the internet sites they are given.	One or two people do the majority of the work, and do not accomplish all of the work they were assigned.	The group works together, but is not able to complete the task because of not using their time wisely.	Every member of the group contributes and they are able to complete the assignment given to them.
Involvement in the debate and answering the questions posed to them.	Are not involved with the debate, and does not answer any questions. .	Student participates in the debate but does not answer any questions.	Student participates in the debate and answers one question.	Student participates in the debate and answers more than one question.