Revolutionary War

A WebQuest for 5th Grade (Social Studies)

Introduction

The War for Independence had many American heroes. It is your job to put yourself in the shoes of one of those men. You are going to communicate your experiences and feelings during these trying times. What were the times like? How did the people live? What kind of hardships did they endure?

Task

Each group will be assigned one of the following historical figures from the Revolutionary War period.

· Thomas Jefferson

· George Washington

· John Adams

· Benjamin Franklin

Research the contributions of your person to America’s independence.

Write four journal entries using Microsoft Word from that person’s point of view including relevant facts and dates.

Construct a timeline including five events and at least one visual from this person’s life.

Present your journal entries and timeline to the class.

Process

1. Your group will be assigned one of the following people from the American Revolutionary period:

· Thomas Jefferson http://www.school.eb.com/ebk/article?eu=370822&query=john%20adams

· George Washington http://www.school.eb.com/ebk/article?eu=370908&query=george%20washington

· John Adams http://www.school.eb.com/ebk/article?eu=370822&query=john%20adams

· Benjamin Franklin http://www.school.eb.com/ebk/article?eu=378446&query=benjamin%20franklin

2. Read articles from your textbook, magazines, encyclopedias, nonfiction books, and the Internet to learn all you can about the person you are researching.

· To use this Facts on File website, click on the address.

· Click on History at the left.

· Click on Landmark Documents in American History

· Click on Biographies

· Click on Topic

· Click on American Revolution

· Click on your person’s name

Facts On File
http://www.fofweb.com/subscription

3. Write notes on note cards of important dates and contributions to our independence.

4. Construct a time line including at least five important dates from your person’s life, information about important events, and pictures to add interest.

5. Write four separate journal entries from the point of view of the person you are researching. Include the date, a description of events that are happening, and feelings your person would be experiencing.

6. Present your time line and journal to the rest of the class.

Evaluation

American Revolution Journal

Teacher name: Jo Crabtree

Student Name ___________________

CATEGORY
Mechanics	No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors	A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.	Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.
Quality of Information	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.
Internet Use	Successfully uses suggested internet links to find information and navigate within these sites easily without assistance.	Usually able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Occasionally able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Needs assistance or supervision to use suggested internet links and/or to navigate within these sites.
Sources	All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented in the desired format.	All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented, but a few are not in the desired format.	All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented, but many are not in the desired format.	Some sources are not accurately documented.

American Revolution Timeline

Teacher name: Jo Crabtree

Student Name ___________________

CATEGORY	25	21	18	15
Content/Facts	Facts were accurate for all events reported on the timeline.	Facts were accurate for almost all events reported on the timeline.	Facts were accurate for most (~75%) of the events reported on the timeline.	Facts were often inaccurate for events reported on the timeline.
Spelling and Capitalization	Spelling and capitalization were checked by another student and are correct throughout.	Spelling and capitalization were checked by another student and were mostly correct.	Spelling and capitalization were mostly correct, but were not checked by another student.	There were many spelling and capitalization errors.
Title	The timeline has a creative title that accurately describes the material and is easy to locate.	The timeline has an effective title that accurately describes the material and is easy to locate.	The timeline has a title that is easy to locate.	The title is missing or difficult to locate.
Dates	An accurate, complete date has been included for each event.	An accurate, complete date has been included for almost every event.	An accurate date has been included for almost every event.	Dates are inaccurate and/or missing for several events.

Conclusion

You have completed your study of four American heroes. How would your life be different if we had lost the war?

Credits & References

"We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL."

Last updated on (10/8/02)