American Revolution Unit

Posted by Cindy on November 26, 2008

I had intended to be completely finished with this unit before Thanksgiving.  Although we’ve completed the study of the war and all the projects going along with it, I decided to spend another week or so on what I’m calling American Pride.  We’ll be learning about the Constitution, Bill of Rights, our flag, National Anthem and various American symbols, as well as some of the rights and obligations we have as citizens of the United States.

But for now, I thought I’d go ahead and share what made up the bulk of the American Revolution unit study.

We read and listened to many, many books – picture books, chapter books and books on tape. Some of our favorites were:

Johnny Tremain

Sarah Bishop

Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos

George Washington’s Socks

Benjamin Franklin

Katie’s Trunk

Yankee Doodle

If You Lived At The Time Of The American Revolution (If You.)

Paul Revere’s Ride

The Fourth of July Story

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

The Matchlock Gun

Below is a wonderful book my husband bought from the HSLDA table at our homeschool convention a couple of years ago. I highly recommend it!

The America’s Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty curriculum had many nice lessons for things such as the Declaration of Independence, George Washington, John Hancock, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. I think you can order a FREE CD-ROM of the lessons by going to their site!

Mahayla’s final project had to include an Easy File Folder Reports biography of a notable figure from the war, some sort of presentation about a famous battle during the war, and a complete time line of important revolutionary dates.

Here’s what she came up with.

A file folder biography about Molly Pitcher.

An oral report about the Battles of Lexington and Concord, complete with maps and a model of the battle.

She even decided to make a little flip book of her battle.

And a time line three legal pages long!

Caleb’s assignment had to include a file folder biography and a presentation of a famous battle. Here’s what he came up with.

A file folder biography of George Washington.

And a reenactment of George Washington and his troops crossing the Delaware River to battle the Hessian soldiers, complete with Daddy as Washington’s horse!

Here are two more pictures of the file folder biographies – the title page and a not-so-great close-up of the little clay figures they made.

I promise, if you give your children a little guidance and a lot of freedom, you’ll be amazed at the results!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Revolutionary War Unit Plans

Posted by Cindy on November 3, 2008

As I am preparing to move into a unit on the Revolutionary War, I’ve come across some really great websites.  In order to be sure I don’t lose them in cyberland, I’m posting them here.  I hope you might find some use from the links, too!

A WEALTH of links to info, online games and lesson plans

I especially like this game and this game.

Here is an internet linked scavenger hunt about the Revolutionary War.

This site gives short bits of background information about events leading up to, within and after the war.  Fun activities and quiz accompany most lessons.

Battle at Blue Licks

Posted by Cindy on August 19, 2007

We took an impromptu history trip Saturday to Blue Licks State Park where they were having a reenactment of the Revolutionary War battle that took place there in 1782.  Okay, so we missed the actual reenactment by seconds, much to my son’s dismay, but had a great time anyway.

During the actual battle, the English, Canadians, and Native Americans were fighting against the Americans.  The Americans were sorely defeated with almost 70 being killed in about 15 minute’s time.  Daniel Boone lost his son in this battle that is said to be the last battle of the Revolutionary War.  Here are some pictures of various soldiers and encampments from the reenactment.

We also enjoyed a live bagpipe band and the kids each got to make a small pot at the potter’s wheel.  Yes, even Eli!

The park has a nice buffet dinner sort of restaurant.  Saturday, the main meat was buffalo.  BUFFALO!  Because of some, ahem, allergies, I chose not to partake of the buffalo.  But, the veggies and desserts were great!