Teaching American History Grant
American Tapestry
Lesson Plan
Teachers: Camille Genus
& Amanda Hicks
Grade:
4/5
Unit Topic: The American Revolution through the novel The Fighting Ground
History Essential Questions:
1) Can the act of bravery by one person or a group of people impact lives?
2) How do people make distinctions between “us” and “them”? Why do they make these
distinctions?
3) How can individuals and societies remember and commemorate difficult histories? What is
the purpose of remembering? What are the consequences for forgetting?
4) Why do some people standby during times of injustice while others try to do something to
stop or prevent injustice?
5) Under what conditions are most people likely to feel more responsible for helping others?
6) What obstacles keep individuals from getting involved in their communities and larger
world? What factors encourage participation?
Standards of Learning:
History SOL:
1) The students will engage in historical analysis and interpretation. Therefore, the students
will be able to compare and contrast differing sets of ideas, values, personalities, behaviors,
and institutions.
2) The students will distinguish fact and fiction by comparing documentary sources on
historical figures and events with the fictional characters and events included in the selected
novel, The Fighting Ground.
3) The students will compare different stories about a historical figure, era, or event and
analyze the different perspectives they present.
4) The students will consider multiple perspectives in the records of human experience by
demonstrating how their differing motives, beliefs, interests, hopes, and fears influenced
individual and group behaviors.
5) The students will explain causes in analyzing historical actions, including (a) the importance
of the individual in history, of human will, intellect, and character; (b) the influence of ideas,
human interests, and beliefs; and (c) the role of chance, the accidental, and the irrational.
6) The students will challenge arguments of historical inevitability by giving examples of how
different choices could have led to different consequences.
7) The students will hypothesize the influence of the past, including both the limitations and
opportunities made possible by past decisions.
Reading SOL:
1) Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts,
of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new
information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for
personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary
works.
2) Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an
understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human
experience.
3) Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process
elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
4) Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and
by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources
(e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways
that suit their purpose and audience.
5) Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries,
databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create
and communicate knowledge.
6) Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a
variety of literacy communities.
7) Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g.,
for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Lesson Objectives:
Content:
The students will gain insight into the many historical, social, religious, political, and
economic factors that cumulatively resulted in the American Revolution and they will gain
awareness of the complexity of the subject.
Process: The students will read The Fighting Ground by Avi to demonstrate knowledge of
the causes and results of the American Revolution by identifying how political ideas shaped
the revolutionary movement in America and led to the Declaration of Independence. After
reading The Fighting Ground, the students will engage in various activities that stimulate
higher order and critical thinking.
Materials: Computer with Internet access
Tradebooks:
This Time, Tempe Wick? by Patricia Lee Gauch
Katie’s Trunk by Ann Turner
Aaron and the Green Mountain Boys by Patricia Lee Gauch
Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
George Washington and the General’s Dog by Richard Waltz
Books: The Fighting Ground by Avi
Primary Source Documents: Pictures related to the American Revolution and The
Fighting Ground
A letter written about the economy during the
Revolution.
Paul Revere’s famous painting of the Boston
Massacre.
River.
General Washington crossing the Delaware
The Declaration of the Independence.
This is a well-known political cartoon,
created by Benjamin Franklin and first published in his Pennsylvania Gazette on May
9, 1754.
Assessment/Evaluation: The students will be assessed based on their answers to the essay
questions, their participation during the reading, and the activities completed during the before,
during, and after reading portion.
Lesson Procedure
Background Knowledge and Purpose Setting: The teacher will provide the students with
the necessary background knowledge needed to understand why the American Revolution
happened. Read the students George Washington and the General’s Dog. After reading this picture
book, which provides a great overview of the American Revolution, have the students complete one
of the following flipbooks.
Before Reading:
*One of the first ideas that comes up in the book is the idea of obeying your parents. Jonathon really
wanted to be a soldier and he heard the tavern bell, but his parents had other ideas. Ask the class
why it’s important to “Obey your parents” and the consequences if you don’t.
*Before reading the book, have the child write an essay on what they think of war and set it aside.
After their essay have them write another essay on their feelings about war. Did the book change
their feelings? In the second essay did they use the book to illustrate their feelings if they didn’t
change?
During Reading:
*The students will read the novel The Fighting Ground by Avi. The Fighting Ground explores the
experiences of a thirteen-year-old boy who decides to involve himself in a Revolutionary War battle.
The entire story takes place in the course of twenty-four hours. Instead of naming his chapters, Avi
labels each section with the time it takes place. The events happen quickly, and Avi is an expert at
making the reader feel what the character feels. The book is enjoyable both as historical fiction and
as an adventure.
*The Fighting Ground is written as an hour-by-hour chronicle. Have the children keep an hour-byhour account of one of their own days. It could be for that day, or it could be memories from a special
occasion. After it has been written, see if it recreates the memories of that day for you. Does it feel
like you are actually re-experiencing the day. If not, give them the opportunity to add more
description and personal observations.
*The Fighting Gourd took place in New Jersey. Jonathon mentioned several places during the book.
Take a detailed map of New Jersey and see if you can locate the places he named.
*Who were the Hessians that were battling the patriots? What are mercenaries? What does
mercenary mean?
After Reading:
1) The students will respond to the following journal writing activities:
a) Overall, did this book make you feel optimistic or pessimistic about human nature? Why?
b) Would you ever leave without your parents permission?
c) Would you be scared, as a child, to fight in a war? Do you think children should be
allowed to fight in wars?
2) Jonathon describes the Hessian uniform in the book. Recreate what a Hessian uniform looked like
and what color it was based on Jonathon’s description.
3) Revisit the students’ essays they wrote before reading the book. Have them write another essay on
their feelings about war post reading the book.
4) The Swedish-style house that the Hessians were hiding Jonathan in became the popular “log cabin”
prevalent in colonial and pioneer eras of the USA. Make a three dimensional replica of a log cabin
using whatever materials you have at hand. Even rolled newspapers can be used and then painted
brown to look like wood.
5) Divide the class into five groups. Give each group a different primary source from the primary
sources listed above. Have the students answer the following questions about their particular
primary source:
a) When was this primary source made?
b) Why was this primary source made?
c) Who is the primary source about?
d) What questions do you have about this primary source?
Closure:
1)
The teacher will read to the students Katie’s Trunk by Ann Turner.
There aren't many picture books about the Revolution, but this is an especially good one.
Katie's Tory family lives in fear of harassment by the rebels. They have been subjected to
taunts and isolation already. When a group of rebels comes to Katie's home, intent on
robbing and trashing, Katie hides in a trunk. One rebel neighbor, finding her in the trunk,
distracts his rebel friends and leaves her undisturbed and unhurt. The point, of course, is
that there was real human kindness on both sides.
2) Have the students compare and contrast this story, Katie’s Trunk, to the story of Jonathan in
The Fighting Ground.
3) The teacher will read to the students Aaron and the Green Mountain Boys by Patricia Lee
Gauch.
After taking over Fort Ticonderoga in 1777, British soldiers marched on Bennington,
Vermont, intent on seizing supplies stored there. The Green Mountain boys, stretched to the
limit of capacity, were summoned quickly. While they were there, they had to be fed and
housed. This is the story of one boy and what he might or might not have done to help the
situation.
4) Have the students compare and contrast this story with The Fighting Ground.
Extension/Differentiation:
*Biographical reading: Additional reading can be accomplished by reading biographies of real life
figures during the American Revolution.
Some Famous People of the American Revolution:
Abigail Adams
John Adams
Ethan Allen
Benedict Arnold
Cispus Attucks
John Burgoyne
George Rogers Clark
Henry Clinton
Charles Conwallis
Lydia Darragh
William Dawes
John Dickinson
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Gage
Horatio Gates
Nathanael Greene
Nathan Hale
John Hancock
Molly Hays
Patrick Henry
Richard Howe
William Howe
Thomas Hutchinson
Thomas Jefferson
John Paul Jones
King George III
Marquis de Lafayette
Richard Henry Lee
Francis Marion
Joseph Pumb Martin
Daniel Morgan
James Otis
Thomas Paine
Andrew Pickens
Josiah Quincy
Paul Revere
Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau
Betsy Ross
Peter Salem
Deborah Sampson
Thomas Sumter
Charles Townshend
Baron Friedrich von Steuben
Joseph Warren
George Washington
Phillis Wheatley
*The students could visit the following website:
http://www.kidinfo.com/american_history/american_revolution.html
Have the students pick a battle from the American Revolution. They should research it and write a
research paper or create a diorama of the battle.
*Library Resources: Add videotapes about the American Revolution that include the actual sounds of
canon and musket fire on them. This will help the reader understand about all the sensory input that
a soldier deals with during battle. How confusing and frightening it can be.
*Field Trip Idea: Attend a battle re-enactment. These, even better than video, illustrate what
Jonathon would have been going through. The canon and musket fire is very loud even though they
use “fake” bullets. The smell of the gunpowder is also very potent.