The Shot Heard Round the World
Following resolutions made by the Continental
Congress (1774), armed conflict seemed imminent
with England. So King George declared the colonies
in a state of rebellion and authorized sending more
British soldiers to reinforce those who had
occupied Boston since 1768. In April 1775, after
learning of the existence of a large colonial arsenal
in the town of Concord about 20 miles outside of
Boston, General Thomas Gage was sent to disarm
the colonists and to arrest the leaders of the
rebellion. He was looking for John Hancock and
Samuel Adams. Upon arriving in Boston, General
Gage then sent a detachment of 700 troops under
Colonel Francis Smith to march to Concord for the
purposes of seizing and destroying artillery and
ammunition. The Colonists, however, already knew
their weapons were in jeopardy and had moved
most of them to secret locations before the arrival
of the Redcoats.
As British troops mobilized in Boston, Dr. Joseph
Warren alerted members of the Sons of Liberty –
Paul Revere and William Dawes, to the British
plans. Dawes promptly rode to Concord to warn
Hancock and Adams and Revere rode through the
countryside yelling “The Regulars are Coming” or
“The Regulars are Out.” Regulars being the name
the regular British Army troops were called. By
dawn, about 70 armed Minutemen (Massachusetts
militia) had gathered in the Lexington town
common awaiting the arrival of the British soldiers
on their way to Concord. Gage’s own wife,
Margaret Kemble Gage, is thought to have given
Warren information about her husband’s planned
raid in sympathy to the Revolution.
When the British arrived on the scene, the
situation became tense. Words were exchanged
and then someone fired a shot. Historians still
disagree on which side fired first, or, if the shot
came from a spectator. Regardless, the British
troops unleashed devastating volleys of gunfire
before charging the Minutemen with their
bayonets. The minutemen scattered, eight
Minutemen were killed and ten were wounded.
While the British marched on to Concord,
additional Minutemen arrived from surrounding
towns and farms growing their group‘s numbers.
This larger colonial group then retreated to a ridge
about a mile from Concord across the North Bridge
to wait for the British return march back to Boston.
Meanwhile British troops, upon arriving Concord,
destroyed several cannons and burned leftover
ammunition.
On their way back to Boston, while passing
through Concord, the two sides met at the North
Bridge. A gun battle erupted and in a stunning turn
of events for both sides, the Minutemen held the
bridge. This forced the Redcoats to retreat back to
Boston and while on their way, hundreds or
even thousands of farmers and other colonial
workers had positioned themselves behind trees,
rocks, in pastures, under bridges, and in places
they could not be seen by the British, firing at them
as they marched on. Desperate Redcoats,
frustrated by an enemy they could not see, and in
revenge for the brutal scalping of one of their dead,
sometimes pillaging houses and communities
along the way, killing dozens of colonists. Colonial
militias, however, continued to snipe away the
lines of Redcoats. By the time the British troops
finally had made it back to Boston, 73 Redcoats
were killed and 174 were wounded. The American
Revolution had officially begun.
Adapted from http://mrnussbaum.com/readingcomp/lexington/
and J. L. BELL,Boston 1775 Blog
http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2009/04/several-men-killed-andwounded-by.html
FIRST SECTION: “I DO” - Establish purpose for reading.
Today, we are going to learn how to determine main ideas and key details that help us to summarize
a text through a SHARED Reading experience. I’m going to remember this purpose in a question –
What are the main ideas and the key details that support it?
Put anchor question on chart paper to refer to while reading. Add main ideas created as you read.
I’m going to start with a first reading of this text. Follow along with your text while I read. (READ
ALOUD entire text)
Now, I’m going to think of my purpose – what are the big ideas and the key details that support
them?
(Re-read the title) First, I’m thinking that the title is important because I know you can’t hear a ‘shot
round the world’, so I’m thinking it might mean this event had an impact that was felt around the
world. So, I’m going to look for KEY DETAILS that support this MAIN IDEA of impact being felt
around the world from the title.
What I notice in the first sentence is the phrase, armed conflict seemed imminent being connected
to the second sentence and the thinking that King George was having about the colonies by declaring
a state of rebellion. When I think of the big idea from the title these two places, the colonies and
Great Britain, are on different sides of the world. It is important to note the title of any text but in
this passage there are not a lot of key details that tell me more about the title’s main idea so I will
keep looking as I read on. It does create some questions that I want to look for as I read too. (Chart
possible questions.)
1. Does Great Britain have other colonies that would care about what is happening in the
Americas?
2. Are there other countries with Kings that are unhappy and watching what happens too?
3. Who is “listening”?
Thinking again of my purpose – what are the main ideas and the key details that support them?
I’m thinking another MAIN IDEA comes from part of the sentence that says, armed conflict seemed
imminent. Since this text structure is chronological, this passage is sharing how tensions had been
building up to this point in time with the KEY DETAILS:
 Boston had been occupied by British troops since 1768 (doing the math, over 7 years)
 King George had authorized sending more British soldiers to reinforce the ones in Boston
 General Gage was sent to Boston to disarm the colonists and arrest the leaders of the
rebellion
 700 troops were sent to seize and destroy artillery and ammunition
SECOND SECTION: “WE DO” - Give KEY DETAILS and have students create MAIN IDEA.
Let’s continue our reading…(READ ALOUD Passage)
What is my purpose I need to remember? What are the main ideas and the key details that
support it?
So, I’m noticing some KEY DETAILS in this part of the text. (Reread first part of first sentence.)
(Re-read by section comments)
First, I’m thinking of the beginnings of this conflict from the first section and noticing that the British
troops mobilized for the task. Which means they prepared themselves for the order given to seize
and destroy artillery and ammunition (military weapons).
Then I’m noticing that a Doctor Joseph Warren alerted members of the Sons-of-Liberty. Why is that
important? I’m thinking there were prominent colonists, a doctor and possibly a General’s wife, that
didn’t agree with the King and didn’t want the colonists to be surprised by the British troops.
Finally, I notice that there are 70 armed Minutemen waiting for the British when they arrive in
Lexington. I wonder at the number of British (700) and what that means to the 70 men waiting.
Their numbers are not evenly matched.
Based on these KEY DETAILS, what might a MAIN IDEA be from this passage?
Have students write a possible MAIN IDEA on a sticky note. Give students a few minutes to write
and then have students Turn and Talk to a partner to share and grow their ideas.
Listen in to student conversations and capture one idea to share with whole group.
Possible MAIN IDEA – The British and colonist’s actions are heading toward a confrontation.
Write possible main ideas on chart paper for students’ reference—make sure to include the title
for another possible main idea.
THIRD SECTION: “WE DO” - Remember our question? What are the main ideas and the key
details that support it?
We’ve already found some MAIN IDEAS from the title, as well as the build up of actions by the British and
colonists toward conflict or confrontation.
While I read this section, pay attention to any other KEY DETAILS that could support the MAIN IDEAS
we’ve found. Annotate your paper with a 1 or a 2 for the MAIN IDEA it supports.
Have students Turn and Talk with a partner to share their details and which big idea they think it
supports. Are there a new MAIN IDEAS?
Have students share something they learned from their conversation.
Capture a few KEY DETAILS to add to a MAIN IDEA (write on the chart paper for students’ reference).
LAST SECTION: “YOU DO”
Remind students of the question they need to remember, What are the main ideas and the key details
that support it?
Follow along as I read aloud. Pay attention to any MAIN IDEAS or KEY DETAILS that you hear.
Annotate your paper with a 1 or a 2 for the MAIN IDEA it supports just like we did before.
Have students Turn & Talk with a partner(s) adding MAIN IDEAS or KEY DETAILS on sticky notes.
Capture students’ ideas from their sticky notes and write student’s thinking on chart paper. Make sure to
review these findings with the students the following day- Main ideas and supporting key details.
Any new questions? Possible idea, how is the last sentence connected to the title?
All this in preparation for the next session - Rereading of text, reviewing MAIN IDEAS
and KEY DETAILS from chart, then model creation of a summary of the text.