Teacher's Guide for APPLESEEDS Growing Up in the American Revolution

1. Ask students to identify what kind of stories they like to read or hear. Have them share their feelings with a partner.
2. Ask students to think about why they prefer the kind of stories they identified (1 - 2 minutes). Share responses. The teacher may need to share personal favorites and reasons to stimulate thinking about factors that have influenced tastes. For example: "My favorite kind of stories are biographies because I remember teachers reading to me about the lives of famous people. It made them seem more real and it made it seem like I could accomplish important things if I worked hard enough."
3. Point out how experiences, circumstances, and / or people in our lives have influenced our feelings and values. Tell students that in our reading today we'll find out how children lived in 1776 and consider how their circumstances and experiences shaped their ideas and loyalties.

1. Briefly review key concepts that have been introduced on the topic of the American Revolution.
2. Introduce the October 2000 issue of APPLESEEDS. Discuss the cover picture, issue title, and feature articles listed in the table of contents. Have students share predictions about the content of this issue.
3. Explain the social aspect of social studies. An important factor when studying places and events in history is the impact that circumstances, geography, and experiences had on the lives of people and how they, in turn, influenced the course of events during a period of history.
4. Point out the 13 colonies on a map. Discuss how geographic location, population, and the economy of various colonies differed. Help students speculate on the effects of these differences. (i.e. The New England colonies had busy seaports. Many cultures were represented in the highly populated port cities.)
5. Introduce the graphic organizer that students will use as the read "Growing Up in 1776."
6. Explain how it will be completed as they read.

1. Read the title of the first article "Growing Up in 1776." Ask students what information they expect to find.
2. Have students read the first page of the article. Is their prediction about the focus of the article appropriate? What will this article tell them?
3. According to the author, what made a big difference in colonial children's way of life? Do you agree? Why? Is this still true today? Why?
4. Have children continue reading the next three paragraphs about city life. As they finish reading, children will fill in the Cities column on the organizer. (They may work with partners.) When all have read and filled in the organizer, share comments and ideas they've recorded. Students may want to expand on their organizers as they hear what others have included.
5. Follow the same procedure as students read the paragraphs on Small Farms in New England and then on life on a Southern Plantation.
6. Assign students to three groups. Ask each group to focus on one of the three places identified - city, small farm, plantation. Ask them to discuss how people in this area might have felt about being ruled by the British and how their circumstances contributed to these loyalties. Groups will share their ideas and reasons with the class.
7. Introduce the article "In the Path of War," explaining to students that many children their age found themselves in the midst of the fighting or very close to it. Ask them how it must have felt having armies fighting nearby.
8. Have students read the article to find out whether the families of Donald McDonald, Susan Lyttle, and Eunice Campbell supported the Tories or the Patriots.
9. After students have finished reading, have them discuss how the experiences of these families may have influenced their feelings. Would they have felt the same way? Why?

1. Have students summarize the factors that influenced people's decisions on which side to support in the American Revolution - i.e. where they lived, their level of education, the amount (and accuracy) of communication they received about events outside of their immediate area, and experiences they had.
2. Have students share which they believe may have been the most powerful factor and why.

Why would a city like Boston become a "hotbed" of protest against Britain in 1776?

1. set appropriate predictions and questions to guide their reading.
2. read for specific information to answer questions posed.
3. select relevant information and record it accurately on a note-taking organizer.
4. use notes gathered to make connections, develop interpretations, and draw conclusions.
5. integrate information from two selections in providing support for ideas.
6. work well in a group, contributing, revising, and expanding personal ideas.
7. construct a well-coordinated response to the journal question that reflects a statement of opinion, provides rationale, holds the reader's attention, and reflects good use of writing conventions.

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Updated: 11/21/08 10:19 am
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