Lesson Plan

Date: January 23, 2015

Grade and Period: 8th grade, 2B

Strengths of the Class: Group work

Unique Needs of the Class: Reading Comprehension
Subject: U.S. History I
Curriculum Standards: Students will understand the significance of the American Revolution in the
development of the United States. Objective 3: Evaluate the contributions of key people and groups to the
Revolution.
Lesson Topic: Continental Congress
Homework (if any) from previous day: Go over the Patriot vs. Loyalist
Content Objectives for the Lesson: Analyze the role various political groups played in

the Revolutionary movement; e.g., Sons and Daughters of Liberty,

Committees of Correspondence, 1st and 2nd Continental Congress
Learning Objectives for Students: Students will be contrast the reasoning behind the colonist in joining
either the patriot cause or stay loyal to the English crown.
Language Objectives for Students: Students will be able to orally describe

characteristics of the patriots and Loyalist.

Starter: Read pages 139 to 140, then write down the things the Continental
Congress was authorized to do.
Class Procedures:

1. The students will have five minutes to finish the patriots vs. loyalist worksheet, which
will be going over for the first 10. We will discuss their choices and why they pick each
colonist in the group they did.
2.

I will go over the power point presentation, and I will discuss some of the reasons the
colonist decided for the patriot cause, or to remain loyal to the British. I will also show a
picture of a loyalist being feather and tar and talk about some of the reactions of the
students to this event.

3. We will have an activity in the classroom about the patriots and loyalist. I need the
students to really understand the importance of this two groups and the role they played
in the revolution.

4. If we have enough time today we will also briefly discuss about the 2nd Continental
Congress and the Olive Branch.
Class Work (Questions/Activities):
For the Class Activity: cut the worksheet in the three sections.

Directions: Divide the class into groups of three (a group of four will work if
necessary, but there should be no groups of two or less). Once the students
are in groups, assign them a letter- A, B, or C- the extra member in the group
will be a C as well. Give those students who are an A the A-Card. Give
those students who are a B the B-Card. The C students should receive
a C-Card, and there should only be one A and one B per group.
The Purpose of the Activity: A student and B student will take turns
trying to convince the C student(s) in the group to come over to their side.
They may have an idea of whether they are a Loyalist or Patriot based on the
descriptions, but they can not reveal that information to the C student(s).
The C student will have an opportunity to weigh both sides, and then they
must write down which side they chose, and why. After all of the C students
have chosen a side, the teacher will allow one A student and one B
student to read their Side Card to the class. I will then call on each C
student, one at a time, to reveal which side they chose and why. I will keep a
tally of which side they chose, Loyalist or Patriot. We will discuss the number
of students that went from one side to the other, and then compare it to the
decisions colonist had to make during the Revolution.
Plans for Assessment: participation on each group and oral responses to questions from teacher.
Homework: none
Plans for Enrichment if a group finish first, ask them to keep trying to convince student c to go to their
side
Plans for Remediation
Reflection: the activity went well, but I should have picked the groups. Since I allowed them to pick
them, the students took advantage and some decided to just ignore the activity and talk about other things.
By giving them an assign group they would have to work on it and have fewer distractions. I might even
try giving a price next time for this assignment for the best sales person. This activity needed more time
that I calculated today as well. For those students that actually work on it, because of the short day, they
did not have enough time to discuss it.

Reasons to join side A:Reasons to join side B:

Which side would you choose?

ABC