Social Studies: Heroes of the American Revolution Teacher name: Grade: Estimated time for lesson/activity: Lesson type: Veronica M. Long 5 th grade 30 minutes Visual Inquiry Lesson Overview and Context Overview of lesson: Context of lesson: Sources: I will show the class two images of women from the American Revolution, one being Anna Strong and another Molly Pitcher. I will ask the class to look at the images and compare what they have previously heard about heroes of the Revolution to what they observe in the pictures shown in the lesson, and use their comparisons to develop a possibly different perception. Central Question: Who were the heroes of the American Revolution? The class will still be focusing on the American Revolution in social studies, and we want to highlight Women s History Month. Our lesson focuses around two women from the Revolution, a lesser-known woman named Anna Strong and also a more famous one named Molly Pitcher. We will talk about the role of women during the Revolution, and hope that it helps to add perspective to what the class is learning about the American Revolution. This lesson is centered during a unit on the Revolution, and it both follows and precedes further investigation on this topic. This lesson will help to show that other people than the big named revolutionaries helped to win the Revolution. Image 1: Anna Smith Strong http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/post/1252589 Title: Redcoats and Petticoats Artist: Ronald Himler Date: 1999 http://www.threevillagehistoricalsociety.org/18thcent.html http://www.history.com/topics/culper-spy-ring http://legacy.mckinneyisd.net/campuses/school_ websites/glenoaks/library/resources/anna_smith_strong.htm Through these websites we learned that Anna Smith Strong, whose secret name was Nancy Strong, was married to a judge who spent most of the Revolution in jail; Anna was able to take food to him and eventually negotiated to get him out of jail. He took their children to Connecticut to keep them safe while Anna continued to work as spy in the Culper Spy Ring, which was a group of spies that provided information to George Washington about their enemies. Anna Strong left clues for other spies by hanging her petticoat and other laundry on a clothesline to signal that Caleb Brewster, a fellow spy, was nearby, and scattering handkerchiefs in a certain way to communicate where their meetings would be held. This background knowledge will help students see a different way that women helped in the war, and that they could be ordinary women with no special title or recognition. They will be able to draw comparisons between Anna Strong and Molly Pitcher based on the information received from both images. Image 2: Molly Pitcher http://myhero.com/go/gallery/open.asp?art=molly_pitcher_carter_2011 Title: Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth Artist: Dennis Malone Carter Date: 1853 http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/pitcher Molly.html http://library.thinkquest.org/tq0312848/mpitcher.htm
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/womenenc/pitcher2.html Through these three websites we learned that Molly Pitcher s real name was Mary Ludwig until she married William Hays. When he was sent to war, she followed along and helped wounded soldiers. On hot days she carried pitchers of water to the soldiers, which is where she got her name, Molly Pitcher. After taking charge of a cannon due to soldiers being exhausted during a battle, she was credited for winning the battle and awarded Sergeant by George Washington. This background knowledge, after the students have looked at the image and thought about it, will help students understand what exactly is being portrayed in the images and why Molly Pitcher is an important woman from the American Revolution. My mentor teacher has also mentioned that they have talked briefly about Molly Pitcher in a previous lesson, but did not go into much detail about her then. This lesson will expand upon what they know, and connect it to the idea of heroes of the Revolution as well as Women s History Month. Learning Goals Central question: Specific learning goals: 1-2 goals which relate to the central question in the lesson. Students will be able to understand how women played a role during the American Revolution, and how they impacted the war. Students will be able to analyze multiple images and their corresponding stories to help determine who heroes of the American Revolution were. Who were the heroes of the American Revolution? Connection to state social studies Connection to activities standards & Common Core GLCE 5-U3.2.3 Compare the role of women, African Americas, American Indians, and France in helping shape the outcome of the war. CCSS CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.9 Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably. The activity will involve looking at two images of two women in the American Revolution and their involvement in furthering their causes. Students will evaluate how these women made impact on the their respective areas. Students will be looking at the two images of the women and listening to their stories, paying attention to what they did and why they were important. Students will use the information learned from this lesson to evaluate their perspective on heroes of the American Revolution. Assessments Type of assessment Worksheet Connection to learning goals: 2-3 sentences explaining how this assessment addresses the learning goal(s) you identify above. The students will write down their responses to the central question ( Who were the heroes of the American Revolution? ) at the beginning and end of the lesson to help evaluate the perceptions towards heroism in the American Revolution and how they have changed based off information learned during the Visual Inquiry Lesson. Between the introduction and conclusion students will analyze two pictures of women from the Revolutionary War, and examine their perceived significance of the women s roles in the Revolution. Attending to the Learners Anticipating student ideas: Explain what you think will be students prior knowledge about the content, including the alternative ideas or challenges you anticipate students might face and how you Students will know about the American Revolution, but I do not expect them to know much about the women who helped during the war, or that women even helped at all. I do not expect that class to recognize the name Anna Smith Strong, even without being able to name who she was. Students have learned a little about Molly Pitcher previously, but I am under the impression that they do not know much more than that she was a woman who lived
plan to work with each of these challenges during the lesson. Also explain your ideas about how students are likely to respond to the tasks in the lesson and how you might use these likely responses to focus students on the intended content. Making the content accessible to all students: Describe how you will help ALL students engage productively in the lesson. This includes identifying assumptions made during the lesson about students prior experiences, knowledge, and capabilities; making the representations, explanations, and/or vocabulary accessible and meaningful to all students; and making connections to students personal, cultural, and social experiences during the lesson, if appropriate. during the American Revolutionary times. I do not expect students to know what is going on in the pictures without first being given the information during the lesson, other than possibly figuring out that they show women in Revolutionary times (they might be able to figure this out because of their previous studies about the Revolution). However, the class is great at figuring things out and may be able to guess more than just the context of the images, especially in relation to the image on Molly Pitcher. I will begin the lesson by activating the background knowledge of the whole class. Throughout the lesson, there will be open discussions so that all are on the same page. I will allow all students adequate time to write down their answers to the assessment worksheet. I do not expect them to know everything about women at this time, so I will give as much information as I can while keeping it simple (not repeating facts or dragging on about things that may not seem relevant to the lesson). This lesson should provide students with an even greater idea of what exactly happened during the Revolution and how so many ordinary people helped in various ways. We will discuss the facts as a class for students who may not pick up on some of the main ideas about Molly s story and stories of other women. The students with who are shyer or not given a chance to speak during the discussion will have a chance to share their knowledge during the written assessment. Instructional Sequence Materials: List the materials you will need and the materials the students will need. Include quantities and indicate which are attached. Also, include image citation (title, artist, the date or time period in which it was created, and the source where you found the image). Worksheets for students to fill out (35 copies) Two images Image 1: Anna Smith Strong http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/post/1252589 Title: Redcoats and Petticoats Artist: Ronald Himler Date: 1999 Image 2: Molly Pitcher http://myhero.com/go/gallery/open.asp?art=molly_pitcher_carter_2011 Title: Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth Artist: Dennis Malone Carter Date: 1853 Time frame: For each step, indicate how many minutes you think it will take AND which person will be leading that aspect of the lesson. Launch 3 min. Steps describing what the teacher and students will do/say [Make sure worksheet was passed out before the beginning of the lesson] Good afternoon, class! Today we will continue with our work about the American Revolution. During the lesson we want to make sure that we are respectful of all ideas that are discussed and that we are serious about the work that we do. Before beginning, I would like everyone to take a minute and write down on your worksheet who you consider to be heroes of the American Revolution. Notes and reminders: Include management considerations. I need to make sure that all students are engaged from the start, and that I begin the lesson with a friendly and enthusiastic attitude. I also need to make sure that the students can tell that what we are learning about should be taken seriously.
[Give the students a couple of minutes to write down their answers] 3 min. Just so we are all on the same page, there are no right or wrong answers to this question; this is just to see where we are as students in terms of the question at hand. You do not have to agree with your classmates, but we must all be respectful of each other s answers. Now, please raise your hand if you would like to share with the class what you wrote down about who you think the heroes of the American Revolution were. Image 1 Anna Smith Strong 10 min. [Take answers] At the end of the lesson, we will revisit this question. While we are going through the activity for today, I want you to pay attention to how what we learn today may or may not change your original answer. [Display image of Anna Smith Strong] Today we will be looking at two images and seeing how they relate to heroes of the American Revolution. This is the first of the two. Raise your hand if you can share with the class something you notice about the image in front of us. Do not make any guesses on what it all means yet, just comment on what you notice in the picture. Some students may not like the idea of a preassessment, as I have seen a couple be uncomfortable doing these in previous lessons. I will stress the idea that this question is just to gain an idea of what they know beforehand, and that they should not be worried about right or wrong answers. They will know, however, that it is important to take the question seriously because they will be handing in the worksheet. Stress that the students are not to make inferences on the image quite yet, and treat the beginning of the lesson kind of like a See- Think-Wonder in that students are not evaluative in the beginning. Level 1 Questions: -What do you see in this image? -Please describe the details that you find in the picture. -What is the main focus of this image? -What do you see in the background of the image? -Is there anything that stands out to you about this image? -Where can we find this? -What makes you think that? -Did everyone hear what was just said? -Does that make sense? -Does everyone see what the student just said? Now we are moving on to where we can take what we just mentioned, and make some guesses about what these parts of the image mean. Level 2 Questions: -What is the woman in the picture doing? -Why is this scene so important that it is a painting? -What do you think the relationship between the woman and boy and the soldiers is? -How do you think the boy/soldier/woman feel? -What might the boy/soldier/woman be thinking? Do not start stressing the connection to the central question yet, and see if students are able to work out any information on the image without being told. -What in the image makes you think that? -So, what you are saying is
Image 2 Molly Pitcher 10 min. -Does anyone else have an idea? -Did everyone hear that? I m going to give you a little background on this image. The woman pictured hanging up the laundry is a woman named Anna Smith Strong, and was part of the Culper Spy Ring during the Revolutionary War. She would hang her petticoats and handkerchiefs in a way that would signal to the colonist army the whereabouts of certain British generals. This information went as far as to the ears of General George Washington. Now that we have explored this image and have been given the background information on it, let s take a minute to talk about how everything we just learned relates to the idea of heroes of the American Revolution. Level 3 Questions: -Knowing what we just learned, what appears to be happening in the image? -How does this image display Anna Smith Strong as a hero? -Why might the colonists have needed to use spies such as Anna Smith Strong in the Revolution? -What information might normal people have gathered to give to the colonial military? -How else might women have helped in the American Revolution? -What makes you say that? -How does this connect to what we have learned? -Why is this important? Please take a minute to answer the question on your worksheet on how do women such as Anna Smith Strong challenge the traditional idea of American Revolution era women. Please include any details about what we just discovered through learning about this image. [Give students time to answer the worksheet] [Display image of Molly Pitcher] Now, we are going to move on to another image dealing with a topic from the American Revolution. Raise your hand if you can share with us something that you notice about this image that is in front of you. Just like before, do not make any guesses on what it means yet, just comment on what you notice about the picture. Level 1 Questions: -What do you see in this image? -Please describe the details that you find in the picture. -What is the main focus of this image? -What do you see in the background of the image? -Is there anything that stands out to you about this image? -Where can we find this? -What makes you think that? -Did everyone hear what was just said? -Does that make sense? -Does everyone see what the student just said? Now we are moving on to where we can take what we just Make sure that the information given is concise, but adds to how the students may feel about the central question relating to heroes of the Revolutionary War. Although some great conversations may come out of the wrap-up of this image, it is important to never let it stray too far away from relating to the central question. Give them enough time to answer, but not too much as there is a lot of stuff to do in the lesson and not much time to do it all. The students have been introduced to Molly Pitcher before, so I will be very careful that they are just mentioning what they say, and not making guesses about what the image is at first. Saying who they think she is can come later on in the lesson. Students in this part
mentioned, and make some guesses about what these parts of the image mean. Remember, we are not making guesses about this woman s role in the Revolution yet. Level 2 Questions: -What is the woman in the picture doing? -Why is this scene so important that it is a painting? -What do you think the relationship is between the woman and the other people around her? -What do you think the relationship between the woman and boy and the soldiers is? -How do you think the soldiers/woman feel? -What might the soldiers/woman be thinking? especially may want to bring up the fact that they think it is Molly Pitcher. If they do, I will try to have them focus more on the level two questions that I have listed, and less on who it is. -What in the image makes you think that? -So, what you are saying is -Does anyone else have an idea? -Did everyone hear that? Now that we have explored the image a little bit, I m going to give you background on what it is about. This is a painting of a woman named Molly Pitcher. Mrs. Kraus has told me that you have learned about her before. Please raise your hand if you can share with me what you know about Molly Pitcher. [Take answers, and add any missing information that they do not tell] Important things to list: -She was the wife of a Revolutionary soldier -She followed him and other soldiers around with pitchers of water -She got her name by people yelling her name and pitcher to ask for water -On a hot summer day when the soldiers were exhausted from the heat, she took over a cannon and helped secure a victory for the colonists -George Washington made her a sergeant Now that we have explored this image and have been given the background information on it, let s take a minute to talk about how everything we just learned relates to the idea of heroes of the American Revolution. I will try to make sure that the students don t spend too much time telling me details about Molly Pitcher, and that only the important ones that add to this activity are stressed. It is very important that the students make a connection between the images and the central question, so I will stress that while discussing as a class. Level 3 Questions: -Knowing what we just learned, what appears to be happening in the image? -How does this image display Molly Pitcher as a hero? -How could normal people act as heroes in the American Revolution? -Do you think that Molly Pitcher was unique in the American Revolution? Or that there were other similar stories that happened to other women? -How does this image compare to other well-known images of the Revolution? Who is the focus? How does this shape our understanding of heroes during this time?
Assessment Directions 10 min. Conclusion 2 min. -What makes you say that? -How does this connect to what we have learned? -Why is this important? Please take a minute to answer the question on your worksheet on how this picture shows how women such as Molly Pitcher contributed to the American Revolution. Please include any details about what we just discovered through learning about this image. [Give students time to answer the worksheet] Now that we have taken a good look at the two images, we are going to revisit our first question of today s lesson, Who were the heroes of the American Revolution? Please take a couple of minutes to answer the question one more time having the knowledge that you do now from the two images that we looked at and their background. After you are done writing, we will share a couple of answers, and I will collect the sheets at the end of this lesson. [Students get about five minutes to write down their new answers] Raise your hand if you would like to share with us your answer to the question Who were the heroes of the American Revolution? [Take answers from students who feel comfortable sharing] We have a lot more answers now than we did at the beginning of the day. I hope that you find a curiosity to dig deeper than just what history shows us for future subjects other than just the American Revolution. Now that we have learned about women such as Anna Smith Strong and Molly Pitcher and their contributions to the Revolutionary War through studying our two images today, we can see that there are other individuals who contributed to the Revolution other than the main ones such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Sam Adams, and others. Although these men were very important, there were also others, many of whom were women, who made differences, however small they seem to us now. These people have often been forgotten throughout the course of history, and it is important to make sure that they are not overlooked. Who can tell us why they think it might been important to learn about people such as Molly Pitcher or Anna Strong? [Take a couple answers] While learning about the Revolution and any other topic it is important to keep this in mind, and remember that there are many other Molly Pitcher s and Anna Smith Strong s that have made our country what it is today. Most of what we hear about in history is the accomplishments of men, but it is important to note that many women have made a difference. I hope that throughout the rest of Women s History Month (the month of March) and beyond that you continue to think about the contributions that women have made to make the country what it is now. I hope you enjoyed today s lesson as much as I did! Give students enough time to answer, but not too much so that there is not time for the wrap-up of the lesson. Many students may not feel comfortable sharing their ideas about what they have just learned. I will only call on those who feel that they are comfortable enough sharing, as this may seem like they are answering a test. I will have the answers from all of the students, and so it is not as crucial that everyone is verbally heard, especially if they are uncomfortable speaking up. Students may feel that after one answers the question all of the ideas have been spoken up about. It s important to show that there is more than just what we learned in that lesson to talk about in regards to women in the Revolution. Students need to know that this lesson had meaning to it, and was not being taught just for the sake of teaching. It is important that students are able to come full circle with the focus of the lesson and find that they have learned what they were expected to do so. It is important that the enthusiasm for this topic shows in how I teach the lesson so that the students are interested in learning more about similar topics for the future.
Reflection on Planning Learning goal for self: State at least one learning goal that you have for yourself, with regard to your teaching. In other words, what are you working on to improve your teaching practice? If someone will be observing your lesson, also think about what aspect of your teaching you would like the observer to focus on. This may or may not be the same thing as the learning goals you have for yourself. Preparing to teach this lesson: Describe the things you did in preparation to teach this lesson. For example: practiced the activity with the actual materials, answered the worksheet questions myself, thought through timing, researched materials, etc. Spend more time thinking of ways to make the content related to other lessons and keep it creative and interesting for students. Because the lesson is only thirty minutes long, it is really important that I remain concise and try not to focus on too much on small details and ignore the main goals of the lesson. With the original plan, Lauren and I read over our plan multiple times, we made the worksheets together and talked about how we will act out the lesson (who will say/do what and when). We also researched Anna Smith Strong and Molly Pitcher and found several short biographies and what made them famous. We tested our questions and activities on friends to see if the lesson worked. After receiving my feedback, I went off of what Chauncey suggested and manipulated my plans from there, taking into consideration all that she had said. ** Attach the images and any handouts, worksheets, and assessments you plan to use with the students.
Anna Strong image: Molly Pitcher image:
Name: Women in the American Revolution Introduction Who were the heroes of the American Revolution? Image 1 How do women, such as Anna Smith Strong, challenge the traditional idea of American Revolution era women?
Image 2 How did women, such as Molly Pitcher, contribute to the American Revolution? Wrap Up Who were the heroes of the American Revolution?