The+War+for+Independence

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The War for Independence











American Revolution Interactive Battles

=A Lesson on Material Culture during the American Revolution: December 3, 2010, Jenkins Auditorium=



How do the items a person wears and carries reflect his or her place in the society to which he or she belongs? If you were to change what that person wore or carried, how do you think it would affect that person?
 * Pre-assignment: ** Students are in the middle of completing a unit about the American Revolution. Before they attend the presentation students should reflect upon what they wear and accessories they carry on a day to day basis. All students should make a list of the most important items they need with them every day, and then they should explain why they choose to wear or carry four or five of those items. They should also write an answer to the following question:
 * Objectives: **
 * Students will identify five or six different roles people played during the American Revolution from the point of view of those who might have participated.
 * Students will analyze how the background and material culture of each individual is a reflection of his or her perspective on events of the American Revolution
 * Opener: ** Students will see, assembled in front of them, five or six people wearing the uniforms or clothing on various people who would have participated in the American Revolution. They will be asked to predict what each person is dressed up as.



Students will need to make notes as they listen to the speakers, and will be responsible for identifying the perspectives of each soldier. Students will also need to make notes of their thoughts, comments, connections, questions, and insights. They will have a chance at the end of each period to ask questions of the presenters. It is recommended that all students use the I hear/It means two column note format to make these notes. 1) Which of the perspectives he or she would be most likely to identify with, 2) Why that perspective is something that he or she could relate with, 3) How that person’s perspective influenced the American Revolution. This summary assignment would probably best be completed as a homework assignment to be turned in to teachers the following day along with the notes all students made.
 * Mini-lesson: ** Once each of the individuals has been properly identified, they will all speak briefly about the clothes they wear, why they are worn, and what his/her perspective on the American Revolution would have been, had he actually been that person fighting in the American Revolution. This will be done in stations with each person interacting with the students at a different station. At these stations there will be other accoutrements which the each person can show to the students to give them a better idea of how material culture has affected the perspective of each. Students will move from one person to the next and interact with each.
 * Summary ** : After the presentations and question & answer period, the students will need to write a reflective paragraph in which they identify and explain: