Instructional Objectives: Students will select an American Revolutionary Era figure, research that person using the Internet, download a picture of the hero, and create a one-page word document that can be displayed on the classroom bulletin board.

Social Studies

California State Standard 5.5: Students understand the course and consequences of the American Revolution in terms of the contributions of individuals to the outcome of the revolution and the different roles women played during the Revolution.

Writing

California State Standard 1.4 Research and Technology: Create simple documents by using electronic media and employing organizational features.

Time required: Approximately two 45-minute periods

Advance preparation and prerequisite knowledge and skills: The students should have some background knowledge of the American colonial and revolutionary periods or be in the process of studying this era as part of their social studies curriculum. Pupils should be able to create simple word documents and insert pictures into the documents, use an Internet search engine such as Ask Jeeves for Kids or Google and know how to download and save a graphic from the Internet.

Materials and resources required: Students will need a computer with Internet access and a word processing program, and paper and pencils to take notes.

Vocabulary:

Hero: A person admired for courage and outstanding achievements.

Revolutionary War era: A period of time in the history of the United States, beginning about 1763 and ending around 1784.

Procedures: Assign students, or have them choose, a Revolutionary Era hero such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Nathan Hale, Paul Revere, John Adams, Phillis Wheatley, Patrick Henry, Molly Pitcher, Marquis de Lafayette, Mercy Otis Warren, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, etc. Review with students how to use a search engine to find information and how to save a graphic from a website. Students are to find and list at least eight key facts about their hero and download a graphic. Review how to open a word processing program, insert a graphic, use word art to create a title, how to use bullets or text boxes to list key facts in the document and the procedure for saving and printing the documents. The documents will be printed and displayed on a bulletin board.

Activities:

Students will:

• Choose an American Revolutionary Era hero
• Use a search engine such as Ask Jeeves for Kids or Google to locate information
• Write at least eight key facts about their figure
• Download an appropriate graphic of the important person
• Create a word document that includes:
  • A title using Word Art
  • The graphic, centered and placed under the title
  • The eight facts written as a list (not in a single paragraph)
  • Student/author's name is included

Evaluation: Evaluate the printed documents to ascertain if students followed the guidelines listed in the assignment. The product is evaluated as either being satisfactorily completed or not based on the following criteria:

Homework: Students will research another hero using their social studies textbook or encyclopedia and list eight key facts. During class, discuss the differences between research using printed material and the Internet. Which did the students find more interesting and why? What were the pros and cons of each method?

Extension: Students will pair with others in the class who researched a different figure. They will compare and contrast the two heroes using a Venn diagram.

Student Samples: Click here for student samples

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