Grade 5: American Revolution: Are All Men Created Equal?
Rating: 
http://www.umbc.edu/che/arch/documents/AreAllMenEqualPAT_final.pdf
Common Core Standards
Reading Informational Text
RI.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Writing
W.5.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
W.5.1(a) Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.
W.5.1(b) Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.
CONNECTICUT ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SOCIAL STUDIES (C3) FRAMEWORKS (CT Teachers should use the CT history standards listed below in lieu of the Maryland standards included in the lesson)
Dimension 2: Applying Disciplinary Concepts and Tools
D2.HIST.5.5 Explain connections among historical contexts and people’s perspectives at the time.
D2.HIST.5.8 Use information about a historical source, including the maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose to judge the extent to which the source is useful for studying a particular topic.
D2.HIST.5.10 Use evidence to develop a claim about the past.
COLLEGE, CAREER, AND CIVIC LIFE (C3) FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS MARYLAND
D2.His.5.3-5 Explain connections among historical contexts and people’s perspectives at the time.
D2.His.11.3-5 Infer the intended audience and purpose of a historical source from information within the source itself
D2.His.16.3-5 Use evidence to develop a claim about the past.
Description of Lesson
This Grade 5 lesson titled “
American Revolution: Are All Men Created Equal?” was created by Angela Haube for the Howard County Public School System, Maryland in partnership with the UMBC Center for History Education. In order to determine how the American Revolution’s ideals of liberty and freedom affected enslaved people, students:
read a variety of complex primary source documents closely; discuss and answer
text-dependent questions; learn how to find the source and the author’s purpose; make inferences about quotations; study how to contextualize. As a culminating task, students independently
write an argumentative essay using details and quotations from the sources read.
Cautions
Connecticut teachers should be cautioned that the website and the teacher notes/preparation materials will require familiarity to be used effectively. While the instructional steps are carefully scripted, the time it will take to complete the lesson is not provided. The Connecticut Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Frameworks (C3) standards have been included above to help CT classroom teachers make the transition from Maryland’s history standards. While many of the primary source documents included in the lesson materials provide a paraphrased version of the document, additional supports and accommodations may be needed for students who are ELL, have disabilities, or read well below the grade level text band.
Rationale for Selection
This lesson is a good example of how to make
reading text closely,
examining textual evidence, and
discerning deep meaning a central focus of instruction. The instructional activities focus on engaging students in a
productive struggle with primary source documents through discussion questions and other supports that build toward independence. Materials include all required texts, a scripted lesson with suggested evidence-based answers for the teacher, teacher samples of all work to be completed and a Historical Thinking Rubric for scoring the essay.
