Unit Title: The Revolutionary War Class Text: The American Journey: The Early Years (Glencoe) Core

Standards and Objectives: Unit Goals: Students will understand the importance of the Declaration of Independence to the history of the United States. Students will know the challenges the colonists faced during the Revolutionary War and how those were overcome. Students will recognize the importance of foreign aid during the Revolutionary War. Students will begin to recognize the challenges facing the new nation by learning about the difficulties of the Continental Congresses. Unit Rationale: This unit conforms to the core standards as well as the standards set aside in the district curriculum map. Learning about the Revolutionary War helps students understand how the United States became a nation and how the people won their independence. It is an essential topic in the history of our nation and provides students with the basis for moving on to other key topics such as the Constitution. Unit Description: This unit builds off of the previous unit on the causes of the Revolutionary War and pre-revolution America. The unit begins with a lesson on the Declaration of Independence in which we will read and discuss its meaning and importance as a class as well as use it to review the causes of the Revolutionary War. Subsequent topics that will be taught include a comparison of the two opposing armies, the challenges faced by the colonists, and keys to colonial victory. The unit will include a writing assignment and conclude with a short answer test. Unit Timeframe: January 21-February 7 (finish by Feb 7th to begin next unit according to department curriculum map). Some lessons may take more than one day to complete. Unit Outline: Lesson 1: The meaning and importance of the Declaration of Independence Lesson 2: Challenges faced by the colonists/comparison of the two armies Lesson 3: Keys to American victory (battles) Lesson 4: Keys to victory (people and allies) Lesson 5: War ends and test review Lesson 6: Unit test (short answer and definitions)

Assessments: The unit will conclude with a summative assessment on what students had learned about the Revolutionary War as well as the events leading up to it. Daily assessments will be given as well such as comprehension checks during class discussions and quizzes at the end of the day. Students will also write a short comparative essay comparing the Continental Army and the British Army. This will help me to gauge their writing ability as well as their knowledge of the content. Differentiation: We will be using Cornell notes throughout the unit which students are already accustomed to using. The advantage of these notes is that they will be displayed so that the students

can see them and write them down as I explain and teach the topics. This is beneficial to students so that they can know exactly what I want them to write down and it also helps with spelling. Other modes of differentiation that will be used include the use of visual aids, graphic organizers and allowing students to work together. The graphic organizer will assist the students in writing their comparative essay and I will also model visually how this will be done. The test will include opportunities for students to choose which questions to answer but will also offer them the opportunity to answer all of them for some extra credit. This will help students answer those questions that they are most comfortable with and also provide opportunities for those who finish early to have more of a challenge.