Lesson Plan # 1: TAH Grant-Fall 2013
Logan Cornell, Ronnie Moppin, Marla Ritchie, & Justin Zimmerman
Title: The Boston Massacre – What Really Happened Class Periods Needed: 1 – 2 Days
LESSON OBJECTIVE:
The objective is to introduce or further reinforce that propaganda is information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, cause, or nation. Media, even in Colonial times, was often used to promote these personal agendas.
The study of Paul Revere’s etching of the Boston Massacre is an excellent example of how the American patriots used propaganda to try and persuade colonists who had not committed to a specific side to join their cause. An additional objective is to demonstrate that primary sources can have biases, and they may or may not be an accurate portrayal of events as they occurred.
COMMON CORE:
CCR1 – Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
CCR2 – Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source: provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
CCR6 – Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
CCR8 – Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
CCW2, CCW8- (optional essay)
CLEs
TSSI7A – Distinguish between and analyze primary sources and secondary sources.
TSS7C – Distinguish between fact and opinion and analyze sources to recognize bias and points of view.
TSS7F – Interpret maps, statistics, charts, diagrams, graphs, timelines, pictures, political cartoons, audiovisual materials, continua, written resources, art and artifacts.
OUTLINE OF LESSON:
This activity is a one or two day lesson that is part of an American Revolution unit, more specifically, the causes of the American Revolution. The activity was designed to give students the opportunity to examine and analyze historical documents while learning about the Boston Massacre. The ultimate goal of the activity is for the students to learn and understand what role the Boston Massacre played in the cause of the American Revolution.
Students will be examining the Boston Massacre using three different primary sources. This activity will require the students to analyze these primary sources looking for the following things: point of view, biases, accuracy, and intention. Upon completion of the activity the students should be able to formulate their own opinion using evidence to support their view of what actually happened at the Boston Massacre, and understand that a historic document can possibly be distorted intentionally or unintentionally by things such as a point of view, bias, or intent.
ACTIVITY
1. The class will be divided into two equal groups as they enter the classroom. One group will be given the Exert from Capt. Thomas Preston, while the other group will be given the Boston Gazette article. Each group will be given time to read their article individually. After the students have had time to read their article, they will be given 3-5 minutes to discuss with the other members of their group the article and come up with a summary of what happened.
2. One person from each group will orally present their summary of the Boston Massacre to the other group in the classroom.
3. A large Venn diagram will be drawn on the white board in the front of the classroom. Through a class discussion of similarities and differences of the two articles, the Venn diagram on the white board will get filled out. Students will also be completing Venn diagrams of their own at their desks while we are completing the one on the white board.
4. After completion of the Venn diagram, the class and teacher will discuss what might be the reasons why there are two such different accounts of the same event. The discussion will center on how things such as point of view, biases, and intention can impact a person’s perspective of an event.
DOCUMENTS TO BE USED:
Excerpt from Capt. Thomas Preston’s account of the Boston Massacre (attached)
Article from Boston Gazette about the Boston Massacre (attached)
Paul Revere’s etching of the Boston Massacre (attached)
Venn diagram with possible answers (attached)
Boston Massacre essay scoring guide (attached)
OPTIONAL SECOND DAY LESSON AND ASSIGNMENT:
Teacher will project an image of Paul Revere’s etching of the Boston Massacre from www.bostonmassacre.net onto the white board or screen for a discussion of the various elements students view in the etching and how those images could possibly contribute to the patriot propaganda.
Using Captain Thomas Preston’s account, the Boston Gazette article, the Venn diagram, and any prior knowledge, each student will write a detailed one-page essay explaining the historical accuracy of Paul Revere’s etching of the Boston Massacre. The essay should include both accuracies and inaccuracies of the etching along with possible rationale to help explain any inaccuracies.