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Introduction

Whats going on?

The date is April 18th, 1775, and the colonists are rebelling against the new rules that Great Britain is creating. Tension between the thirteen colonies and Great Britain is at an all-time high. People are choosing sides based on their morals and values. One group is called the loyalists. They are people who want to remain loyal to the crown (Great Britain). This means that these people wanted to continue living and following all the rules Great Britain sets for the colonies. The other group known as the patriots believes that America should be an independent country and make have its own government and rules.

Before high speed technology it was hard for people to get information. During this time people relied on word of mouth and writing like newspaper stories and flyers to help them understand what was going on.

News reporters that used to work together are now working separately for loyalist or patriot newspapers and not giving the whole story.

People were reading the newspapers and looking at events from two opposite ends of the spectrums depending on what newspaper they read.

This WebQuest will help you to explore the causes and events of the American Revolution from both a Loyalist and Patriot view.

Task

What are we going to do?

The colonies know that something huge is about to happen. They need to know about the demands from Great Britain and how other colonists are responding to such demands.

Rumors of war are spreading like wild fire across the colonies. To provide colonists with information, you and a partner will research about activities that have happened over the last decade. Then you will each choose a side. One person will write as a loyalist reporter and the other will be a patriot reporter and each write an article about what has been happening and who caused these events to happen.

For this quest, you will choose one of the following roles:

Loyalist Reporter-reporter who supports Great Britain's authority over the thirteen colonies
Patriot Reporter- reporter who supports the idea that the thirteen colonies should govern themselves

Both reporters will research the same topics and write about them from their perspective as either patriots or loyalists describing what happend and who was responsible for the event.

Process

One step at a time:

Step 1:

First you and your partner will need to look up important dates and events leading up to today, April 8th, 1775. There have been a number of "Acts" passed British Government that have caused friction between the colonists and Great Britain. Use the links below to take note of these "Acts" and other important events. Create a chart to compare and contrast Loyalist and Patriot opinions. After you both have finished please hand in your notes and chart.

Notes and Chart links:

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/rev-prel.htm

http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/AmerRevolution.htm

http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle_timeline.html

Video:

http://www.earlyamerica.com/shot_heard.htm

Be sure to include a Key Events Chart:

Key Events of the American Revolution

Loyalist Patriot

The Sugar Act
The Stamp Act
Townshend Acts
Boston Massacre
Boston Tea Party
The Intolerable Acts
The Ride of Paul Revere
The Battle of North Bridge

Patriot Links:

http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/AmerRevolution.htm

http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/outlines/history-1994/the-road-to-independence/

http://www.theamericanrevolution.org/events.aspx

http://www.historywiz.com/intolerable.htm

Loyalist Links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/rebels_redcoats_01.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/american_revolution_01.shtml

http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/AmerRevolution.htm

http://www.historywiz.com/intolerable.htm

Step 2:

After having you chart and notes approved use the facts you have gathered and write an newspaper article from the perspective you have chosen. Be sure to include lots of supporting facts to back up your opinion.

When you have finished be sure to write your name on the article and hand it in to the teacher.

Evaluation

Evaluation:

    Students will be evaluated on the following:

        -Knowledge of causes the American Revolution
         -Knowledge of how the individual events during the Revolution were interrelated
         -Knowledge of the different viewpoints of Loyalists and Patriots

REMBER to review rubric before handing in your final product.

Rubric

    Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4 – Exceeds Expect	3 – Meets Expect	2 – At level	1 –Below Expect
Notes and Chart	Groups have 4-5 or more pages of notes. Chart is organized logical full of all relevant supporting detail.	Groups have 3-4 pages of notes. Chart is organized, logical, and full of mostly relevant information.	Groups have 2-3 pages of notes. Chart is filled with some relevant information.	Groups have less than one page of notes. Chart is not organized or fully filled in.
Writing - Organization	Each section in the article has a clear purpose.	Almost all sections of the article have a clear purpose.	Most sections of the article have a clear purpose.	Less than half of the sections of the article have a clear purpose.
Content - Accuracy	All facts in the article are accurate.	99-90% of the facts in the article are accurate.	89-80% of the facts in the article are accurate.	Fewer than 80% of the facts in the article are accurate.
Knowledge Gained	Student can accurately answer all questions related to facts in the article.	Student can accurately answer most questions related to facts in the article.	Student can accurately answer some questions related to facts in the article.	Student appears to have little knowledge about the in the article.
Writing - Grammar	There are no grammatical mistakes in the article.	There are no grammatical mistakes in the article after revision.	There are 1-2 grammatical mistakes in the article after revision.	There are several grammatical mistakes in the article after revision.
Organization	All information is organized appropriately.	Most information is organized appropriately.	Some information is organized appropriately.	Organization of material is confusing to the reader.
Spelling & Proofreading	No spelling errors	No more than 1 spelling error	No more than 3 spelling errors	Several spelling errors
Points
Comments:

Conclusion

Conclusion:

Over the past few days you have learned a lot about the causes of the American Revolution. You gathered up all the facts and put together an article that expressed the perspectives of your party. Now go ahead and share your article with your partner and see how their article is similar and different you yours.