EGP 335

Lesson Plan: Paul Revere

Cassidy Holbrook

1.0 Paul Revere and his Midnight Ride, Day 9, 4th Grade
Expected Duration (45 minutes)
The history of the Northeast
Silversmith, Sons of Liberty, Secret Agent, Express Rider, Lexington
Critical thinking, map reading, role play
1.1 Integration of Learning Outcomes/Objectives:
The students will be able to reenact Paul Reveres Midnight Ride
The students will be able to correctly answer questions about Paul Revere and list
of five things they learned about him.
1.2 Standards:
PA Standards:
8.2 Pennsylvania History
o 8.2.4.C: Explain how continuity and change in Pennsylvania history have
influenced personal development and identity.
Belief systems and religions
Commerce and industry
Technology
Politics and government
Physical and human geography
Social organizations
NCSS Themes:
NCSS.1.2: Time, Continuity and Change
o NCSS.1.2.b ...have learners apply key concepts from the study of history
such as time, chronology, causality, change, conflict, and complexity to
explain, analyze, and show connections among the patterns of historical
change and continuity
NCSS 1.3: People, Places, and Environments
o NCSS.1.3.b ...have learners create, interpret, use, and distinguish various
representations of Earth, such as maps, globes and photographs, and use
appropriate geographic tools such as atlases, data bases, systems, charts,
graphs, and maps to generate, manipulate, and interpret information;
1.3 Anticipatory Set:
Yesterday, boys and girls we talked about trading and shipping in the New
England States. Today we are going to talk about Paul Revere. How do you think
important news spread during the 1700s? Remember boys and girls, at this time, they did
not have cell phones, computers, and the postal system took too long. Discuss possible
answers and introduce to the students how an important job in the 1700s was an express

rider. Their job was to deliver news by horseback to others in different towns across the
colonies.
1.4 Procedures:
1. We will briefly go over Paul Reveres early life (PowerPoint)
2. I will discuss what Paul Revere is most famous for: Midnight Ride
3. I will hand out a worksheet that has the following questions to each student:
4. Questions to ask during the reading:
a. How did he decide to warn the people of Charlestown across the river?
b. Do you think it was a good thing that Paul forgot to close the door and his
dog followed him?
c. What would have happened if the lady didnt give her petticoat to cover
the oars?
5. Questions to ask after the book:
a. Why was this ride important?
b. What kind of dangers did Paul Revere face?
c. If you were Paul Revere, how would you have gone about warning people
that the British were coming?
6. I will read pages 22-41 in the book And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?
7. After concluding the reading, I will pull up an interactive map of Paul Reveres
Midnight Ride.
8. I will provide each student with a copy of the map.
9. Students will act out as a class the Midnight Ride by Paul Revere.
1.5 Differentiation
1. Students who struggle in role-play, will have a chance to meet with the teacher to
go over their lines and practice before the actual performance.
2. Students who enjoy role-play, will be offered more than one part in the reenactment, after knowing each student in the class already has one part.
1.6 Closure
In this closure activity, students will participate and raise their hands to say one
fact they learned about Paul Revere and/or his Midnight Ride. They will also write it
down on an exit slip. What the students do not mention, I will be sure to review with
them. I will also tell students, Paul Revere was an express rider who delivered urgent
news to others in different towns. How do we receive important news today? Explain
how the way we receive news has changed overtime. Do you think it is better to receive
news from horseback or through the news on TV, cellphones, Internet, etc.? Tomorrow
boys and girls, we are going to have a town meeting. Come to class willing to discuss our
classroom rules with an open mind!
1.7 Formative/Summative Assessment of Students (P-12)
Formative Assessment:
While the students are acting out Paul Reveres Midnight Ride, the teacher will
have a checklist where she/he can check off the students after they read their parts
in the performance.

Summative Assessment:
At the end of the lesson I will ask students to write down five things they learned
about Paul Revere and/or his Midnight Ride. This will be their exit slip. I will
also ask students to hand in their questions they answered regarding the book we
read.

1.8 Materials/Equipment
A. STUDENT MATERIALS/ READING RESOURCES:
Handout of Before and After questions
Map of Paul Reveres Midnight Ride
Paper
Pencil
B. TEACHER MATERIALS/RESOURCES FOR LESSON DESIGN:

Fritz, Jean. And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? New York: Coward,
McCann & Geoghegan, 1973. Print.
Map of Paul Reveres Midnight Ride

C.
Website

M.I-Minor Influence
If or
S.I. include why How easy is it for How easy is it for
S.I-Significant Influence
credible
teachers to access? students to access?

https://www.paulrevereh
S.I.
ouse.org

Easy

Easy

http://www.ducksters.co
M.I.
m/biography/paul_revere
.php

Easy

Somewhat easy

http://www.history.com/t
M.I.
opics/americanrevolution/paul-revere

Easy

Easy

Easy

Not easy

Easy

Easy

http://www.history.com/t
opics/americanM.I.
revolution/paul-revere
http://www.notablebiogr
M.I.
aphies.com/Pu-

1. The website is
.org.
2. There is a
known publisher.
3. It has a very
strong site
design.

Ro/Revere-Paul.html

http://www.biography.co
m/people/paul-revereS.I.
9456172#revolutionarytimes

1. The website
has a Meet the
editors section.
2. The website
Easy
provides citations.
3. The website is
organized and
easy to follow.

http://teacher.scholastic.c
om/products/westonwoo
ds/study_guides/and_the
M.I.
n_what_happened_pr.pd
f

Easy

Teacher resource

http://www.scholastic.co
m/teachers/contributor/c
M.I.
ollateral_resources/pdf/6
5/519065.pdf

Easy

Teacher resource

Easy

D.
Content Notes Outline: Paul Revere
I.

II.

Early Life
a. Paul Revere was born on January 1st, 1735 in Boston, Massachusetts
b. He was 1 out of 12 children in his family
c. He was married twice and had eight kids with each wife. (16 kids total!)
d. Jobs as a kid
i. Ring the church bells in Christ Church.
1. He would ring them not only on Sundays but three times a
day on weekdays, at special hours on holidays, for fires and
emergencies, and whenever there was especially good news
or especially bad news to announce.
e. When he was fifteen, his father passed away and he took over his fathers
business and became a Silversmith.
1. What is a silversmith? A person who makes objects out of
silver
a. He made beads, rings, teapots, lockets, buttons,
shoe buckles, medals, spoons, cups, candlesticks,
etc.
Jobs later in life
a. Was a member of Sons of Liberty:

III.

1. A group of people who wanted freedom from England

because they did not like how the colonists were being
treated.
b. Express rider
i. What is an express rider? Someone who carried news and
messages to other towns such as, New York and Philadelphia
ii. Secret Agent:
1. Paul Reveres job was to find out the English plans. He
patrolled the streets at night, delivered messages to
Philadelphia, and kept himself ready at all times to warn
the countryside.
What he is most famous for
a. Midnight Ride.
1. On Tuesday night, April 18th, 1775 at 10:45 p.m., Paul
Revere is told to go warn citizens so they could protect
themselves and Samuel Adams and John Hancock in
Lexington, Massachusetts.
2. He needs to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock
because they are the leaders of the Patriot group.
3. He is told to go the same way the English are planning on
going, which was across the Charlestown River. Two other
rides take different routes.
4. Paul Revere has a warning system put in place just in case
none of the riders make it. Robert Newman is to set
lanterns in the steeple of the Old North Church to alert the
colonists in Charleston. He would put one lantern if the
British were coming by land and two if they were coming
by sea.
5. He went to put to light two lanterns to warn everyone they
are coming by sea.
6. Paul Revere and two others row across the Charles River
very quietly passing an English ship.
7. A group of men form Charlestown are waiting and give
Paul Revere a horse for his Big Ride
8. He is chased by British soldiers but gets away from them!
One gets stuck in the mud and the other gives up the chase.
9. Once he arrives in Lexington, he warns the people of
Lexington on the danger that is about to come and wakes
up Samuel Adams and John Hancock and tells them to
leave town now.
10. He meets up with the two others riders and they continue to
concord, warning farmers on the way.
11. On their way, the British capture him and the other two
riders.

12. They all hear gunshots, and a British soldier asks, What
was that? Paul Revere tells the soldiers that it was a signal
to warn the countryside.
13. The English want to get back to their troops, so they hurry
off and set them all free. But Paul Revere did not have his
horse anymore.
14. He walks all the way back to Lexington from Concord to
see if Samuel Adams and John Hancock are still there and
they are.
15. Paul reaches Lexington just in time to leave in a carriage
with Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
16. Hancock remembers a trunk of important papers he left
behind that he didnt want the English to see.
17. Paul and John Hancocks clerk go back and get the trunk
before the British arrive.
18. They carry the trunk across Lexington Green just as the
British and Americans begin to fight. Paul hears gunshots
but he does not stop, his job was to move the trunk to safety
and thats what he does. The battles of Lexington and
Concord began the American Revolution.
1.9 Technology
PowerPoint
Interactive map
2.1 Reflection on Planning
This was my first lesson plan that I have written for fourth graders. The topic I
chose in my group was to focus on the history of the New England States. During group
discussions, I quickly made the decision to focus on a famous American, Paul Revere.
The core of my lesson focuses on his Midnight Ride but I knew I needed to teach some
background knowledge on who Paul Revere was. I decided to make a PowerPoint for
students in which I will cover Paul Reveres early life and then build up into his
Midnight Ride. I did not want to just lecture the students so I incorporated part of a
childrens book. I think reading the childrens book will definitely engage students. In the
book it goes through Paul Reveres Midnight Ride. It will help students visualize Paul
Reveres journey. After reading the book, I wanted to incorporate a learning method
where students can get out of their seats and act out his Midnight Ride as a class.
Time is a concern that I have for lesson implementation. I am teaching something
completely new to fourth graders and I only have forty-five minutes. Some students may
not be able to fully grasp everything that I teach. I think that I could improve my lesson
by allowing more time to read the entire childrens book. After reading the entire book I
believe students will be able to gain a better perspective of Paul Revere. Overall I put a
lot of time and effort in planning this lesson. If I were to teach this to fourth graders, I
would feel very confident and would also think it would go well.

Lesson Plan Elements (see WCU lesson plan rubric on D2L

for specifics)
Lesson Plan Details
Integration of Learning Outcomes/Objectives
Standards PA Civics, History, Economics, Geography &
Anticipatory Set
Procedures
Differentiation
Closure
Formative/Summative Assessment of Students (P-12)
Materials/Equipment , Citation of Sources
Evaluation of Sources (Information Literacy)
Lesson Plan Teacher Content Notes
Technology
Reflection on Planning

Point Value
Total /30
/1
/2
/2
/1
/5
/1
/1
/3
/2
/5
/7
*
*

Total
Points will be taken off for spelling/mechanics.
Comments

Adapted from H. Leaman, fall 2010